How “you” makes meaning
Abstract
Linguistically, the generic use of “you” enables people to distance themselves from negative experiences and to extract some meaning from them.
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Generics may imply that a statement is normatively correct or ideal.
“Generics may also imply that a statement is normatively correct or ideal (39,40,42,43).”
From Generic language in scientific communication (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Orvell, A., Kross, E., & Gelman, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Orvell, Ariana
- Kross, Ethan
- Gelman, Susan A.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2017-03-24
- Volume
- 355
- Issue
- 6331
- Pages
- 1299-1302
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2599376331
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 37.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (award299965, BCS-1509457)
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (award299966, HD-36043)
- John Templeton Foundation (award299964, 348747)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
- Keywords
- second-person pronouns, meaning-making, emotional experience, social norms, language and emotion
- MeSH terms
- Behavior, Emotions, Humans, Language, Semantics, Speech
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