Local and Global Status Threat Increase Compensatory Jargon Use

Authors:

Abstract: Conflict and negotiation inevitably involves hierarchy. One way by which hierarchy is established and inferred is through the use of status signals (or expertise signals in the context of professions). This paper argues that professionals use jargon to try to negotiate or claim status in the eyes of their audience. Existing theories in sociology, economics, and linguistics suggest that higher-status and embedded individuals within professional networks use more jargon than lower-status and newer members. In contrast, we propose that low status increases jargon use in the hopes of securing status and respect from audiences. To test our hypotheses, we analyzed seven years of academic poster titles presented at the largest annual personality and social psychology conference (N = 8,239). Analyses supported our hypotheses that speakers experiencing status threat use jargon to try to get respect and status from their audiences.

Track: COMM

Keywords: Status signal, Jargon, language