Lay Rationalism in Speech and Writing: The Relationship Between Language Modality and Decision Making

Building on research demonstrating how language modality impacts intuitive decision making, this study explores the relationship between language modality and lay rationalism, or the preference for pro-reason over pro-emotional decision making. This exploration serves to promote understanding of how decision making trends have been affected by recent increase in written, digital communication such as emails, online articles, and chat rooms. Participants (N = 400) were given four scenarios in either spoken or written modality, asked which option would make them happier, and asked which option they chose. We found no evidence of effect by language modality as participants in both groups showed lay rationalistic and subjective well being trends regardless of whether the scenarios were spoken or written. The participants in the spoken condition spent significantly more time on the questions which could have acted as a confound. This finding provides motivation for further exploration of the relationship between decision making and language modality in future studies.