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Preferences surf on the currents of words: Implicit verb causality influences evaluative conditioning

Walther, Eva; Langer, Tina; Weil, Rebecca; Komischke, Melina

Authors

Eva Walther

Tina Langer

Rebecca Weil

Melina Komischke



Abstract

It is a psychological truism that thought shapes language. However, the idea that language constrains cognition is less well understood and has been debated in philosophy, linguistic, and psychology. The goal of the present research was to investigate the influence of language, as given in linguistic categories, on the formation of evaluations in an interpersonal impression formation context. Specifically, we examined the role of different verb classes in the formation of interpersonal (dis‐)likes within an evaluative conditioning (EC) paradigm. EC refers to the change in liking in a conditioned stimulus (CS) as a result of its' pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (US). In contrast to traditional EC accounts that assume the rigid and unrestricted change in valence due to CS–US co‐occurrence, we found that EC was moderated by language, that is, by the linguistic status of the US. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Citation

Walther, E., Langer, T., Weil, R., & Komischke, M. (2011). Preferences surf on the currents of words: Implicit verb causality influences evaluative conditioning. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(1), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.785

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 1, 2010
Online Publication Date Dec 9, 2010
Publication Date Feb 1, 2011
Deposit Date Jan 22, 2020
Journal European Journal of Social Psychology
Print ISSN 0046-2772
Electronic ISSN 1099-0992
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 41
Issue 1
Pages 17-22
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.785
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3378512
Publisher URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.785