Investigating the use of first - and second- person pronouns on complaining behavior and mood

Badlani, Ashana; Sunderranjan, Aashna

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90211 Copy

Description

Title

Investigating the use of first - and second- person pronouns on complaining behavior and mood

Author(s)

• Badlani, Ashana
• Sunderranjan, Aashna

Contributor(s)

Albarracín, Dolores

Issue Date

2016

Keyword(s)

• Language
• Complaining
• Mood
• Pronouns

Abstract

The act of complaining is everywhere. Researchers have found that participants exhibit better moods after complaining in subjective situations. Additionally, they have found that when participants use second-person pronouns in self-talk, they are able to distance themselves from the situation and regulate their emotions better, as opposed to using first-person pronouns in self-talk. Therefore, this experiment investigated the language used in complaining behavior. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether individuals who complained using second-person pronouns reported better moods after complaining, than those using first-person pronouns. We collected responses from 118 participants (66=female; 52=male) where they were asked to complain using first- or second person pronouns for five complaint-inducing vignettes. Mood was measured before and after participants complained. Two separate multivariate ANOVAs revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in mood based on the pronoun used whilst complaining. Qualitative data was also analyzed to see if there were differences in complaining behavior. As opposed to the participants in the first-person condition, participants in the second-person condition exhibited solutions to problems after complaining. However, the differences were not significant enough to elicit mood changes.

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90211

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016, Badlani and Sunderrajan

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