{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T22:47:04Z","timestamp":1782168424128,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":85,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]],"date-time":"2024-11-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1731369600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Psychol Rep"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Prior research found a\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">word complexity effect<\/jats:italic>\n                    : Authors who use complex words are less favorably received when writing academic essays, business letters, and other relatively formal communications. The present study tested if word choice affects evaluations of messages between friends (Experiments 1-2) and spoken messages (Experiment 2). Three widespread dimensions of social judgments were studied \u2013 namely, persuasiveness, competence, and sincerity. Participants read\/heard messages that varied (between-participants) by ordinary versus low-frequency words (\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">sad<\/jats:italic>\n                    vs.\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">forlorn<\/jats:italic>\n                    ). Messages containing low-frequency words (mostly) received lower evaluations. Most importantly, word choice effects in messages between friends were consistently found \u2013 for both written and spoken language. Feedback analysis (Experiment 2) revealed that the overuse of \u201cbig vocabulary\u201d conflicts with conscious social beliefs regarding ways to communicate, showing that social judgments spring from a combination of conscious social beliefs and the relatively unconscious influence of fluency.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/00332941241287411","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,13]],"date-time":"2024-11-13T07:39:53Z","timestamp":1731483593000},"page":"3015-3039","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Word Choice Affects Social Judgments: Relational Messages Containing Low-Frequency Words Get Low Evaluations"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"129","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1415-7450","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael W.","family":"Alban","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Northern Arizona University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_6_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2006.01787.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1027\/1015-5759\/a000699"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2008.02062.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1088868309341564"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2009.02461.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-3445.136.4.569"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/mar.10077"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0749-596X(89)90016-8"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03194388"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/671345"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0261927X04273034"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.106.2.265"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/BRM.41.4.977"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/23294884211025735"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_16_1","volume-title":"Influence: The psychology of persuasion","author":"Cialdini R. B.","year":"2007","unstructured":"Cialdini R. B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. HarperCollins Publishers."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/spc3.12179"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2601(07)00002-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.riob.2011.10.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0261927X231191787"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0361-476X(88)90010-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_22_1","first-page":"46","volume-title":"Remembering: Attributions, processes, and control in human memory: Essays in honor of Larry Jacoby","author":"Dunlosky J.","year":"2015","unstructured":"Dunlosky J., Mueller M. L., Tauber S. K. (2015). The contribution of processing fluency (and beliefs) to people\u2019s judgments of learning. In Lindsay D. S., Kelley C. M., Yonelinas A. P., Roediger H. L.III. (Eds.), Remembering: Attributions, processes, and control in human memory: Essays in honor of Larry Jacoby (pp. 46\u201364). Psychology Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.109.3.573"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-1031(68)90043-7"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03193146"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2010.08.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/xge0001316"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0261927X91102003"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00986947"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_30_1","first-page":"35","volume-title":"Reading acquisition","author":"Gough P. B.","year":"1992","unstructured":"Gough P. B., Juel C., Griffith P. L. (1992). Reading, spelling, and the orthographic cipher. In Gough P. B., Ehri L. C., Treiman R. (Eds.), Reading acquisition (pp. 35\u201348). Lawrence Erlbaum."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_31_1","volume-title":"Studies in the way of words","author":"Grice P.","year":"1991","unstructured":"Grice P. (1991). Studies in the way of words. Harvard University Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_32_1","unstructured":"Hake E. (2014). Neural processing of plain and complex language: The impact of judgments of leaders. Available online at: https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C3&q=hake+2014+neural+processing+&btnG="},{"key":"e_1_3_6_33_1","volume-title":"Paper presented at the 2014 meeting of the American political science association","author":"Hansford T. G.","year":"2014","unstructured":"Hansford T. G., Coe C. (2014). Linguistic complexity and public acceptance of supreme court decisions. In Paper presented at the 2014 meeting of the American political science association. Wiley. Available at. https:\/\/faculty.ucmerced.edu\/thansford\/Working_Papers\/Hansford_Coe_Complexity_APSA.pdf"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0306312702032002005"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_35_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.56.3.326"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_36_1","volume-title":"Great books of the western world","author":"James W.","year":"1990","unstructured":"James W. (1990). The principles of psychology. In Adler M. J., Fadiman C., Goetz P. W. (Eds.), Great books of the western world (Vol. 53). Encyclopaedia Britannica."},{"issue":"1995","key":"e_1_3_6_37_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"The effect of word frequency on judgments of learning: Contributions of beliefs and processing fluency","volume":"6","author":"Jia X.","year":"2016","unstructured":"Jia X., Li P., Li X., Zhang Y., Cao W., Cao L., Li W. (2016). The effect of word frequency on judgments of learning: Contributions of beliefs and processing fluency. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(1995), 1\u201310. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2015.01995","journal-title":"Frontiers in Psychology"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_38_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2014.05.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_39_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/jmla.1993.1001"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_40_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kirkland A. Gustafson J. Sz\u00e9kely \u00c9. (2023). Pardon my disfluency: The impact of disfluency effects on the perception of speaker competence and confidence. In 24th international speech communication association interspeech 2023 Dublin Ireland 20\u201324 August 2023 (pp. 5217\u20135221). International Speech Communication Association. Available at. https:\/\/www.speech.kth.se\/tts-demos\/kirkland23_interspeech.pdf","DOI":"10.21437\/Interspeech.2023-887"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_41_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-3445.126.4.349"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_42_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2008.02264.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_43_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.copsyc.2016.01.008"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_44_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0261927X13515886"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_45_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/a0034309"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_46_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/xlm0000496"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_47_1","first-page":"243","volume-title":"The Oxford handbook of cognitive psychology","author":"Leboe-McGowan J. P.","year":"2013","unstructured":"Leboe-McGowan J. P., Whittlesea B. W. A. (2013). Through the SCAPE looking glass: Sources of performance and sources of attribution. In Reisberg D. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive psychology (pp. 243\u2013266). Oxford University Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_48_1","volume-title":"Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything","author":"Levitt S. D.","year":"2005","unstructured":"Levitt S. D., Dubner S. J. (2005). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. HaperCollins Publishers."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_49_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/ccog.1993.1008"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_50_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0261927X18824859"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_51_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/pspa0000333"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_52_1","unstructured":"Markowitz D. M. (2024). Science written by generative AI is perceived as less intelligent but more credible and trustworthy than science written by humans. Available online under v1 (Tue 23 Apr 2024) at: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2405.00706"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_53_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2026045118"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_54_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2302672120"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_55_1","volume-title":"The mating mind. How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature","author":"Miller G. F.","year":"2000","unstructured":"Miller G. F. (2000). The mating mind. How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature. Doubleday."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_56_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00335636409382644"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_57_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2013.09.007"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_58_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-012-0343-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_59_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/wll.8.2.04nel"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_60_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1556\/JEP.10.2012.4.3"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_61_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/acp.1178"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_62_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/IJPHM-02-2013-0006"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_63_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1053-8100(03)00049-7"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_64_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01638538409544580"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_65_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/147470490800600318"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_66_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1509\/jmkg.72.1.108"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_67_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/TPC.2017.2765118"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_68_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/02702710490522630"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_69_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/02702710701568991"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_70_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327663jcp1404_2"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_71_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.adn2555"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_72_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2009.02267.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_73_1","volume-title":"The elements of style","author":"Strunk W.","year":"2000","unstructured":"Strunk W.Jr., White E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.","edition":"4"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_74_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/mar.21664"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_75_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.105.3.409"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_76_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacceco.2019.03.001"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_77_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1509\/jmr.11.0340"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_78_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203078938"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_79_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0265407519878787"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_80_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0278-7393.19.6.1235"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_81_1","first-page":"211","volume-title":"The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory","author":"Whittlesea B. W. A.","year":"1997","unstructured":"Whittlesea B. W. A. (1997). Production, evaluation and preservation of experiences: Constructive processing in remembering and performance tasks. In Medin D. L. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (37, pp. 211\u2013264). Academic Press."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_82_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0749-596X(90)90045-2"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_83_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.81.6.989"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_84_1","first-page":"189","volume-title":"The psychology of evaluation: Affective processes in cognition and emotion","author":"Winkielman P.","year":"2003","unstructured":"Winkielman P., Schwarz N., Fazendeiro T. A., Reber R. (2003). The hedonic marking of processing fluency: Implications for evaluative judgment. In Musch J., Klauer K. C. (Eds.), The psychology of evaluation: Affective processes in cognition and emotion (pp. 189\u2013217). Lawrence Erlbaum."},{"key":"e_1_3_6_85_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1931243110361584"},{"key":"e_1_3_6_86_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-017-1258-z"}],"container-title":["Psychological Reports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00332941241287411","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/00332941241287411","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/00332941241287411","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T21:47:26Z","timestamp":1782164846000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/00332941241287411"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]},"references-count":85,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/00332941241287411"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/00332941241287411","relation":{},"ISSN":["0033-2941","1558-691X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0033-2941","type":"print"},{"value":"1558-691X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,12]]}}}