ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B

Acta Psychologica Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (6): 714-723.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2019.00714

• Reports of Empirical Studies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The effects of different power relations on negation bias of negative descriptions

LI Ting1,WEI Xiaoping4,ZHENG Zixin1,YI Xiangjie1,ZHAO Xueru5,HE Xianyou1,2,3()   

  1. 1 School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    2 Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    3 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    4 Poly Group, Guangzhou 510220, China
    5 Research Institute for Basic Education Professionals, Beijing Institute of Education, Beijing 100044, China
  • Received:2018-07-11 Published:2019-06-25 Online:2019-04-25
  • Contact: Xianyou HE E-mail:xianyouhe@163.com
  • Supported by:
     

Abstract:

Negation is an important language expression that can be used to euphemistically express a speaker's opinions and wishes. Due to the restriction of realistic situational factors, when an individual uses negative statements to describe behaviors that are inconsistent with experience or expectation, that is called negation bias. China has a high power distance culture between individuals, and people in China pay more respect to authority. The power difference makes individual expression different. High-power individuals show low empathy due to having control of more resources and having less dependence on others, and they tend to express themselves directly in communication. Individuals in low-power positions have needs, and they deal with the difference in power when meeting high-power individuals by using euphemisms of negative expression to maintain communication. Differences in negation used in various power relations are untested, and this study aims to explore these differences through experimental design.

In this study, three experiments were used to explore the influence of different power relations on negative negation bias. Experiment 1 used the fixed reaction paradigm: 3 (power relations: high vs low/ low vs high/ no difference) ×2 (words type: affirmative/negative) within subject design, and it investigate subjects’ choice of affirmative and negative sentences. Experiment 2 used the subjective evaluation: 3 (power relations: high vs low/ low vs high/ no difference) ×2 (words type: affirmative/negative) within subject design, and it investigated the degree of suitability for negation in different power relations. In experiment 3, the free reaction paradigm was adopted, calculating the frequency of negation to investigate the influence of different power relations on negative bias

Results show that: (1) Power relationships will influence the use of negation sentences. When low-power individuals evaluate high-power individuals, subjects tend to use negation and believe that this form of expression is more suitable, causing negation bias to appear; negation bias does not appear in conditions when high-power individuals evaluate low-power individuals or when no power difference exists. (2) When no power difference exists, social distance will influence the use of negation sentences; the greater the social distance, the more frequently negative sentences are used.

Key words: power relationship, negation bias, fixed reaction paradigm, free reaction paradigm

CLC Number: