Language style matching (LSM; the extent to which individuals match others’ function or “filler” words in communication) has been investigated as a potential predictor of rapport and team processes (e.g., trust). We examined the potential of LSM as an unobtrusive bottom-up indicator of rapport, trust, cohesion, and performance using a distributed, team problem-solving task. We found a dynamic relationship between LSM and performance. The relationship changes over time as team interaction progresses, but LSM also interacts with trust and rapport to affect performance. We introduce a model to explain the relationship between LSM, rapport, trust, and performance in this context.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbbeA.BrandonS. E. (2013). The role of rapport in investigative interviewing: A review. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 10, 237-249.
2.
BabcockM. J.TaV. P.IckesW. (2013). Latent semantic similarity and language style matching in initial dyadic interactions. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33, 78-88.
3.
BealD. J.CohenR. R.BurkeM. J.McLendonC. L. (2003). Cohesion and performance in groups: A meta-analytic clarification of construct relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 989-1004.
4.
BernieriF. J.GillisJ. S.DavisJ. M.GraheJ. E. (1996). Dyad rapport and the accuracy of its judgment across situations: A lens model analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 110-129.
5.
BronsteinI.NelsonN.LivnatZ.Ben-AriR. (2012). Rapport in negotiation: The contribution of the verbal channel. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 56, 1089-1115.
6.
BurgoonJ. K.WeisbandS.BonitoJ. (2005). Interactivity communication and trust: Further studies of leadership in the electronic age (No. TR-1154). Arizona University Tucson Center for the Management of Information.
7.
ChungC.PennebakerJ. (2007). The psychological functions of function words. In FielderK. (Ed.), Social communication (pp. 343-359). New York: Psychology Press.
8.
CurhanJ. R.PentlandA. (2007). Thin slices of negotiation: predicting outcomes from conversational dynamics within the first 5 minutes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 802-811.
9.
FulmerC. A.GelfandM. J. (2012). At what level (and in whom) we trust: Trust across multiple organizational levels. Journal of Management, 38, 1167-1230.
10.
GonzalesA. L.HancockJ. T.PennebakerJ. W. (2010). Language style matching as a predictor of social dynamics in small groups. Communication Research, 37, 3-19.
11.
IrelandM. E.PennebakerJ. W. (2010). Language style matching in writing: Synchrony in essays, correspondence, and poetry. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 549-571.
12.
JarvenpaaS. L.LeidnerD. E. (1999). Communication and trust in global virtual teams. Organization Science, 10, 791-815.
13.
KleinK. J.KozlowskiS. W. (2000). From micro to meso: Critical steps in conceptualizing and conducting multilevel research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 211-236.
14.
KozlowskiS. W. J.ChaoG. T.GrandJ. A.BraunM. T.KuljaninG. (2013). Advancing multilevel research design: Capturing the dynamics of emergence. Organizational Research Methods, 16, 581-615.
15.
NiederhofferK. G.PennebakerJ. W. (2002). Linguistic style matching in social interaction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 21, 337-360.
16.
PennebakerJ. W.FrancisM. E.BoothR. J. (2001). Operator’s Manual – Linguistic inquiry and word count: LIWC 2001. Mahway: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
17.
RaudenbushS. W.BrykA. S.CheongA. S.FaiY. F.CongdonR. T.du ToitM. (2011). HLM 7: Hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
18.
SieboldG. L.KellyD. R. (1988). Development of the combat platoon cohesion questionnaire (Technical Report 817). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
19.
SwaabR. I.MadduxW. W.SinaceurM. (2011). Early words that work: When and how virtual linguistic mimicry facilitates negotiation outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 616-621.
20.
TausczikY. R.PennebakerJ. W. (2013, April). Improving teamwork using real-time language feedback. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 459-468, ACM.
21.
TaylorP. J.DandoC. J.OrmerodT. C.BallL. J.JenkinsM. C.SandhamA.MenacereT. (2013). Detecting insider threats through language change. Law and Human Behavior, 37, 267-275.
22.
Tickle-DegnenL.RosenthalR. (1990). The nature of rapport and its nonverbal correlates. Psychological Inquiry, 1, 285-293.
23.
WilsonJ. M.StrausS. G.McEvilyB. (2006). All in due time: The development of trust in computer-mediated and face-to-face teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 99, 16-33.
