poliTE-Literatur-Datenbank

Christianson, Kiel; Zhou, Peiyun; Palmer, Cassie; Raizen, Adina (2017): Effects of context and individual differences on the processing of taboo words. In: Acta psychologica 178, S. 73-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.05.012

DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28618300

Abstract: Previous studies suggest that taboo words are special in regards to language processing. Findings from the studies have led to the formation of two theories, global resource theory and binding theory, of taboo word processing. The current study investigates how readers process taboo words embedded in sentences during silent reading. In two experiments, measures collected include eye movement data, accuracy and reaction time measures for recalling probe words within the sentences, and individual differences in likelihood of being offended by taboo words. Although certain aspects of the results support both theories, as the likelihood of a person being offended by a taboo word influenced some measures, neither theory sufficiently predicts or describes the effects observed. The results are interpreted as evidence that processing effects ascribed to taboo words are largely, but not completely, attributable to the context in which they are used and the individual attitudes of the people who hear/read them. The results also demonstrate the importance of investigating taboo words in naturalistic language processing paradigms. A revised theory of taboo word processing is proposed that incorporates both global resource theory and binding theory along with the sociolinguistic factors and individual differences that largely drive the effects observed here.

Keywords: Adolescent, Adult, Eye Movements/physiology, Female, Humans, Individuality, Language, Male, Middle Aged, Natural Language Processing, Reaction Time, Reading, Taboo, time, Young Adult

Kapoor, Hansika (2016): Swears in Context. The Difference Between Casual and Abusive Swearing. In: Journal of psycholinguistic research 45 (2), S. 259-274. DOI: 10.1007/s10936-014-9345-z

DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25480107

Abstract: Although swearing is taboo language, it frequently appears in daily conversations. To explain this paradox, two studies examined contextualized swearing in Indian and non-Indian participants. In Study 1, participants assessed the appropriateness of mild, moderate, and severe swears in casual and abusive contexts; in Study 2, participants completed contextual dialogues with mild, moderate, or severe swearwords. Results indicated that mild and moderate swears were more appropriate in casual settings than in abusive scenarios; severe swears were the most inappropriate, regardless of context. Mild and moderate swears were likely to be used to complete casual and abusive dialogues respectively, even though it was expected that severe swears would be compatible with abusive settings. Moreover, gender and nationality differences suggested that assessing appropriateness of swearing behaviour and likelihood of swearword usage provided independent and contrasting findings. Cultural variations in swearing behaviour, particularly contextualized swearing, and suggestions for further research are outlined.

Keywords: Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, India/ethnology, Language, Male, Middle Aged, Taboo, time, Verbal Behavior, Young Adult

Janschewitz, Kristin (2008): Taboo, emotionally valenced, and emotionally neutral word norms. In: Behavior research methods 40 (4), S. 1065-1074. DOI: 10.3758/BRM.40.4.1065

DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19001397

Abstract: Although taboo words are used to study emotional memory and attention, no easily accessible normative data are available that compare taboo, emotionally valenced, and emotionally neutral words on the same scales. Frequency, inappropriateness, valence, arousal, and imageability ratings for taboo, emotionally valenced, and emotionally neutral words were made by 78 native-English-speaking college students from a large metropolitan university. The valenced set comprised both positive and negative words, and the emotionally neutral set comprised category-related and category-unrelated words. To account for influences of demand characteristics and personality factors on the ratings, frequency and inappropriateness measures were decomposed into raters' personal reactions to the words versus raters' perceptions of societal reactions to the words (personal use vs. familiarity and offensiveness vs. tabooness, respectively). Although all word sets were rated higher in familiarity and tabooness than in personal use and offensiveness, these differences were most pronounced for the taboo set. In terms of valence, the taboo set was most similar to the negative set, although it yielded higher arousal ratings than did either valenced set. Imageability for the taboo set was comparable to that of both valenced sets. The ratings of each word are presented for all participants as well as for single-sex groups. The inadequacies of the application of normative data to research that uses emotional words and the conceptualization of taboo words as a coherent category are discussed. Materials associated with this article may be accessed at the Psychonomic Society's Archive of Norms, Stimuli, and Data, www.psychonomic.org/archive.

Keywords: Adult, Affect, Female, Humans, Male, Social Behavior, Social Values, Taboo, time, Verbal Behavior, Vocabulary