Sensing minimal self in a sentence that involves the speaker

Summary

Variations in sentence structure can alter a speaker's sense of minimal self—specifically, the sense of agency and ownership over their own actions and perceptions. In experiments using Japanese sentences, the sense of agency was significantly lower when actions or perceptions were absent from the first-person subject's expression. The sense of ownership was significantly lower when both action and perception were absent, and varied by context when action was absent but perception remained. These findings suggest that linguistic choices affect the felt experience of selfhood, bridging the narrative self and the embodied minimal self.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The contribution of language to the narrative self is well-known, but does language play a role in creating the sense of minimal self? In this paper, we investigated whether variations in sentence structure affected the speaker's sense of minimal self. We examined whether expressing the first-person subject's actions and perceptions in sentences influenced the speaker's sense of agency and ownership, which are key components of the minimal self. Previous studies explored the influence of expressing a third-person subject’s actions on the interpretation of agency, but not that of the first-person subject. To ensure consistent sentence structures across various expressions, we used Japanese example sentences. We found that the sense of agency of the first-person subject was significantly lower in the absence of actions or perceptions compared to when they were present. With regard to the sense of ownership, we found that it was significantly lower when both action and perception were absent (e.g., “I saw a star” vs. “A star was out”). Interestingly, when the action was absent but perception was present (e.g., “I saw a star” vs. “A star was visible to me”), the sense of ownership varied significantly depending on the context. These results suggested that variations in linguistic structures within utterances could distinctly impact the senses of agency and ownership. In cognitive linguistics it is argued that the concept of “subjectivity” is essential for understanding various linguistic phenomena. By applying the experimental methods developed in this paper, we aim not only to clarify what is implied by “subjectivity” in a broader context through the study of the self but also to introduce a method for measuring subjectivity. Furthermore, we believe that this understanding can facilitate the establishment of a connection between the linguistic narrative self and the embodied minimal self.