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From the individual to the group: The enhancement of linguistic bias
Author(s) -
Menegatti Michela,
Rubini Monica
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.856
Subject(s) - psychology , abstraction , selection (genetic algorithm) , social psychology , task (project management) , group (periodic table) , in group favoritism , group decision making , position (finance) , linguistics , cognitive psychology , social group , epistemology , artificial intelligence , management , organic chemistry , finance , social identity theory , computer science , economics , philosophy , chemistry
The present contribution tested the general hypothesis that individual tendencies in the choice of terms at different levels of abstraction are enhanced when the same descriptions are formulated by a group. We compared the level of abstraction of individual and collective written judgements about applicants for a job position and found that the selection linguistic bias collectively expressed by hiring committees became more extreme in the direction established by initial individual judgements. Negative terms used to describe rejected applicants became more abstract, and those used to describe selected applicants became more concrete from individual to collective judgements. Conversely, positive terms employed to describe rejected applicants were more concrete in collective than individual judgements. Implications of these findings for the notion of language as a tool that enables coupling between group‐shared knowledge and group goals activated by the task at hand are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.