Consensus and stratification in the affective meaning of human sociality.
We investigate intrasocietal consensus and variation in affective meanings of concepts related to authority and community, two elementary forms of human sociality. Survey participants (n = 2,849) from different socioeconomic status (SES) groups in German society provided ratings of 909 social concepts along three basic dimensions of affective meaning. Results show widespread consensus on these meanings within society and demonstrate that a meaningful structure of socially shared knowledge emerges from organizing concepts according to their affective similarity. The consensus finding is further qualified by evidence for subtle systematic variation along SES differences. In relation to affectively neutral words, high-status individuals evaluate intimacy-related and socially desirable concepts as less positive and powerful than middle- or low-status individuals, while perceiving antisocial concepts as relatively more threatening. This systematic variation across SES groups suggests that the affective meaning of sociality is to some degree a function of social stratification.
Department of Sociology,Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion," and jens.ambrasat@fu-berlin.de.
Jens
J
Ambrasat
Department of Sociology,Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion," andGerman Institute for Economic Research (DIW), D-10117 Berlin, Germany;
Christian
C
von Scheve
Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion," andGeneral and Neurocognitive Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany;Department of Cognitive Psychology, Universidad de La Laguna, 8204 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and.
Markus
M
Conrad
Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion," andGeneral and Neurocognitive Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany;
Gesche
G
Schauenburg
Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion," andInstitute for Urban Futures, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, D-14469 Potsdam, Germany.
Tobias
T
Schröder
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D032921:Consensus; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044382:Population Groups; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012660:Semantics; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D012925:Social Conformity; D012930:Social Dominance
affect control theory; cluster analysis; cultural concensus; large-scale survey; mixed-effects models