Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing
Linguistic expressions of respectful terms are shaped by social status. Previous studies have shown respectful term usage affects online language processing. This study investigates its impact on semantic integration through three self-pace reading experiments, manipulating Respect Consistency (Resp...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| author | Wenjing Yu Yuhan Xie Xiaohong Yang |
| author_facet | Wenjing Yu Yuhan Xie Xiaohong Yang |
| author_sort | Wenjing Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Linguistic expressions of respectful terms are shaped by social status. Previous studies have shown respectful term usage affects online language processing. This study investigates its impact on semantic integration through three self-pace reading experiments, manipulating Respect Consistency (Respect vs. Disrespect) and Semantic Consistency (Semantic Consistent vs. Semantic Inconsistent). In Experiment 1, disrespect was manipulated by using the plain form of pronouns instead of the respectful form when addressing individuals of higher social status. The results showed longer reading times for semantically inconsistent sentences compared to consistent ones, reflecting the classic semantic integration effect. Nevertheless, this effect was only detected when respectful pronouns were employed. For Experiments 2 and 3, disrespect was operationalized by directly addressing individuals of higher social status by their personal names. A comparable interaction to that in Experiment 1 was identified solely in Experiment 3, which involved an appropriateness judgment task. In contrast, no such interaction was observed in Experiment 2, which involved a reading comprehension task. These results indicated that both disrespectful pronouns and addressing individuals by their personal names hinder semantic integration, but through different mechanisms. These findings provide important insights into the role of respectful term usage on semantic integration during discourse comprehension. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-086e3dc9bd0341e0bf754fd473cff7af |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-086e3dc9bd0341e0bf754fd473cff7af2025-08-20T02:24:39ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-04-0115444810.3390/bs15040448Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse ProcessingWenjing Yu0Yuhan Xie1Xiaohong Yang2Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, ChinaLinguistic expressions of respectful terms are shaped by social status. Previous studies have shown respectful term usage affects online language processing. This study investigates its impact on semantic integration through three self-pace reading experiments, manipulating Respect Consistency (Respect vs. Disrespect) and Semantic Consistency (Semantic Consistent vs. Semantic Inconsistent). In Experiment 1, disrespect was manipulated by using the plain form of pronouns instead of the respectful form when addressing individuals of higher social status. The results showed longer reading times for semantically inconsistent sentences compared to consistent ones, reflecting the classic semantic integration effect. Nevertheless, this effect was only detected when respectful pronouns were employed. For Experiments 2 and 3, disrespect was operationalized by directly addressing individuals of higher social status by their personal names. A comparable interaction to that in Experiment 1 was identified solely in Experiment 3, which involved an appropriateness judgment task. In contrast, no such interaction was observed in Experiment 2, which involved a reading comprehension task. These results indicated that both disrespectful pronouns and addressing individuals by their personal names hinder semantic integration, but through different mechanisms. These findings provide important insights into the role of respectful term usage on semantic integration during discourse comprehension.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/448respectfulnesssemantic integrationglobal resource theorylanguage comprehensiondiscourse processing |
| spellingShingle | Wenjing Yu Yuhan Xie Xiaohong Yang Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing Behavioral Sciences respectfulness semantic integration global resource theory language comprehension discourse processing |
| title | Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing |
| title_full | Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing |
| title_short | Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing |
| title_sort | impact of respectfulness on semantic integration during discourse processing |
| topic | respectfulness semantic integration global resource theory language comprehension discourse processing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/448 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wenjingyu impactofrespectfulnessonsemanticintegrationduringdiscourseprocessing AT yuhanxie impactofrespectfulnessonsemanticintegrationduringdiscourseprocessing AT xiaohongyang impactofrespectfulnessonsemanticintegrationduringdiscourseprocessing |