I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction
People often think about how they are perceived by others, but their perceptions (described as metaperceptions) are frequently off-target. Speakers communicating in their first language demonstrate a robust phenomenon, called the liking gap, where they consistently underestimate how much they are li...
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/3/200 |
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author | Pavel Trofimovich Rachael Lindberg Anamaria Bodea Thao-Nguyen Nina Le Chaoqun Zheng Kim McDonough |
author_facet | Pavel Trofimovich Rachael Lindberg Anamaria Bodea Thao-Nguyen Nina Le Chaoqun Zheng Kim McDonough |
author_sort | Pavel Trofimovich |
collection | DOAJ |
description | People often think about how they are perceived by others, but their perceptions (described as metaperceptions) are frequently off-target. Speakers communicating in their first language demonstrate a robust phenomenon, called the liking gap, where they consistently underestimate how much they are liked by their interlocutors. We extended this research to second language (L2) speakers to determine whether they demonstrate a similar negative bias and if it predicts willingness to engage in future interactions. We paired 76 English L2 university students with a previously unacquainted student to carry out a 10 min academic discussion task in English. After the conversation, students rated each other’s interpersonal liking, speaking skill, and interactional behavior, provided their metaperceptions for their partner’s ratings of the same dimensions, and assessed their willingness to engage in future interaction. We found a reliable interpersonal liking gap for all speakers, along with speaking skill and interaction behavior gaps for female speakers only. Only the female speakers (irrespective of their partner’s gender) seemed to factor metaperceptions into their willingness to engage in future communication. We discuss the implications of these initial findings and call for further work into the role of metaperception in L2 communication. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:33:26Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-cffb1f948d454f2f888f7c0ffe01dfd1 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2226-471X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:33:26Z |
publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Languages |
spelling | doaj.art-cffb1f948d454f2f888f7c0ffe01dfd12023-11-19T11:35:58ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2023-08-018320010.3390/languages8030200I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic InteractionPavel Trofimovich0Rachael Lindberg1Anamaria Bodea2Thao-Nguyen Nina Le3Chaoqun Zheng4Kim McDonough5Department of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaDepartment of Education, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, CanadaPeople often think about how they are perceived by others, but their perceptions (described as metaperceptions) are frequently off-target. Speakers communicating in their first language demonstrate a robust phenomenon, called the liking gap, where they consistently underestimate how much they are liked by their interlocutors. We extended this research to second language (L2) speakers to determine whether they demonstrate a similar negative bias and if it predicts willingness to engage in future interactions. We paired 76 English L2 university students with a previously unacquainted student to carry out a 10 min academic discussion task in English. After the conversation, students rated each other’s interpersonal liking, speaking skill, and interactional behavior, provided their metaperceptions for their partner’s ratings of the same dimensions, and assessed their willingness to engage in future interaction. We found a reliable interpersonal liking gap for all speakers, along with speaking skill and interaction behavior gaps for female speakers only. Only the female speakers (irrespective of their partner’s gender) seemed to factor metaperceptions into their willingness to engage in future communication. We discuss the implications of these initial findings and call for further work into the role of metaperception in L2 communication.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/3/200metaperceptionsecond languageinternational studentsspeaking skillinterpersonal likinginteractional behavior |
spellingShingle | Pavel Trofimovich Rachael Lindberg Anamaria Bodea Thao-Nguyen Nina Le Chaoqun Zheng Kim McDonough I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction Languages metaperception second language international students speaking skill interpersonal liking interactional behavior |
title | I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction |
title_full | I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction |
title_fullStr | I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction |
title_full_unstemmed | I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction |
title_short | I Don’t Think You like Me: Examining Metaperceptions of Interpersonal Liking in Second Language Academic Interaction |
title_sort | i don t think you like me examining metaperceptions of interpersonal liking in second language academic interaction |
topic | metaperception second language international students speaking skill interpersonal liking interactional behavior |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/3/200 |
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