Controlling the narrative: Euphemistic language affects judgments of actions while avoiding perceptions of dishonesty

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Linguistics
• Social Science

Background:

• Language significantly influences human perception and judgment.
• Euphemisms and dysphemisms are linguistic tools that can alter the emotional and evaluative impact of descriptions.
• Understanding the persuasive power of strategic language is crucial in social and political contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how euphemistic and dysphemistic language affects the evaluation of actions.
• To determine if providing detailed action descriptions mitigates the impact of loaded language.
• To assess perceptions of truthfulness and agent trustworthiness when such language is employed.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 1906 U.S. residents evaluating actions described with varying terms.
• Comparison of action evaluations using disagreeable terms versus semantically related agreeable terms.
• Analysis of the effect of detailed action descriptions on the influence of loaded language.

Main Results:

• Replacing disagreeable terms with agreeable ones made action evaluations more favorable.
• Detailed action descriptions reduced, but did not eliminate, the bias from loaded language.
• Participants perceived descriptions using loaded terms as truthful and agents as trustworthy, distinguishing them from liars.

Conclusions:

• Strategic use of euphemisms and dysphemisms can effectively manipulate public opinion.
• This linguistic manipulation can sway judgments without resorting to outright falsehoods.
• Such tactics pose a risk to public discourse, akin to the impact of "fake news."