Parliamentary members use simpler language on hot days

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Language Acquisition News

Child Development,Literacy,Weather

Climate change has many widespread and complicated effects on the well-being of people and the planet, and a new study has now added a surprising one to the list.

After analyzing the language used in seven million parliamentary speeches around the world, it shows that high temperatures lead to a significant and immediate reduction in politicians' language complexity.

"Heat has long been associated with a range of negative health outcomes, including increased risk of decreased productivity and cognitive performance," says Risto Conte Keivabu of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany."Our study highlights that this phenomenon extends to politicians, who are tasked with critical responsibilities."

They explain that the approach allowed them to isolate the effect of temperature on the complexity of politicians' language, yielding results that were surprisingly clear. Their findings show that hot days reduce language complexity. Cold days did not have the same effect. To learn more, they looked more closely at any variable effects in Germany based on age or gender.

"The simplification of political discourse has mixed implications; while simpler language can enhance public understanding and engagement, it might also signal reduced cognitive performance due to heat," Widmann says."This could have negative consequences for the productivity of parliament members, affecting legislative decision-making, citizen representation, and budget planning.

 

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