WHEN WORDS SPEAK LOUDER: THE EFFECT OF VERB ABSTRACTION ON INFERENCES FROM INTERPERSONAL EVENTS

When confronted with subject-verb-object descriptions of interpersonal events people seem to make stronger causal attributions to the object and stronger personality inferences about the subject from descriptions with abstract rather than concrete verbs. We examined two explanations for this apparent contradiction: (1) verb abstraction affects causal attributions and personality inferences in opposite directions, and (2) verb abstraction affects both causality and personality inferences about the subject and the object in a parallel yet curvilinear manner. Studies 1, 2, and 3 refuted the first hypothesis and supported the second. Study 4 showed that the curvilinear relationship between verb abstraction and subject/object inferences does not occur because the verb types suggest differential personal control by the subject and the object. Instead, it occurs because different verb types suggest different levels of consensus and distinctiveness (Studies 5 and 6). Subject inferences revealed a negativity effect whereas object inferences revealed a positivity effect (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 6). The implications for person perception and causal attribution are discussed.