David M. Markowitz
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Articles by David M. Markowitz
Language and Persuasion Research: A Computational Literature Review Spanning Five Decades of Scholarship (1974–2025)
1 Introduction Persuasion, or efforts intended to influence another person's attitudes, beliefs, or mental states through communication (Hovland et al. 1953; O’Keefe 2016; Petty and Cacioppo 1986a), is a social and psychological process that can modify individuals' judgments and behaviors (Petty et al. 1997; Verplanken and Orbell 2022).
What 38 million obituaries reveal about how Americans define a ‘life well lived’ Original
Obituaries preserve what families most want remembered about the people they cherish most. Across time, they also reveal the values each era chose to honor. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we analyzed 38 million obituaries of Americans published from 1998 to 2024. We identified the values families most often highlight, and how those values shift across generations, regions and major historical events.
Perceived social contribution and its associations with political participation
Loading metrics Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article Citation: Reinhart EC, Turner MM, Markowitz DM, Carnahan D (2025) Perceived social contribution and its associations with political participation. PLoS One 20(9): e0330385. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330385 Editor: Ching-Hsing Wang, National Cheng Kung University, TAIWAN Received: May 26, 2025; Accepted: July 31, 2025; Published: September 5, 2025 Copyright: © 2025 Reinhart et al.
From vulnerability to duplicity: Examining the connection between childhood adversity and deception
Loading metrics Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article Citation: Markowitz DM (2025) From vulnerability to duplicity: Examining the connection between childhood adversity and deception. PLoS ONE 20(4): e0321666. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321666 Editor: Shazia Khalid, National University of Medical Sciences, PAKISTAN Received: November 22, 2024; Accepted: March 10, 2025; Published: April 23, 2025 Copyright: © 2025 David M. Markowitz.
Online searches shape climate views - Nature Climate Change
Online image search results depict climate change differently across the world. Countries with high (versus low) levels of climate concern encounter more emotional images, creating a difference that can change how people think and feel about climate change.
Simple science summaries written by AI help people understand research and trust scientists
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Simple science summaries written by AI help people understand research and trust scientists Original
Artificial intelligence-generated summaries of scientific papers make complex information more understandable for the public compared with human-written summaries, according to my recent paper published in PNAS Nexus. AI-generated summaries not only improved public comprehension of science but also enhanced how people perceived scientists.
Numbers Are Persuasive-If Used in Moderation
The facts of climate change are widely reported. NASA notes, for example, that with a two-degree-Celsius increase in global temperatures, as compared with a 1.5-degree-C increase, about 61 million more people living in urban areas around the world will be exposed to severe drought. In addition, the U.S. alone could lose 2.3 percent of its gross domestic product for each degree-C increase in global warming.
Deconstructing deception: Frequency, communicator characteristics, and linguistic features of embeddedness
1 DECONSTRUCTING DECEPTION Before giving sworn testimony, an oath officer typically asks a witness the following question: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” This famed statement in the US judicial system holds witnesses to account by suggesting that any deceptive information communicated during their testimony can result in a charge of perjury.
We analyzed over 3.5 million written teacher comments about students and found racial bias
By Angus Kittelman, University of Missouri-Columbia; David Markowitz, Michigan State University; Kent McIntosh, University of Oregon, and Maria Reina Santiago-Rosario, University of Oregon, 1 hour ago Teachers had more negative comments about Black boys than they did about other groups. aldomurillo/E+ via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
We analyzed over 3.5 million written teacher comments about students and found racial bias
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) kAmW%wt r~}'t#$p%x~}X %96 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^E964@?G6CD2E:@?]4@>^FD^E@A:4D^C6D62C49\3C:67\gbab`Qm#6D62C49 qC:67k^2m :D 2 D9@CE E2<6 @? :?E6C6DE:?8 24256>:4 H@C<]k^Am kAm(C:EE6? E62496C 4@>>6?ED 23@FE DEF56?ED 42? D9@H :>A=:4:E C24:2= @C 6E9?:4 2?5 86?56C 3:2D6D :?
Cross-checking journalistic fact-checkers: The role of sampling and scaling in interpreting false and misleading statements
PLOS ONE, Jul 2023 Professional fact-checkers and fact-checking organizations provide a critical public service. Skeptics of modern media, however, often question the accuracy and objectivity of fact-checkers. The current study assessed agreement among two independent fact-checkers, The Washington Post and PolitiFact, regarding the false and misleading statements of then President Donald J. Trump. Differences in statement selection and deceptiveness scaling were investigated.
Taking Note of Our Biases: How Language Patterns Reveal Bias Underlying the Use of Office Discipline Referrals in Exclusionary Discipline
Discussion We present one of the first large-scale, natural language processing evaluations to reveal that students of color are attended to differently than White students. Black students were attended to in more negative terms than White students, teachers focused more on the actions of Black students compared to White students, and teachers used more impersonal pronouns when attending to Asian students compared to White students as well.
Cross-checking journalistic fact-checkers: The role of sampling and scaling in interpreting false and misleading statements
Truth-default theory: Fact-checking as deception detection? Fact-checking and deception detection are not synonymous, but the overlap is considerable. According to most definitions of deception, false statements are not lies if the sender lacks deceptive intent [32]. A politician, for example, may believe what they say, even if it is patently false. In such cases, the statement is not a lie, but it could be fact-checked as false or misleading.
Instrumental goal activation increases online petition support across languages.
Instrumental goal activation increases online petition support across languages. Autores: David M. Markowitz Localización: aposta, ISSN-e 1939-1315, ISSN 0022-3514, Vol. 124, Nº. 6, 2023, págs. 1133-1145 Idioma: inglés Enlaces Texto completo (pdf) Research on processing fluency and instrumental goal activation suggests people often perceive complex information positively when effort in a task is valued.
Are people lying more since the rise of social media and smartphones?
Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a white lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face. Social psychologists and communication scholars have long wondered not just who lies the most, but where people tend to lie the most – that is, in person or through some other communication medium.
Are people lying more since the rise of social media and smartphones?
by: David Markowitz University of Oregon, AP The Conversation Posted: Nov 13, 2021 / 06:30 AM MST / Updated: Nov 11, 2021 / 02:39 PM MST Adobe Stock (THE CONVERSATION) Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a white lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face.
Are people lying more since the rise of social media and smartphones?
Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face. Social psychologists and communication scholars have long wondered not just who lies the most, but where people tend to lie the most – that is, in person or through some other communication medium.
Are People Lying More Since the Rise of Social Media and Smartphones?
By David Markowitz, Assistant Professor of Social Media Data Analytics, University of Oregon, The Conversation Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a white lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face.
Are people lying more since the rise of social media and smartphones?
Credit: The Conversation Technology has given people more ways to connect, but has it also given them more opportunities to lie? You might text your friend a white lie to get out of going to dinner, exaggerate your height on a dating profile to appear more attractive or invent an excuse to your boss over email to save face.
Are people lying more since the rise of social media and smartphones?
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The predictive utility of word familiarity for online engagements and funding
Research Article View ORCID ProfileDavid M. Markowitz and View ORCID ProfileHillary C. Shulman aSchool of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403; bSchool of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 See allHide authors and affiliations Edited by Susan T.
The Deception Spiral: Corporate Obfuscation Leads to Perceptions of Immorality and Cheating Behavior
Ariely, D. (2012). The (honest) truth about dishonesty: How we lie to everyone—especially ourselves. HarperCollins. Google Scholar Bird, F. B. (1996). The muted conscience: Moral silence and the practice of ethics in business. Quorum Books. Google Scholar Bloomfield, R. J. (2002). The “incomplete revelation hypothesis” and financial reporting. Accounting Horizons, 16(3), 233-243. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.312671 Google Scholar Bond, C. F., DePaulo, B. M. (2006). Accuracy of deception judgments.
Virtuous violence from the war room to death row
Virtuous violence from the war room to death row Paul Slovic, C. K. Mertz, David M. Markowitz, Andrew Quist, Daniel Västfjäll Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 2020, 202001583; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2001583117
The lies we tell on dating apps to find love
Nearly one-fourth of young adults are looking for love through dating websites or apps. This relatively new form of courtship can give you access to a large pool of potential partners. It also presents a unique set of challenges.
Social, psychological, and demographic characteristics of dehumanization toward immigrants
Recent research raises the prospect that such activity should be taken into account in order to better tailor therapies.
How to write better pet adoption ads | BusinessMirror
By David Markowitz / University of Oregon ABOUT 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited. How can adoption agencies persuade people to rescue pets who need a home?
Communicating Imperatives Requires Psychological Closeness But Creates Psychological Distance
Austin, J. L. (1975). How to do things with words. Harvard University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref Bäck, E. A., Bäck, H., Sendén, M. G., Sikström, S. (2018). From I to we: Group formation and linguistic adaption in an online xenophobic forum. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 6(1), 76-91. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v6i1.741 Google Scholar Bauer-Wolf, J. (2019). Young people support free college.
Pet adoption ads need to be better written than 'adopt, don't shop'
Representational Image | Flickr Text Size: About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited. How can adoption agencies persuade people to rescue pets who need a home? In a paper published on Dec.
How to Write Better Pet Adoption Ads
About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited. How can adoption agencies persuade people to rescue pets who need a home? In a paper published on Dec. 26, I investigated the pet adoption problem using advertisements from the online database Petfinder.
How to write better pet adoption ads
About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited. How can adoption agencies persuade people to rescue pets who need a home? In a paper published on Dec. 26, I investigated the pet adoption problem using advertisements from the online database Petfinder.
How to write better pet adoption ads
About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren't adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use "Adopt, Don't Shop!" campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited. How can adoption agencies persuade people to rescue pets who need a home? In a paper published on Dec. 26, I investigated the pet adoption problem using advertisements from the online database Petfinder.
How to write better pet adoption ads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited.
How to write better pet adoption ads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) About 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters each year because they weren’t adopted or had health problems that concerned potential owners. Agencies often use “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” campaigns to encourage people to adopt from or donate to shelters, but their effectiveness can be limited.
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