title: A decline in prosocial language helps explain public disapproval of the US Congress.
abstract: Talking about helping others makes a person seem warm and leads to social approval. This work examines the real world consequences of this basic, social-cognitive phenomenon by examining whether record-low levels of public approval of the US Congress may, in part, be a product of declining use of prosocial language during Congressional debates. A text analysis of all 124 million words spoken in the House of Representatives between 1996 and 2014 found that declining levels of prosocial language strongly predicted public disapproval of Congress 6 mo later. Warm, prosocial language still predicted public approval when removing the effects of societal and global factors (e.g., the September 11 attacks) and Congressional efficacy (e.g., passing bills), suggesting that prosocial language has an independent, direct effect on social approval.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada; jeremyfrimer@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jeremy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Frimer
authors.affiliation: Marketing and Behavioral Sciences Division, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada;
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aquino
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, University of Mannheim, D68159 Mannheim, Germany;
authors.forename: Jochen E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gebauer
authors.affiliation: Marketing and Behavioral Sciences Division, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada; Department of Business Administration, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V4, Canada; and.
authors.forename: Luke Lei
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Harrison
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oakes
mesh_terms: D006076:Government; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D011639:Public Opinion; D012919:Social Behavior; D014481:United States
keywords: LIWC; US Congress; impression formation; language; public approval