“You” and “I” in a foreign land: The persuasive force of generic-you

Publication date: November 2019Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 85Author(s): Ariana Orvell, Ethan Kross, Susan A. GelmanAbstractNorms help people navigate their social lives, dictating what behaviors are typical, expected, or valued in a given context. Here we suggest that a subtle linguistic cue—the generic usage of the word “you” (i.e., “you” that refers to people in general rather than to one or more specific individuals) carries persuasive force, influencing how people discern unfamiliar norms. Across five experiments (N = 800), people endorsed unfamiliar behaviors described with generic-you (e.g., “You share them with your friends”) as more normatively correct than behaviors expressed with ‘I’ (e.g., “I share them with my family”) or third-person singular pronouns (“he” or “she”; e.g., “She shares them with her family”). These effects persisted even when participants were told that their informants were highly knowledgeable about the norms. Together, these findings indicate that generic-you functions as a linguistic nudge that carries persuasive force. Broadly, they add to a growing body of literature on how subtle linguistic shifts can meaningfully influence social cognition.

Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - September 5, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research