Context in Communication: Advancing an Understanding of Affordances and Constraints on Verbal Behavior

This paper examines the critical yet undertheorized role of context in verbal communication. Despite the term context appearing in over 83% of communication science articles, its conceptualization remains nebulous. Drawing on multiple disciplines, an interactionist perspective is advanced that considers how individual, social, and situational factors afford or constrain verbal behavior. Using examples of language complexity and processing fluency, this paper demonstrates how contextual factors like instrumental goal activation can reverse seemingly established relationships between simple language features and behavioral outcomes. The paper concludes by advocating for methodological approaches that systematically integrate contextual variables into language analysis, enabling researchers to resolve contradictory findings, enhance replicability, and develop a more nuanced understanding of how language reveals psychological processes.