杜磊

We intuitively use more emotional language to enhance our powers of persuasion， according to research published in Psychological Science， a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research shows that people tend toward appeals that arent simply more positive or negative but are infused with emotionality， even when theyre trying to sway an audience that may not be receptive to such language.

“Beyond simply becoming more positive or negative， people spontaneously shift toward using more emotional language when trying to persuade，” says researcher Matthew D. Rocklage of The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

We might imagine that people would use very positive words such as “excellent” or “outstanding” to bring others around to their point of view， but the findings showed that people specifically used terms that convey a greater degree of emotion， such as “exciting” and “thrilling.”

Understanding the components that make for a persuasive message is a critical focus of fields ranging from advertising to politics and even public health. Rocklage and colleagues wanted to look at the question from a different angle， exploring how we communicate with others when we are the ones trying to persuade.

“Its possible that to be seen as rational and reasonable， people might remove emotion from their language when attempting to persuade，” says Rocklage. Drawing from attitudes theory and social-function theories of emotion， however， Rocklage and colleagues Derek D. Rucker and Loran F. Nordgren hypothesized that people would go the other way， tapping into emotional language as a means of social influence.

In one online study， the researchers showed 1，285 participants a photo and some relevant details for a particular product available from Amazon.com. They asked some participants to write a five-star review that would persuade readers to purchase that product， while they asked others to write a five-star review that simply described the products positive features.

Using an established tool for quantitative linguistic analysis， the Evaluative Lexicon， the researchers then quantified how emotional， positive or negative， and extreme the reviews were.

Although the reviews were equally positive in their language， the data showed that reviewers used more emotional language when they were trying to persuade readers to buy a product compared with when they were writing a five-star review without intending to persuade. Participants persuasive reviews also had more emotional language compared with actual five-star reviews for the same products published on Amazon.com.

Importantly， the shift toward more emotional language appeared to be automatic rather than deliberative. Participants still used more emotional descriptors in persuasive reviews when they were simultaneously trying to remember an 8-digit number， a competing task that made strategizing very difficult.

The tendency to use more emotional language emerged even when participants were attempting to persuade a group of “rational” thinkers.

“Past research indicates that emotional appeals can backfire when an audience prefers unemotional appeals，” says Rocklage. “Our findings indicate that there is a strong enough connection between persuasion and emotion in peoples minds that they continue to use emotion even in the face of an audience where that approach can backfire.”

Indeed， additional evidence indicated a connection between emotion and persuasion in memory. The researchers found that the more emotional a word was， the more likely participants were to associate it with persuasion and the quicker they did so.

An interesting avenue for future research， says Rocklage， is to investigate whether the association transfers across various contexts.

“For instance， would people use less emotion if they were in a boardroom meeting or if they were writing a formal letter of recommendation？” he wonders.

發表在心理科学学会期刊《心理科学》上的一项研究表明，我们会凭直觉使用更多的情感语言来增强说服力。该研究指出，即便他们正试图左右的听众并不一定会接受此类语言，人们还是倾向于充满感情的劝说语，而这并非只是更为积极或消极的话那么简单。

美国西北大学凯洛格商学院的研究员马修·D. 罗克拉格谈道：“除了把话讲得更为积极或消极外，人们在尝试说服时还会自发使用更多情感语言。”

我们或许认为，人们会使用“很好”或“优秀”这样的积极词汇来陈述其观点、说服他人，但是，研究发现，人们会特意使用如“太令人兴奋了”“太令人激动了”这种能表达更强烈情感的词语。

理解说服性信息的构成要素是广告、政治乃至公共卫生领域关注的焦点。罗克拉格和他的同事则希望换个角度来看待这个问题，他们探索的是：我们在尝试劝服时是如何与他人进行沟通的。

罗克拉格指出：“为了被视为明理且有理之士，人们在尝试劝服他人的过程中，可能会将情感摒弃于语言之外。”然而，从态度理论与情感的社会功能理论来看，罗克拉格与同事德里克·D. 拉克、洛兰·F. 诺格伦却提出了这样的假设：人们会反其道而行之，利用情感语言，发挥其社交影响力。

一项网上研究中，研究者向1285名参与者展示了亚马逊网站上某款特定产品的一张照片以及一些相关细节。研究者要求部分参与者撰写一条可以劝服阅读者购买该产品的五星评论，同时，又让其他参与者写一则只描述这款产品优点的五星评论。

通过使用“评价性词汇”这款知名定量语言数据分析工具，研究者量化了评论语言的情绪化、积极或是消极及其偏激程度。

虽然评论都使用了积极语言，但数据分析结果表明，同样是写一份五星好评，当目的是要说服阅读者购买产品时，评论者会比没有这一目的时使用更多的情感语言。对亚马逊网站上发布的同款产品，实验参与者的说服性五星好评也比那些真实的五星好评含有更多的情感语言。

很重要的一点是，人们转向使用更多的情感语言似乎并非有意为之，而是自然而然的。参与者在写说服性评论的同时还要尝试记住一个8位数。该竞争性任务令使用策略非常困难，但他们依然会使用更多的情感描述语。

即便是要尝试说服一组“理性的”思考者，参与者依旧会出现使用更多情感语言的倾向。

罗克拉格讲道：“以往的研究表明，如果听者更喜欢不露感情的劝词，用感情来打动他会适得其反。我们的研究则揭示，在人们的内心中，劝服与情感是高度相关的，人们还是会继续使用情感，即便面对的听者可能会对此大为反感。”

事实上，其他证据也表明，在我们的记忆中，情感与劝服相关联。研究者发现，越是情感化的词，参与者就越有可能将其与劝服联系在一起，且联系起来的速度也越快。

罗克拉格还谈道，对于未来研究而言，考察这种联系在各种环境中是否会发生迁移是个很有意思的研究方向。

他想知道，“假如人们在开董事会，或写一封正式推荐信，会不会减少情感语言的使用？”

（译者单位：浙江大学外国语言文化与国际交流学院）