An extended Chinese social evaluative word list

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Linguistics
• Sociology
• Computational Social Science

Background:

• Social evaluation is fundamental to human interaction and language.
• Existing Chinese social evaluative word lists are limited, primarily based on the big-two model (agency and warmth).
• A need exists for a more comprehensive and nuanced set of social evaluative terms in Chinese.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an extended, standardized Chinese word list for social evaluation.
• To cover a broader range of social evaluative dimensions beyond agency and warmth.
• To provide a valuable resource for researchers across multiple social science disciplines.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale survey (n=1,270) was conducted using 1,908 potential social evaluative words.
• Participants rated words on five extended dimensions: appearance, socioeconomic status, sociability, competence, and morality, and their positivity/negativity.
• Words were selected based on their dominant association with one of the five dimensions.

Main Results:

• A final word list of 1,040 Chinese social evaluative words was created.
• The list is categorized across five dimensions: appearance (245 words), socioeconomic status (108), sociability (93), competence (261), and morality (333).
• Each category includes a breakdown of positive, neutral, and negative terms.

Conclusions:

• The developed word list offers a significant expansion of available Chinese social evaluative terms.
• This resource will facilitate more nuanced research in social psychology, linguistics, sociology, and computational social science.
• The extended dimensions provide a richer framework for understanding social perception in Chinese contexts.