Populist linguistic tone in recent U.S. presidential campaign discourse: a DICTION analysis
Abstract
This study analyzed the tone of public campaign remarks of right- and left-wing populist (Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, respectively) and right and left-wing non-populist (Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, respectively) U.S. presidential candidates using DICTION 7.0. Findings suggest that populists tended to use a linguistic tone that is high in pessimism, group abstractness, and exclusion. Pessimism and group abstractness were positively associated with immigration language in right-wing populist speech. Commonality and “we-ness” were positively associated with populist language in left-wing populist speech.
Publication Title
Communication Research Reports
Recommended Citation
Stewart, C. (2020). Populist linguistic tone in recent U.S. presidential campaign discourse: a DICTION analysis. Communication Research Reports, 37 (1-2), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1736541
