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How syntax promotes stereotypes: Assessing the role of pragmatic inference
Kevin J Holmes1, Sarah H Wu2, Nan Elpers2,3
1Department of Psychology, Reed College, 3203 Woodstock Blvd, Portland, OR, 97202, USA. kjholmes@reed.edu.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|January 6, 2026
Summary
Linguistic framing effects, like those concerning math ability, are not irrational. They stem from pragmatic inferences in language, demonstrating how communication shapes social beliefs.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Linguistic framing influences social beliefs, with traditional views attributing this to irrational cognitive biases.
- Subject-complement syntax can create framing effects, where the complement group becomes the reference point.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if framing effects from subject-complement syntax rely on pragmatic inference abilities.
- To determine if individuals can infer pragmatic meaning from linguistic structures.
Main Methods:
- Two preregistered experiments with 1,593 participants.
- Assessed participants' ability to infer implicatures from subject-complement syntax.
- Controlled for social-cognitive abilities and analyzed framing effect reduction when awareness was explicit.
Main Results:
- Higher ability to infer implicatures correlated with stronger framing effects.
- This relationship persisted across different social groups and controlled for other pragmatic skills.
- Framing effects decreased when participants recognized the influence and explicitly discounted stereotypes.
Conclusions:
- Pragmatic inference is key to understanding subject-complement framing effects.
- Individuals do not automatically accept inferred meanings, suggesting a degree of rational processing.
- Framing effects are a natural outcome of human communication, not solely irrational biases.
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