Conflict-Generating Formulations in Governmental Correspondence: a Psycholinguistic Perspective with Evidence from Kazakhstan
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Abstract
Conflict-generating formulations in official governmental correspondence constitute a significant yet underexamined factor influencing institutional legitimacy and public trust. While administrative discourse is traditionally characterised by procedural precision and formal neutrality, psycholinguistic research demonstrates that linguistic framing, modality, and pragmatic positioning shape cognitive appraisal, emotional response, and perceived fairness. This article presents a structured interdisciplinary literature review integrating psycholinguistics, discourse studies, and public administration research to identify linguistic mechanisms that provoke defensiveness, escalation, and negative interpretation in communication between government officials and citizens. Particular attention is given to lexical absolutism, implicit blame constructions, depersonalised institutional voice, and asymmetrical framing. The discussion incorporates evidence from Kazakhstan, where recent studies reveal persistent gaps in communicative competencies among civil servants and increasing sensitivity to public-facing administrative language. The findings suggest that conflictogenicity emerges from the interaction between authority markers and cognitive threat perception, especially in contexts of power asymmetry. The article proposes linguistically informed strategies to mitigate escalation risks while preserving legal precision. By linking psycholinguistic mechanisms with governance communication practices, the study contributes to the development of conflict-sensitive models of official correspondence relevant to transitional and digitally mediated governance systems.
Keywords: conflictogenicity; governmental communication; psycholinguistics; conflict-generating formulations; public trust; Kazakhstan; administrative discourse.
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