Differences in conceptualizing self versus conceptualizing other people as manifested in contrasting verb types used in natural speech.

ABSTRACT

Predicted differences in modes of thinking about self versus thinking about other people, derived from assumptions regarding one's privileged information about the self, were tested by comparing the types of verbs used in free descriptions of self versus the types of verbs used in free descriptions of other people. Three-minute responses to "Tell us about your family" and "Tell us about school" probes were divided into individual subject/verb/qualifier thought segments, from among which those with myself as subject versus those with other person(s) as subject were selected as the independent variable for testing six predicted self-other differences. It was found, as predicted, that the self more than other people is thought of concretely in terms of what one does (verbs of action) rather than abstractly in terms of what one is (verbs of state). Among state verbs, the self, more than others is described in terms of dynamic becoming rather than in terms of static being states; among action verbs, the self more than others is described as covertly reacting rather than as overtly acting. As regards overt actions, the self more than others is thought of as physically acting rather than as socially interacting; as regards covert reactions, the self more than others is thought of as having affective rather than cognitive reactions. Finally, the self more than others is described in terms of what one is not rather than what one is. The interaction effects on these six verb-ratio differences between self-conceptualizing versus other conceptualizing and age, gender, stimulus context, and response modality are described.