“Tell Me Who You Are" Latent Semantic Analysis for Analyzing Spontaneous Self-Presentations in Different Situations

• The aim of the study was to analyze freely generated self-presentations through the natural language processing technique of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). Four hundred fifty-one participants (F = 360; M = 143) recruited from LinkedIn (a professional social network) were randomly assigned to generate 10 words to describe themselves to either an employer (recruitment-condition) or a friend (friendship- condition). The words’ frequency-rate and their semantic representation were compared between condi- tions and to the natural language (Google’s n-gram database). Self-presentations produced in the recruit- ment condition (vs. natural language) had significantly higher number of agentic words (e.g., problem- solver, responsible, able team-worker) and their contents were semantically closer to the concept of agency (i.e., competence, assertiveness, decisiveness) comparing to the friendship condition. Further- more, the valence of the self-presentations’ words was higher (i.e., with a more positive meaning) in the recruitment condition. Altogether, these findings are consistent with the literature on the “Big Two,” self- presentation, and impression management.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Tillämpad psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Applied Psychology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Latent Semantic Analysis

Agency

Communion

Self-Presentation

Impression Management

Impression management

Latent semantic analysis

Self-presentation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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