Impact of Respectfulness on Semantic Integration During Discourse Processing.

Wenjing Yu, Yuhan Xie, Xiaohong Yang

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Article in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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Authors and funding

3 authors.

Wenjing YuDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.

Yuhan XieDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.

Xiaohong YangDepartment of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.

Funding

Natural National Science Foundation of China 31871108the Research Funds of Renmin University of China 23XNKJ01

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Linguistic expressions of respectful terms are shaped by social status. Previous studies have shown respectful term usage affects online language processing. This study investigates its impact on semantic integration through three self-pace reading experiments, manipulating Respect Consistency (Respect vs. Disrespect) and Semantic Consistency (Semantic Consistent vs. Semantic Inconsistent). In Experiment 1, disrespect was manipulated by using the plain form of pronouns instead of the respectful form when addressing individuals of higher social status. The results showed longer reading times for semantically inconsistent sentences compared to consistent ones, reflecting the classic semantic integration effect. Nevertheless, this effect was only detected when respectful pronouns were employed. For Experiments 2 and 3, disrespect was operationalized by directly addressing individuals of higher social status by their personal names. A comparable interaction to that in Experiment 1 was identified solely in Experiment 3, which involved an appropriateness judgment task. In contrast, no such interaction was observed in Experiment 2, which involved a reading comprehension task. These results indicated that both disrespectful pronouns and addressing individuals by their personal names hinder semantic integration, but through different mechanisms. These findings provide important insights into the role of respectful term usage on semantic integration during discourse comprehension.

Indexed as

discourse processingglobal resource theorylanguage comprehensionrespectfulnesssemantic integration

Identifiers

PMID40282070

DOI10.3390/bs15040448

PMCPMC12024179

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.