The LSM analyzing communication within interpersonal relationships

The LSM analyzing communication within interpersonal relationships

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The LSM analyzing communication within interpersonal relationships

The article Shared Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance was a very interesting article. I do believe that language style matching is a thorough way to predict the quality of interpersonal relationships in some cases. The LSM test examines the verbal connection between two people which also signify how much attention each person is paying to one another when they are conversing. As stated in the article language style matching is a form of using function words and words in other categories that relates to one another in some form or fashion. One thing I found very interesting about the article was that two people who truly hate one another will often exhibit a high amount of language-style matching,” stated by Pennebaker. He also states that “Two people locked in a bitter fight tend to talk, or yell, in similar ways.”

Just based on real life experiences I would have to say this is very much true in many situations I have been faced with. There have been numerous times I have met someone and it seemed as if we were just on the same page. We thought the same way had the same outlook on life to a certain extinct and we seemed to be friends instantly but I never thought that

having high language-style matching had anything to do with it nor did I know what it was until taking this course. I now understand better why two individuals who just click as stated in the article just click! It’s almost as if people with high language matching-styles are so compatible with one another it’s hard not to click. To calculate my LSM score I used a set of text messages between myself and a friend. The text messages were about meeting up and having a ladies night out. The calculated LSM score for this conversation/textersation was 0.69 which according to the LSM compared to most LSM fell below average.

Several factors can lead to LSM scores that are too low. Some are too few words by one or both authors, very different genres of writing between the two people, an extreme number of misspellings or IM shortcuts.The only problem I can see with this type of setup is the fact that most friends have different codes and language they use around one another that another person out of the group/ circle wouldn’t understand but everyone within that circle does which is the case with me and many of my close friends. With that being said just because the LSM score didn’t fell as if the conversation was well understood between both parties that could be very untrue. Another problem is with the IMs everyone is aware in America everything is done fast and multi-tasking is taking over the world daily. With that being said short cut wording such as (b4, Ttyl, lol, ect) are becoming more and more useful on the daily basis. Not just with teenagers but everyone it’s a fast and accurate way to get the same exact message across using less typing and time. LSM counts shortcuts like that against you which I believe will cause people to have increasingly lower scores.

When doing this experiment I didn’t want to sugar coat any messages so I used messages directly from my phone and wrote them in exactly how they were. Overall the article and experiment was very interesting and informative and explained why relationships work and some do not. This assignment also helped me understand the different types of verbal communication errors one may encounter with one person but not with another person due to having high language matching- styles.