Depression, Negative Emotionality, and Self-Referential Language: A Multi-Lab, Multi-Measure, Multi-Language Task Research Synthesis

Authors

• Allison M. Tackman, University of ArizonaFollow
• David A. Sbarra, University of ArizonaFollow
• Angela L. Carey, University of ArizonaFollow
• M. Brent Donnellan, Michigan State UniversityFollow
• Andrea B. Horn, University of ZurichFollow
• Nicholas S. Holtzman, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
• To'Meisha S. Edwards, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
• James W. Pennebaker, University of Texas at Austin
• Matthias R. Mehl, University of ArizonaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Publication Title

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000187

ISSN

1939-1315

Abstract

Depressive symptomatology is manifested in greater first-person singular pronoun use (i.e., I-talk), but when and for whom this effect is most apparent, and the extent to which it is specific to depression or part of a broader association between negative emotionality and I-talk, remains unclear. Using pooled data from N = 4,754 participants from 6 labs across 2 countries, we examined, in a preregistered analysis, how the depression–I-talk effect varied by (a) first-person singular pronoun type (i.e., subjective, objective, and possessive), (b) the communication context in which language was generated (i.e., personal, momentary thought, identity-related, and impersonal), and (c) gender. Overall, there was a small but reliable positive correlation between depression and I-talk (r = .10, 95% CI [.07, .13]). The effect was present for all first-person singular pronouns except the possessive type, in all communication contexts except the impersonal one, and for both females and males with little evidence of gender differences. Importantly, a similar pattern of results emerged for negative emotionality. Further, the depression–I-talk effect was substantially reduced when controlled for negative emotionality but this was not the case when the negative emotionality–I-talk effect was controlled for depression. These results suggest that the robust empirical link between depression and I-talk largely reflects a broader association between negative emotionality and I-talk. Self-referential language using first-person singular pronouns may therefore be better construed as a linguistic marker of general distress proneness or negative emotionality rather than as a specific marker of depression.

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Tackman, Allison M., David A. Sbarra, Angela L. Carey, M. Brent Donnellan, Andrea B. Horn, Nicholas S. Holtzman, To'Meisha S. Edwards, James W. Pennebaker, Matthias R. Mehl. 2019. "Depression, Negative Emotionality, and Self-Referential Language: A Multi-Lab, Multi-Measure, Multi-Language Task Research Synthesis." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116: 817-834. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000187 source: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-09035-001?doi=1
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/psych-facpubs/113

Copyright

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