以情服人，豈顧其與愿違哉

杜磊

We intuitively use more emotional language to enhance our powers of persuasion， according to research published in Psychological Science， a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research shows that people tend toward appeals that arent simply more positive or negative but are infused with emotionality， even when theyre trying to sway an audience that may not be receptive to such language.

“Beyond simply becoming more positive or negative， people spontaneously shift toward using more emotional language when trying to persuade，” says researcher Matthew D. Rocklage of The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

We might imagine that people would use very positive words such as “excellent” or “outstanding” to bring others around to their point of view， but the findings showed that people specifically used terms that convey a greater degree of emotion， such as “exciting” and “thrilling.”

Understanding the components that make for a persuasive message is a critical focus of fields ranging from advertising to politics and even public health. Rocklage and colleagues wanted to look at the question from a different angle， exploring how we communicate with others when we are the ones trying to persuade.

“Its possible that to be seen as rational and reasonable， people might remove emotion from their language when attempting to persuade，” says Rocklage. Drawing from attitudes theory and social-function theories of emotion， however， Rocklage and colleagues Derek D. Rucker and Loran F. Nordgren hypothesized that people would go the other way， tapping into emotional language as a means of social influence.

In one online study， the researchers showed 1，285 participants a photo and some relevant details for a particular product available from Amazon.com. They asked some participants to write a five-star review that would persuade readers to purchase that product， while they asked others to write a five-star review that simply described the products positive features.

Using an established tool for quantitative linguistic analysis， the Evaluative Lexicon， the researchers then quantified how emotional， positive or negative， and extreme the reviews were.

Although the reviews were equally positive in their language， the data showed that reviewers used more emotional language when they were trying to persuade readers to buy a product compared with when they were writing a five-star review without intending to persuade. Participants persuasive reviews also had more emotional language compared with actual five-star reviews for the same products published on Amazon.com.

Importantly， the shift toward more emotional language appeared to be automatic rather than deliberative. Participants still used more emotional descriptors in persuasive reviews when they were simultaneously trying to remember an 8-digit number， a competing task that made strategizing very difficult.

The tendency to use more emotional language emerged even when participants were attempting to persuade a group of “rational” thinkers.

“Past research indicates that emotional appeals can backfire when an audience prefers unemotional appeals，” says Rocklage. “Our findings indicate that there is a strong enough connection between persuasion and emotion in peoples minds that they continue to use emotion even in the face of an audience where that approach can backfire.”

Indeed， additional evidence indicated a connection between emotion and persuasion in memory. The researchers found that the more emotional a word was， the more likely participants were to associate it with persuasion and the quicker they did so.

An interesting avenue for future research， says Rocklage， is to investigate whether the association transfers across various contexts.

“For instance， would people use less emotion if they were in a boardroom meeting or if they were writing a formal letter of recommendation？” he wonders.

發表在心理科學學會期刊《心理科學》上的一項研究表明，我們會憑直覺使用更多的情感語言來增強說服力。該研究指出，即便他們正試圖左右的聽眾并不一定會接受此類語言，人們還是傾向于充滿感情的勸說語，而這并非只是更為積極或消極的話那么簡單。

美國西北大學凱洛格商學院的研究員馬修·D. 羅克拉格談道：“除了把話講得更為積極或消極外，人們在嘗試說服時還會自發使用更多情感語言。”

我們或許認為，人們會使用“很好”或“優秀”這樣的積極詞匯來陳述其觀點、說服他人，但是，研究發現，人們會特意使用如“太令人興奮了”“太令人激動了”這種能表達更強烈情感的詞語。

理解說服性信息的構成要素是廣告、政治乃至公共衛生領域關注的焦點。羅克拉格和他的同事則希望換個角度來看待這個問題，他們探索的是：我們在嘗試勸服時是如何與他人進行溝通的。

羅克拉格指出：“為了被視為明理且有理之士，人們在嘗試勸服他人的過程中，可能會將情感摒棄于語言之外。”然而，從態度理論與情感的社會功能理論來看，羅克拉格與同事德里克·D. 拉克、洛蘭·F. 諾格倫卻提出了這樣的假設：人們會反其道而行之，利用情感語言，發揮其社交影響力。

一項網上研究中，研究者向1285名參與者展示了亞馬遜網站上某款特定產品的一張照片以及一些相關細節。研究者要求部分參與者撰寫一條可以勸服閱讀者購買該產品的五星評論，同時，又讓其他參與者寫一則只描述這款產品優點的五星評論。

通過使用“評價性詞匯”這款知名定量語言數據分析工具，研究者量化了評論語言的情緒化、積極或是消極及其偏激程度。

雖然評論都使用了積極語言，但數據分析結果表明，同樣是寫一份五星好評，當目的是要說服閱讀者購買產品時，評論者會比沒有這一目的時使用更多的情感語言。對亞馬遜網站上發布的同款產品，實驗參與者的說服性五星好評也比那些真實的五星好評含有更多的情感語言。

很重要的一點是，人們轉向使用更多的情感語言似乎并非有意為之，而是自然而然的。參與者在寫說服性評論的同時還要嘗試記住一個8位數。該競爭性任務令使用策略非常困難，但他們依然會使用更多的情感描述語。

即便是要嘗試說服一組“理性的”思考者，參與者依舊會出現使用更多情感語言的傾向。

羅克拉格講道：“以往的研究表明，如果聽者更喜歡不露感情的勸詞，用感情來打動他會適得其反。我們的研究則揭示，在人們的內心中，勸服與情感是高度相關的，人們還是會繼續使用情感，即便面對的聽者可能會對此大為反感。”

事實上，其他證據也表明，在我們的記憶中，情感與勸服相關聯。研究者發現，越是情感化的詞，參與者就越有可能將其與勸服聯系在一起，且聯系起來的速度也越快。

羅克拉格還談道，對于未來研究而言，考察這種聯系在各種環境中是否會發生遷移是個很有意思的研究方向。

他想知道，“假如人們在開董事會，或寫一封正式推薦信，會不會減少情感語言的使用？”

（譯者單位：浙江大學外國語言文化與國際交流學院）