Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Power Talk: Communication Styles, Vocalization Rates and Dominance

  • Published:
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Humans are social beings that form hierarchies to gain and maintain resources. Dominant positions are often obtained through resource control strategies, displayed through language. Language can be examined in a number of ways including number of vocalizations and pragmatic skills. The benefit of pragmatic skills, in relationship to popularity (group dominance), can be explained by virtue signalling and the sociometer theory. The current study examined the relationship of individuals in a novel group setting. Results revealed that popularity within the group was related to the number of vocalizations and increased pragmatic skills. Taken together, it appears that vocalizations and pragmatic skills may help individuals signal their position within the hierarchy, while monitoring the social communications of others.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afghari, A. (2007). A sociopragmatic study of apology speech act realization patterns in Persian. Speech Communication, 49(3), 177–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2007.01.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Areni, C. S., & Sparks, J. R. (2005). Language power and persuasion. Psychology & Marketing, 22(6), 507–525. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20071.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkeson, T. D., Marchinton, R. L., & Miller, K. V. (1988). Vocalizations of white-tailed deer. The American Midland Naturalist, 120(1), 194–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bowyer, R. T., & Kitchen, D. W. (1987). Sex and age-class differences in vocalization of Roosevelt Elk during rut. The American Midland Naturalist, 118(2), 225–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinton, B., Fujiki, M., & Baldridge, M. (2010). The trajectory of language impairment into adolescence: What four young women can teach us. Seminars in Speech and Language, 31(2), 122–134. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0030-1252113.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeLuzio, J., & Girolametto, L. (2011). Peer interactions of preschool children with and without hearing loss. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(4), 1197–1210. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2010/10-0099).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durkin, K., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2007). Language, social behavior, and the quality of friendships in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment. Child Development, 78(5), 1441–1457.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fitch, W. T., Huber, L., & Bugnyar, T. (2010). Social cognition and the evolution of language: constructing cognitive phylogenies. Neuron, 65(6), 795–814.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gernsbacher, M. A., & Pripas-Kapit, S. R. (2012). Who’s missing the point? A commentary on claims that autistic persons have a specific deficit in figurative language comprehension. Metaphor and Symbol, 27(1), 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2012.656255.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ghahari, S., Hassani, H., & Purmofrad, M. (2016). Pragmatic competency and obsessive–compulsive disorder: A comparative assessment with normal controls. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1–13.

  • Gibbs, R. W., Jr. (2000). Irony in talk among friends. Metaphor and Symbol, 15(1–2), 5–27. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms151&2_2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, M. H., & Kyratzis, A. (2007). Children socializing children: Practices for negotiating the social order among peers. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 40(4), 279–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701471260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handwerker, W. P., & Crosbie, P. V. (1982). Sex and dominance. American Anthropologist, 84(1), 97–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H. (1999). The ontogenesis of social dominance: A strategy-based evolutionary perspective. Developmental Review, 19(1), 97–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H., Little, T. D., & Card, N. A. (2007). The allure of a mean friend: Relationship quality and processes of aggressive adolescents with prosocial skills. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(2), 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025407074630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley, P. H., Little, T. D., & Pasupathi, M. (2002). Winning friends and influencing peers: Strategies of peer influence in late childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(5), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250143000427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leary, M. R. (2005). Sociometer theory and the pursuit of relational value: Getting to the root of self-esteem. European review of social psychology, 16(1), 75–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leary, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 32, 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, J. L., & Bogin, B. (2006). Language and life history: A new perspective on the development and evolution of human language. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(03), 259–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, A. R., Byrd-Craven, J., Auer, B. J., & Swearingen, C. L. (2015). Climbing the social ladder: physiological response to social status in adolescents. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 1(1), 72–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehl, M. R., Vazire, S., Ramírez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Are women really more talkative than men? Science, 317(5834), 82. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139940.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. F. (2007). Sexual selection for moral virtues. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 82(2), 97–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nærland, T. (2011). Language competence and social focus among preschool children. Early Child Development and Care, 181(5), 599–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004431003665780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puts, D. A., Gaulin, S. J., & Verdolini, K. (2006). Dominance and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice pitch. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 283–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stroebe, K., Nijstad, B. A., & Hemelrijk, C. K. (2017). Female dominance in human groups: Effects of sex ratio and conflict level. Social Psychological And Personality Science, 8(2), 209–218. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616664956.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tannen, D. (1990a). You just don’t understand (pp. 74–95). New York: Ballantine Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tannen, D. (1990b). You just don’t understand. New York: Ballantine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westby, C., & Blalock, E. (2005, August). Assessment of social-emotional status in children with language impairments. In Seminars in speech and language (Vol. 26, No. 03, pp. 160–169). Copyright© 2005 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

  • Wilson, M. S., & Liu, J. H. (2003). Social dominance orientation and gender: The moderating role of gender identity. British Journal of Social Psychology, 42(2), 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466603322127175.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S. E., & Puts, D. A. (2010). Vocal masculinity is a robust dominance signal in men. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 64(10), 1673–1683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worgan, S. F., & Moore, R. K. (2011). Towards the detection of social dominance in dialogue. Speech Communication, 53(9–10), 1104–1114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2010.12.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA

    Amber R. Massey-Abernathy & Elizabeth Haseltine

Authors
  1. Amber R. Massey-Abernathy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elizabeth Haseltine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amber R. Massey-Abernathy.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Massey-Abernathy, A.R., Haseltine, E. Power Talk: Communication Styles, Vocalization Rates and Dominance. J Psycholinguist Res 48, 107–116 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-018-9592-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-018-9592-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation