Causal Effects of Language on the Exchange of Social Support in an Online Community.
The provision of social support is a common function of many online communities, but a full understanding of the causal effect of emotion language on the provision of support requires experimental study. The frequency of positive- and negative-emotion words in simulated posts requesting emotional support was manipulated and presented to a sample of college students (N = 442) who were randomly assigned to read one of four simulated posts. Participants completed measures of the original poster's (OP's) distress, and they provided a response to the simulated post. These responses were subjected to a computerized text analysis, and their overall effectiveness was rated by two independent judges. Fewer positive-emotion and more negative-emotion words in the simulated post led to perceptions that the OP was distressed and unable to cope. Participant-generated responses to the post were highest in positive-emotion words when the simulated post was high in positive-emotion words, but low in negative-emotion words. Finally, simulated posts that were low in positive-emotion words received responses that were judged to be more effective than did simulated posts that were high in positive-emotion words. These findings have implications for understanding the role of emotion language on the exchange of online social support.
Department of Psychology, Illinois State University , Normal, Illinois.
Sarah A
SA
Biehl
Department of Psychology, Illinois State University , Normal, Illinois.
Jeffrey H
JH
Kahn
D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication / Q000523:psychology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D011932:Reading; D060756:Social Networking; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult