The strategic role of language abstraction in achieving symbolic and practical goals

Abstract

This article addresses the role of linguistic abstraction in the achievement of symbolic and practical goals. Reviewing evidence from laboratory studies, we first elaborate on the power of language as a means of ingroup enhancement or outgroup derogation under different intergroup conditions. We then report several experimental and archival studies that showed how language serves the achievement of different practical goals such as initiating, maintaining, and ending romantic relations, accounting for individual and group decisions, maintaining or obtaining political and gender power, and persuading others. The analysis of open-ended language measures—which represents a methodological thread of the reviewed studies—shows how language is strategically moulded according to individual and group goals in laboratory as well as in real-life contexts. The implications of the interplay among language, cognition, and action are addressed.

Keywords:

• Linguistic abstraction
• Goals
• Minimal groups
• Political communication
• Personnel selection

The research reported in this article was supported by research funds RFO-2011, RFO-2012 Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna and FIRB 2012-MIUR, RBFR128CR6_004.

We are very grateful to Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments in the editorial processing of the article.

Notes

¹ In this study, as well as in Rubini, Moscatelli, Albarello et al. (2007), we assigned 0 to participants who lacked a score in the positive or negative abstraction index. In fact, we reasoned that the absence of positive terms could be intended as indicating the least favourability towards the target, whereas the absence of negative terms could be intended as indicating the least unfavourability towards the target. However, in order to avoid possible confounding results, in all other studies we did not consider participants who failed to use both positive and negative terms.

² Unless otherwise specified, in all the studies described in the article open-ended responses and spontaneous utterances in natural settings were analysed as described here. In all cases, the intercoder reliability was good for both linguistic categories and valence. Disagreement was solved by discussion.