Language & Group Processes

Interacting groups are essential units in organizations and societies, and language is integral to how such groups coordinate, interrelate, and adapt. Explanatory power is gained by focusing on language use that transcends group contexts (e.g., pronoun use linguistic style matching, and emotional displays).  For example, subtle differences in the pronouns used by change-agent newcomers impact team receptivity to innovation (Kane & Rink, 2015, 2016). Increasingly, group interactions take place digitally, amplifying the relative import of language over non-verbal communication.

Dr. Kane partnered with Dr. Lyn van Swol from the University of Wisconsin – Madison to review more than 30 years of research on language use across disciplines ranging from communications and computer science to management and psychology to develop the a model of language use corresponding to inputs (e.g., status), processes and emergent states (e.g., influencing, managing affect, and innovating), and outputs (Van Swol & Kane, 2019). This group interaction model (GIM) illustrates how language use reflects as well as affects group processes, and ultimately adds value to the group and its members. Van Swol and Kane (2019) was identified by the editors of Small Group Research as the Best Article published in that academic year.

In the Handbook of Language Analysis and Psychology editted by Dehghani and Boyd, Kane and van Swol (2022) illustrate promising intersections between significant and ongoing developments in automated text analysis (e.g., LIWC, SEANCE) and the group interaction model (GIM) from van Swol and Kane (2019). They also revisit illustrative experiments in small group research and identify how processes could be detected from a contemporary analysis of language use.  

In an empirical article in Computers in Human Behavior, Kane et al. (2023) build on the GIM and seminal work on emotional contagion (Barsade, 2022) to illustrate the importance of emotional language. The article reports a pre-registered test of emotional contagion from a partner in an online chat group. Contagion impacted positive and negative felt emotion and negative emotion displays. Mimicry mediated negative contagion for those working with a high-status partner.  Positive contagion strengthened group reflection and dampened conflict. 

In a methods article in Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice, Kane and van Swol  (2023) use the group interaction model (GIM) as a theoretical foundation and guide researchers through the various aspects involved in uncovering emergent processes from communication data gathered at time intervals. The article provides an overview of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and illustrate a mapping of LIWC-22 variables on GIM processes. Step-by-step examples are provided from a published dataset along with supplemental files that outline using LIWC-22 to unitize transcripts and running a LIWC-22 analysis. Additionally, user-friendly Python code is provided to help researchers to systematically and reliably (1) relabel time-variant LIWC and (2) combine that LIWC data with time-invariant group input data. The editorial board of Group Dynamics recognized Kane and van Swol (2023) as a co-winner of the year's Most Valuable Paper award.

Review article

van Swol, L. M., & Kane, A. A. (2019). Language and group processes: An integrative, interdisciplinary review. Small Group Research, 2019 Annual Review Issue, 50, 3-38. doi: 10.1177/1046496418785019. Winner of the 2018-2019 Best Article in Small Group Research Award

Empirical articles

Kane, A. A., van Swol, L. M., & Sarmiento- Lawrence, I. G. (2023) Emotional contagion in online groups as a function of valence and status, 139. Computers in Human Behavior.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107543 

Kane, A. A., & Rink, F. (2015). How newcomers influence group utilization of their knowledge: Integrating versus differentiating strategies. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19, 91-105.  http://doi:10.1037/gdn0000024

Kane, A.A. & Rink, F. (2016) When and how groups utilize dissenting newcomer knowledge: Newcomers’ future prospects condition the effect of language-based identity strategies. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(5), 591-607. http://doi: 10.1177/1368430216638534

Method article

Kane, A. A., van Swol, L. M (2023). Using linguistic inquiry and word count software to analyze group interaction language data. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice. 27(3), 188–201. https://doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000195  Co-winner of the 2023 Most Valuable Paper in Group Dynamics award.

Handbook chapter

Kane, A. A. & van Swol, L.M. (2022a). Harnessing a language analysis perspective to uncover emergent group processes. In M. Dehghani & R.L. Boyd (Eds). Handbook of Language Analysis in Psychology. (125 - 140). New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press.

Updated March 2024