Title Information
Title
Medium Matters: Signaling Social Power in the Age of Online Messaging
Type of Resource
text
Name: Personal
Name Part
Siff, Emily J.
Role
Role Term: Text
creator
Name: Personal
Name Part
Amit, Elinor
Role
Role Term: Text
Reader
Name: Personal
Name Part
Sloman, Steven
Role
Role Term: Text
Advisor
Name: Personal
Name Part
Feiman, Roman
Role
Role Term: Text
Reader
Name: Corporate
Name Part
Brown University. Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences
Role
Role Term: Text
sponsor
Origin Information
Copyright Date
2020
Physical Description
Extent
vi, 55 p.
digitalOrigin
born digital
Note: thesis
Thesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2020
Genre (aat)
theses
Abstract
Our capacity to swiftly and easily send digital images is an advancement unique to the last decade. Facilitated by the rise of online messaging platforms (e.g. Facebook, iMessage), the exponential surge in online graphic use (e.g. photographs, emojis) raises the question: Do images convey different information than words? Research in two distinct fields – linguistic abstraction and social distance perception – strongly suggests that there is an unexplored link between the medium of a message (images versus words) and social power. Specifically, past research lends itself to the prediction that those in higher positions of power use images (versus words) less frequently than those in lower positions of power (e.g. Magee & Smith, 2013; Smith & Trope, 2006; Torrez et al., 2019). Via four online studies, we investigated this potential link between medium and social power. Studies 1 and 2 (Perception Studies) examined how the medium of a message affects the perceived power of another person. Studies 3 and 4 (Production Studies) examined how a person’s position of power affects which medium they choose to use in their messages. Across all studies, results consistently indicated that people can signal and infer social power from the medium of a message. With billions of people now using online messaging platforms that have digital image options, it is particularly critical to understand how the medium we use (images versus words) conveys our social power.
Subject (fast) (authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/00866457")
Topic
Cognition
Subject (fast) (authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/00866547")
Topic
Cognitive science
Subject
Topic
behavior
Subject (fast) (authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/01074219")
Topic
Power (Social sciences)
Subject (fast) (authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/01741098")
Topic
Social media
Subject (fast) (authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/00794769")
Topic
Abstraction
Subject
Topic
social distance perception
Subject
Topic
visual representations
Subject
Topic
verbal representations
Language
Language Term (ISO639-2B)
English
Record Information
Record Content Source (marcorg)
RPB
Record Creation Date (encoding="iso8601")
20200720
Access Condition: rights statement (href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/")
In Copyright
Access Condition: restriction on access
Collection is open for research.