Shared Talking Styles

Article Critique: Shared Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance Randall Bivins COMM 200 Instructor Doud August 19, 2013

I. Do I think the results provided by LSM website are accurate? a. Fragment sentence and contractions b. Experimental Phase c. Not acquainted with IM jargons and acronyms d. Parameter settings e. Same sex marriages II. Do you believe that LSM is a comprehensive way to predict the quality of interpersonal relationships? a. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung b. Dr. Dre and Rakim c. LSM waxes and wanes Article Critique: Shared Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance After reading Bowers’ article “Shared Talking Styles Herald New a Lasting
Romance” in reference to how conversational or language-style matching plays during interpersonal communications, it is safe to say that I can intelligently express my thoughts on his article. A subtle, surprisingly mundane type of banter lies at the heart of romance. Love's flames get fanned when a man and woman similarly employ words such as I, it, but and under in everyday conversations, a new study suggests (Bowers, 2010). "An interesting irony is that two people who truly hate one another will often exhibit a high amount of language-style matching," psychologist James Pennebaker says. "Two people locked in a bitter fight tend to talk, or yell, in similar ways." Mostly, though, highly attentive conversation partners like one another (Bowers, 2010). The common denominator in the previous statements is the high state emotion. The part of the body where emotions are expressed primarily is a person's face, although other nonverbal channels such as vocal sounds, posture, and hand gestures can contribute information about the intensity of the emotion (Soles, 2013). Whether you are strangers or in a relationship, the moment you enter that state of mind putting emphasis on function words, you go on offense, you become more attentive and the words fly unconsciously hence intensifying the dyadic conversation. I took the Language Style Matching (LSM) test about four times scoring below average on the first three and above average on the last test. Using the IM conversation format, I realized we used a lot of fragment sentences and contractions. Those played a part on my score. Once that was corrected my scored increase to above average; however, I am not sure whether I agree or disagree with the results because of the test still being the experimental phase. The test was not acquainted with IM jargons and acronyms utilized during conversations. Also, I when setting up the parameters was unsure on whether I should use “committed relationship” or “family”. The conversion was with my wife; therefore the choice I was looking for was “spouse”. With emergence of same sex marriages, more options should be incorporated and studies should be updated. In conclusion, as Pennebaker analyzed function words in letters between psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung from 1906 to 1913, poems and plays of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning from 1838 to 1861 and poems of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes form 1944 to 1963, he noticed a decline in Language style matching when Jung left Freud’s group and when Plath and Hughes’ marriage fell apart. I liken it to hip-hop icons Andre Young aka Dr. Dre and William Griffin Jr. aka Rakim. The two were in the process of creating a much anticipated album together. The Hip hop world could not wait but to our dismay they were unable to complete the album due to creative differences. Bowers pointed out that Pennebaker suspects that language style matching waxes and wanes in close relationships. Language-style matching diminished as each relationship soured (Bowers, 2010). Based off that assessment, language style matching is a comprehensive way to predict the quality of interpersonal relationships. Couples interest and ideas may start off the same, but after while things may sometimes go awry causing language style matching to dwindle. Reference: Bower, B. (2010, November). Shared talking styles herald new and lasting romance. U.S. News & World Report, 1. Retrieved 15 August 2013, from U.S. News & Reports website: http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/11/22/shared-talking-styles-herald-new-and-lasting-romance Sole, K. (2011).Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (https://content.ashford.edu)