Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu, Chen-Wei, Chuang, Yun-Shiuan, Lotsos, Alexandros N., Meier, Tabea, Haase, Claudia M.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.12646
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909622537814016
author Yu, Chen-Wei
Chuang, Yun-Shiuan
Lotsos, Alexandros N.
Meier, Tabea
Haase, Claudia M.
author_facet Yu, Chen-Wei
Chuang, Yun-Shiuan
Lotsos, Alexandros N.
Meier, Tabea
Haase, Claudia M.
contents Latent semantic similarity (LSS) is a measure of the similarity of information exchanges in a conversation. Challenging the assumption that higher LSS bears more positive psychological meaning, we propose that this association might depend on the type of conversation people have. On the one hand, the share-mind perspective would predict that higher LSS should be associated with more positive emotional experiences across the board. The broaden-and-build theory, on the other hand, would predict that higher LSS should be inversely associated with more positive emotional experiences specifically in pleasant conversations. Linear mixed modeling based on conversations among 50 long-term married couples supported the latter prediction. That is, partners experienced greater positive emotions when their overall information exchanges were more dissimilar in pleasant (but not conflict) conversations. This work highlights the importance of context in understanding the emotional correlates of LSS and exemplifies how modern natural language processing tools can be used to evaluate competing theory-driven hypotheses in social psychology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_12646
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The More Similar, the Better? Associations between Latent Semantic Similarity and Emotional Experiences Differ across Conversation Contexts
Yu, Chen-Wei
Chuang, Yun-Shiuan
Lotsos, Alexandros N.
Meier, Tabea
Haase, Claudia M.
Computation and Language
Latent semantic similarity (LSS) is a measure of the similarity of information exchanges in a conversation. Challenging the assumption that higher LSS bears more positive psychological meaning, we propose that this association might depend on the type of conversation people have. On the one hand, the share-mind perspective would predict that higher LSS should be associated with more positive emotional experiences across the board. The broaden-and-build theory, on the other hand, would predict that higher LSS should be inversely associated with more positive emotional experiences specifically in pleasant conversations. Linear mixed modeling based on conversations among 50 long-term married couples supported the latter prediction. That is, partners experienced greater positive emotions when their overall information exchanges were more dissimilar in pleasant (but not conflict) conversations. This work highlights the importance of context in understanding the emotional correlates of LSS and exemplifies how modern natural language processing tools can be used to evaluate competing theory-driven hypotheses in social psychology.
title The More Similar, the Better? Associations between Latent Semantic Similarity and Emotional Experiences Differ across Conversation Contexts
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.12646