Yiwei Wang

The University of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communication- Communication Studies, Alumna

Northeastern University, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Adjunct

Southwestern University, Communication Studies, Adjunct

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Yiwei Wang is a communication researcher whose work focuses on interpersonal and health communication. Her research interests include message design, social support, health promotion, etc. Her recent research projects examine the attributional consequences of agency assignment in pain communication and the impacts of partner confirmation on depression management and relationship satisfaction.

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Papers by Yiwei Wang

Did I Offend You or Did It? Agency Assignment in Interpersonal Apology

Discourse Processes, 2019

When apologizing to victims of transgressions, people may assign the agency for harm to themselve... more When apologizing to victims of transgressions, people may assign the agency for harm to themselves ("I'm sorry I offended you"), to the act ("I'm sorry it offended you"), or omit agency altogether ("I'm sorry you were offended"). They also may acknowledge or question the victim's harm by the choice of conjunction used to introduce an explanatory subordinate clause ("I'm sorry that you were offended" vs. "I'm sorry if you were offended"). Participants (n = 1,118) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 12 versions of a scenario wherein someone commits a transgression (e.g., breaks a promise) and then apologizes. Versions varied on degree of offense (minor or major), apology agency assignment (transgressor, transgression, or omitted), and conjunction choice ("that" or "if"). Results indicated that apologies assigning agency to the transgressor or transgression invited more favorable perceptions of the transgressor than those omitting agency. However, there was no reliable main effect nor interaction involving subordinating conjunction choice. Our findings demonstrate the impact of strategic word choice in apology on victims' perceptions of transgressors.

format_quoteAgency assignment in apologies significantly influenced perceived harm and intention to forgive across scenarios (Wilks' λ = .83, p < .001).format_quote

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[Pre-print] Partner Confirmation, Depression Management Efforts, and Relationship Functioning in Committed Romantic Relationships

by Yiwei Wang and Lingzi Zhong

Western Journal of Communication, 2021

Drawing upon confirmation theory, this study investigated the associations among partner confirma... more Drawing upon confirmation theory, this study investigated the associations among partner confirmation, depressed individuals' depression management efforts (DMEs), relationship satisfaction, and conflicts in committed romantic relationships. Regression analyses (N = 222) suggested that acceptance related to greater relationship satisfaction and fewer conflicts. Challenge was associated with greater DMEs, greater relationship satisfaction, but more conflicts. The combination of acceptance and challenge was associated with greater DMEs and more conflicts. Lastly, depression severity moderated the association between DMEs and partner confirmation. Results offered insights into how romantic partners could facilitate DMEs while maintaining relationship quality.

format_quotePartner challenge positively associated with DMEs for individuals with severe depression (B = .54); acceptance's effect varied by depression severity.format_quote

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[Dissertation] Talking about Torment: Agency Assignment and Grammatical Metaphor in Pain Communication

University of Texas at Austin, 2020

People suffering from pain often express their experience in metaphor. Empirical research suggest... more People suffering from pain often express their experience in metaphor. Empirical research suggests that the metaphors they use may shed light on their adjustment to pain conditions. While linguistic agency and pain metaphors often co-occur, no study has examined how people assign agency when describing pain and the impact of agency assignment on message receivers’ perceptions and responses. This research investigated 1) patterns of linguistic agency assignment in individuals’ descriptions of pain differing in intensity and duration, and 2) the impact of linguistic cues (i.e., agency assignment and grammatical category) used in fictitious pain narratives on audience’s pain perception. Two studies are reported. Study 1 investigated the language people spontaneously use to articulate their experience of mild vs. severe and acute vs. chronic pain. The author hypothesized that participants would be more likely to assign agency to pain or body parts where pain is localized (e.g., back) when describing chronic and/or severe pain than when describing acute and/or mild pain. As predicted, pain/body agency assignment rate was higher in the chronic vs. acute pain condition. However, there was no significant difference in the pain/body agency assignment rate between the severe and mild pain conditions. Study 2 featured a 3 (pain location: back, head, or joint) × 2 (agency assignment: person or pain/body) × 2 (pain process encoding: verb or nominalization) factorial experimental design. Participants read a pain narrative differing in linguistic cues and then rated their perception of the speaker and their pain. Findings from univariate analyses of covariance indicated that pain/body agency predicted higher ratings of perceived pain intensity and duration and lower ratings of internal locus of control and pain responsibility than human
agency. However, no significant effect of agency assignment and nominalization were found on perceived pain affect, pain-related disability, sympathy, and support for higher dose. Pain perception was also subjected to individual differences in medical expertise, personal pain history, and experience of caretaking. This research offers insight to
researchers and healthcare professionals about the influence of various linguistic choices in pain description on others’ interpretation of sufferers’ experience and their subsequent reactions.

format_quoteMetaphorical language in pain descriptions reflects a sufferer's adjustment and self-concept, impacting audience reactions.format_quote

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Lingering guilt and shame: Emotional burdens upon those who intended but failed to apologize

The Journal of Social Psychology, 2020

Prior research has shown that greater willingness to apologize for an offense is prompted by grea... more Prior research has shown that greater willingness to apologize for an offense is prompted by greater guilt but lesser shame. Yet little work examined whether apologies indeed resolve moral emotions. This study investigated how the absence of apology psychologically affects harmdoers when they recall a past offense. Undergraduates (N = 284) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions wherein they recalled a past incident in which they hurt, offended, angered, or had some other negative effect on another person. Harm-doers who intended but failed to apologize reported greater PFQ-2 state guilt and shame, compared to others who refused to apologize or whose apologies were rejected. However, similar results were not found for ESS state shame. Results suggest that failing to apologize may impede transgressors from relieving moral emotional burdens, but only for those who intended to apologize.

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Did I Offend You or Did It Agency Assignment in Interpersonal Apology.pdf

Discourse Processes, 2020

format_quoteApologies assigning agency to transgressors are more effective, demonstrating significant multivariate effects across all scenarios (p < .001).format_quote

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