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Word Choice Affects Social Judgments: Relational Messages Containing Low-Frequency Words Get Low Evaluations.

Michael W Alban¹

¹Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.

Psychological Reports

|November 12, 2024

Summary

Using complex words in messages, even between friends, can negatively impact how persuasive, competent, and sincere you seem. Simpler language generally leads to better social judgments in communication.

Keywords:

Social judgments processing fluency selective construction and preservation of experience framework word choice word frequency

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Linguistics
Social Cognition

Background:

Prior research established a word complexity effect, where complex vocabulary reduces favorability in formal communications.
The impact of word complexity on interpersonal and spoken communication remained less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if word complexity influences social judgments in informal written messages between friends.
To examine the effect of word choice on evaluations of spoken messages.
To assess persuasiveness, competence, and sincerity as dimensions of social judgment affected by word complexity.

Main Methods:

Participants evaluated written messages that differed in word complexity (ordinary vs. low-frequency words).
Experiment 2 extended this to spoken messages.
Evaluations focused on perceived persuasiveness, competence, and sincerity.

Main Results:

Messages using low-frequency words generally received lower evaluations across both written and spoken contexts.
The word complexity effect was consistently observed in messages between friends.
Feedback analysis indicated that complex vocabulary can conflict with social communication norms.

Conclusions:

Word choice significantly impacts social judgments in interpersonal communication, including informal and spoken contexts.
The findings suggest social judgments are influenced by both conscious communication beliefs and unconscious processing fluency.
Overuse of complex vocabulary may hinder effective communication by reducing perceived fluency and likability.