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When apologizing to victims of transgressions, people may assign the agency for harm to themselves ("I'm sorry I offended you"), to the act ("I'm sorry it offended you"), or omit agency altogether ("I'm sorry you were offended"). They also may acknowledge or question the victim's harm by the choice of conjunction used to introduce an explanatory subordinate clause ("I'm sorry that you were offended" vs. "I'm sorry if you were offended"). Participants (n = 1,118) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 12 versions of a scenario wherein someone commits a transgression (e.g., breaks a promise) and then apologizes. Versions varied on degree of offense (minor or major), apology agency assignment (transgressor, transgression, or omitted), and conjunction choice ("that" or "if"). Results indicated that apologies assigning agency to the transgressor or transgression invited more favorable perceptions of the transgressor than those omitting agency. However, there was no reliable main effect nor interaction involving subordinating conjunction choice. Our findings demonstrate the impact of strategic word choice in apology on victims' perceptions of transgressors.

The reported study investigated how newlyweds linguistically encode changes in relationship commitment in retrospective courtship narratives. In particular, we explored their use of emotion words and its correspondence with "temporal agency," that is, the attribution of temporal change to human actors or to abstract events and processes. A corpus of courtship narratives composed by recently married participants was analyzed. Narrators used a higher frequency of positive emotion terms (e.g., wonderful) and human temporal agency assignments (e.g., We spent Thanksgiving together) to describe episodes they associated with an increase in relationship commitment from others they associated with a decrease. When describing increases in commitment, their expression of positive emotion partially mediated human temporal agency assignments. However, they did not use significantly more negative emotion words (e.g., sad) or abstract temporal agency assignments (e.g., Our relationship went through a tough period) to describe decreases in commitment than increases. The implications of these findings for relational discourse analysis and embodiment theory are considered.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious health threat that healthcare providers must communicate to the public to decelerate its development. Prior studies have shown that linguistic agency assignment is a viable strategy to frame health threats in a way that both conveys their severity and preserves audience members' sense of self-efficacy. In the current study, we examined this messaging strategy in the context of antibiotic resistance. Individuals' perceptions of the threat and efficacy, behavioral intentions, fear appeals, and evaluations of the educational fact sheet were explored. Participants (N = 449) were randomly assigned to one of the eight conditions crossing threat agency (bacteria/human), temporal agency (antibiotic resistance/human) and imagery agency (taking antibiotics/antibiotics). The results revealed that individuals' perceived severity, susceptibility, response efficacy, and self-efficacy were positively associated with their intentions to use antibiotics judiciously. The interaction effects between perceived threat and efficacy predicted behavioral intentions and the persuasiveness of the fact sheet. Relative to bacteria threat agency, human agency assignment led to significantly higher behavioral intentions. Also, readers of the human temporal agency condition reported higher persuasiveness toward the fact sheet than readers of the resistance condition. The implications, limitations, and future research directions of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To its credit, conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) has drawn significant attention to the question of what figurative language can tell us about human concepts. However, the answers CMT theorists have offered are typically unsubstantiated by the empirical evidence, and occasionally unfalsifiable. This reply to Raymond W. Gibbs Jr.'s positive evaluation of the theory offers an alternative assessment that is more critical of its shortcomings. This critique summarizes four basic problems with CMT: The theory (a) is attributionally ambiguous about the locus of metaphoric motivation, (b) commits a form of the infamous "homunculus problem" in philosophy of mind, (c) employs circular reasoning to formulate hypotheses and interpret linguistic evidence, and (d) is not parsimonious. All of these problems are evident in Gibbs's piece, and thereby undermine his defense of CMT's explanatory value. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

This study investigated communicative strategies for helping female students cope with "stereotype threat". Participants completed a difficult math test after reading one of three coping messages: a control message encouraging perseverance, a "suppression" message describing stereotype threat and instructing participants to suppress associated thoughts, and a "replacement" message describing the phenomenon and presenting an alternative, self-relevant positive stereotype. As predicted, a performance gap favoring males was observed in the control condition. This gap widened when students attempted to suppress threatening thoughts but narrowed when they were primed with the alternative positive stereotype. Our results demonstrate that priming a positive achieved identity (e.g., private college student) can subdue stereotype threat associated with an ascribed identity (e.g., female). (Contains 1 table.)

Men tend to achieve higher response accuracy than women on surveys of political knowledge. We investigated the possibility that this performance gap is moderated by factors that render the communicative context of a survey intellectually threatening to women and thereby induce stereotype threat. In a telephone survey of college students' political knowledge, we manipulated two factors of the survey context: the alleged diagnosticity of the question set (i.e., whether it was portrayed as being sensitive to potential gender differences) and the gender of the interviewer. Consistent with previous studies of political knowledge, men scored higher than women overall. However, as predicted, this difference was reliably moderated by the manipulated factors. Women's scores were not reliably different from men's when the survey was portrayed as nondiagnostic and when women were interviewed by female interviewers. Diagnosticity and interviewer gender had no effects on men's scores. Consistent with previous research on stereotype threat, these results suggest that explicit and implicit cues reminding women of the possibility that they might confirm a negative gender stereotype can impair their retrieval of political knowledge.

Stereotype threat research provides insight into how the low standardized test scores of students from stigmatized social groups may derive in part from the negative performance expectations about these groups. Because these students belong to many social groups, one means of mitigating the threat is to remind them of their membership in groups for which there are positive performance expectations. We tested this hypothesis by priming different social identities among undergraduates prior to administering a standardized test of spatial reasoning, the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. We found that females who were primed to contemplate their identity as students at a selective private college performed better than those who were primed to contemplate their sex or a test-irrelevant identity. For males, priming their sex increased performance relative to the test-irrelevant or private college student primes. These results demonstrate the potential of reminding students of their achieved identities (e.g., private college student) in an effort to subdue evaluation apprehension created by negative stereotypes about their ascribed identities, such as being female in the case of spatial abilities.

People's evaluations of stimuli may change when they verbally attempt to communicate the reasons underlying their judgments. The reported experiments demonstrate the interactive influence of expertise, verbalizability (i.e., the ease with which stimulus features can be linguistically encoded), and appraisal mode in the verbalization bias phenomenon. In Experiment 1, art novices and experts rated their liking of artworks with compositional features that were easy (e.g., figurative-naturalistic) or difficult (e.g., abstract) to verbalize. When asked to verbalize the reasons underlying their judgments, novices assigned lower ratings to abstract but not figurative works. Experts, in contrast, were not influenced by the verbalization manipulation. Experiment 2 explored the possibility that verbalization bias is attributable to a componential appraisal mode that verbalization induces, rather than the specific reasons that people articulate. We found that verbalizing reasons for liking or disliking one abstract work influenced art novices' judgments of a second work for which they did not attempt to verbalize reasons. Moreover, those who merely attempted to verbalize their perceptual experiences also exhibited this contamination effect. The results of both studies suggest that verbalizing the attributes of complex stimuli can significantly alter the way we evaluate these stimuli.

Ecosystems change between arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal vegetation dominance over anthropological and geological time scales, yet consequences for ecosystem function are unclear. We review four hypotheses for the effect of mycorrhizal status on ecosystem function. Specifically, that differences between ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal dominated ecosystems are driven by (1) foliar trait differences, (2) positive plant-soil feedback in ectomycorrhizal plants, (3) differences in the ability to dissolve rocks as a source of nutrition, and (4) differences in the ability to use organic nutrients. We find no universal difference in foliar traits with mycorrhizal status. A spatial simulation suggests that positive plant-soil feedback in ectomycorrhizal plants is unlikely to drive ecosystem differences. However, negative feedback appears to be more common in arbuscular mycorrhizal trees than ectomycorrhizal trees and may represent an important ecosystem difference. Rock dissolution occurs under both mycorrhizal types but may differ in rate. Hypothesis 4 was the best supported: a model and some field evidence suggest that decoupling of carbon and nutrients in ectomycorrhizal decomposition leads to inhibition of saprotrophic mineralization, with context-dependent effects. Greater understanding of organic nutrient utilization differences may be key to improving incorporation of mycorrhizas in ecosystem ecology. Key words: ectomycorrhizas, rock-eating fungi, plant traits, ecosystem function, nutrient cycling, density dependence. Les ecosystemes changent sur le plan de la dominance de la vegetation mycorhizienne arbusculaire et ectomycorhizienne au cours d'une echelle de temps anthropologique et geologique, les consequences de ce changement pour la fonction de l'ecosysteme n'etant toujours pas claires. Nous passons en revue quatre hypotheses relatives a l'effet du statut mycorhizien sur la fonction de l'ecosysteme. Specifiquement, que les differences qui existent entre les ecosystemes domines par les ectomycorhizes et les mycorhizes arbusculaires sont determines par (1) les differences de traits foliaires, (2) la retroaction positive plante-sol chez les plantes ectomycorhiziennes, (3) les differences dans la capacite a dissoudre la roche comme source nutritive, et (4) les differences dans la capacite d'utiliser des nutriments organiques. Nous ne trouvons pas de difference universelle dans les traits foliaires en fonction du statut mycorhizien. Une simulation spatiale suggere qu'une retroaction plante-sol positive chez les plantes ectomycorhiziennes ne determine probablement pas les differences ecosystemiques. Toutefois, une retroaction negative semble plus repandue chez les arbres a mycorhizes arbusculaires que chez les arbres a ectomycorhizes, et ceci peut constituer une difference ecosystemique importante. La dissolution de la roche survient en presence des deux types de mycorhizes, mais elle peut differer sur le plan du taux. L'hypothese 4 etait la mieux appuyee : un modele et certaines donnees de terrain suggerent que le decouplage du carbone et des nutriments dans la decomposition ectomycorhizienne mene a l'inhibition de la mineralisation saprophyte, en presence d'effets dependants du contexte. Une meilleure comprehension des differences dans l'utilisation des nutriments organiques peut etre cruciale afin d'ameliorer l'incorporation des mycorhizes dans l'ecologie ecosystemique. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : ectomycorhizes, champignons utilisant la roche comme source nutritive, traits vegetaux, fonction de l'ecosysteme, recyclage des nutriments, dependance a la densite., Introduction In his seminal paper, 'Mycorrhizas in Ecosystems', Read (1991) mapped the world by mycorrhizal type (e.g., ectomycorrhizal forests dominating the temperate and boreal zones and arbuscular mycorrhizal vegetation dominating [...]

Persuasive analogies consist of linguistic cues that invite audiences to represent a problem in terms of an analog and to make choices compatible with this manipulated representation. The authors explore how the frequency of linguistic cues moderates analogical bias in choice behavior. Participants read versions of a managerial decision scenario differing in the number of sports (e.g., game plan) or family (e.g., parent company) idioms used to describe situational attributes and then chose between analogically consistent and inconsistent response options. Analogies consisting of an intermediate number of cues elicited higher rates of analogically consistent responding than those of higher and lower cue frequency. When explaining their responses, participants referred to the sports or family analogies most often to rationalize rejecting the analogically consistent response option after reading high cue frequency versions. These findings indicate that there are lower and upper boundaries to a persuasive analogy's optimal cue frequency. Keywords: analogy, idioms, decision making, choice

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2006.02.016 Byline: Matthew S. McGlone Keywords: Metaphor; Analogy; Figurative language; Concepts; Categorization Abstract: Lakoff [Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1987.] and other 'conceptual metaphor' theorists have argued that our use and understanding of figurative language is mediated by unconscious metaphoric correspondences that structure human concepts. Communication scholars have employed the conceptual metaphor framework to infer attitudes and beliefs from the figurative expressions people use to describe their personal experiences. However, these scholars rarely scrutinize the framework's assumptions, many of which have been vigorously challenged in other disciplines. In this article, I critically assess the explanatory value of the 'conceptual metaphor' construct and review the empirical evidence for and against it. Based on this assessment, I conclude that despite its important atmospheric influence, the conceptual metaphor framework has not fared well as an account of conceptual structure or a model of figurative language understanding. Author Affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1105, Austin, TX 78712-0115, United States

Communicators may representationally displace an unpleasant topic by avoiding direct reference to it (e.g., she died) in favor of a euphemism (she's no longer with us). How does a euphemism's displacement capacity change over its career in the vernacular? Linguists have assumed that this capacity deteriorates as euphemisms become conventional and thus 'contaminated' by their association with negative referents. In contrast, communicative pragmatics theory suggests that conventionality may confer camouflage-like properties to euphemisms, enabling addressees to process them in a mindless fashion. We report two studies investigating these divergent theoretical accounts. Study 1 explored the relationship between perceptions of euphemisms' familiarity and politeness. Study 2 examined the attributional consequences of conventional and unconventional euphemistic encodings of an ostensibly taboo topic. Our results contradict the associative contamination hypothesis and comport with the camouflage hypothesis. Keywords: Euphemism; Politeness; Idioms; Pragmatics; Sociolinguistics

Contextual definition and consequences of contextomy are represented. When audiences prompt contextomay, a false impression of the source is formed and when the quote is restored to its original context it contaminates subsequent interpretation. Either favoring policy of the source or opposing the policy is portrayed by quotations excerpted from a neutral paragraph.

Euphemism was found to be more useful to protect the individual utilizing the euphemism rather than the individual that was addressed.

Linguists have noted that 2 distinct movement perspectives are implicit in English temporal expressions: a 1st in which events are stationary relative to a moving observer (the moving-ego perspective) and a 2nd in which events move relative to a stationary observer (the moving-time perspective). Two experiments are reported that investigated the role of these perspectives in temporal language comprehension. Experiment 1 used a paradigm in which the comprehension of a target temporal sentence could potentially be facilitated or disrupted by the perspective implied by prior context. In Experiment 2, prior context was manipulated in a similar fashion in an effort to influence participants' interpretations of ostensibly ambiguous temporal statements. The results of both experiments suggest that people do use perspective information when they encounter moving-ego and moving-time temporal sentences in discourse.

This study used the regulatory focus/fit framework to compare the impact of text message wording on college students' drinking behaviors. In this 2 × 3 × 2 pre-test/post-test experiment, participants (N = 279) were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: messages matching regulatory focus (congruent group), messages mismatching regulatory focus (incongruent group), and general health messages (control group). Messages were tailored by regulatory fit (prevention-oriented or promotion-oriented). Mixed factorial analyses of covariance revealed that prevention-oriented individuals who received text messages incongruent with their regulatory focus reported drinking alcohol for more hours and were more likely to consume a higher quantity of drinks than participants in the congruent or control group. These findings suggest that health messages mismatched to a receiver's regulatory focus might exacerbate unhealthy behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of research on HPV vaccination, the U.S. has still not achieved optimal vaccination rates. This study investigated two different message strategies (agency assignment and deviance regulation marking) for encouraging HPV vaccination in two different populations: parents considering vaccinating their children and young adults (18–26) considering vaccinating themselves. Using a 2 × 3 × 3 online experiment, this study examined the differences between the two message target groups and the effects of the different message strategies on psychological precursors to HPV vaccination and vaccination intention. The findings indicate that using both agency and deviance regulation marking message strategies provided a significant increase in HPV vaccination intentions. However, there were many differences in terms of the variables influencing HPV vaccination decision making in young adults (18–26) and parents making decisions for their children. Specifically, using human agency and a deviance message increased HPV vaccine confidence in young adults, but did not in parents. Implications of these findings for designing different messages directed to these target groups along with future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contextomy refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way that distorts the source's intended meaning. Contextomy is employed in contemporary mass media to promote products, defame public figures and misappropriate rhetoric.