Our social experiences shape word meaning

What is it about?

Our language is filled with words that carry deep social meaning, such as 'TEACHER,' 'LOYAL,' and 'NATION.' This study found that people recognize and process these social words faster and more accurately than non-social words like 'CHAIR.' This was observed in tasks such as distinguishing real words from fake ones, categorizing words as concrete or as nouns, and recognizing words that had been seen moments before.

Featured Image

Photo by Felix Rostig on Unsplash

Photo by Felix Rostig on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This finding sheds light on our understanding of the meaning of words. Specifically, it suggests that our social experiences shape the meaning of words, and, in turn, influence how we attribute meaning to experiences in our daily lives. This also raises the possibility that challenging social experiences, such as chronic loneliness or those resulting from impaired social skills, might have important consequences for the meaning we attribute to our everyday experiences, but this remains to be directly tested.