Could You Mind Your Language?

Abstract

Three experiments that examine communicators' ability to inhibit linguistic bias are reported. Research has shown that communicators use more abstract language (e.g., “Jamie is affectionate” vs. “Jamie kisses Rose”) to describe more expected behavior. Recent research has shown that this bias may be overwhelmed by goals to put a “spin” on actions or to manipulate audiences' impressions of actors. Similarly, the present experiments show that people who wish to communicate without bias may often be able to do so. Inhibition occurred when participants selected descriptions from a list of alternatives and when they freely described both expected and unexpected behaviors. However, inhibition failed when participants were asked to freely describe either expected or unexpected behaviors alone.