Receptiviti Base Rates

The table below outlines base rates for Receptiviti and LIWC API measures. Base rates are the mean scores of a measure in a specific context. Because language is context dependent, base rates are not universally applicable (e.g., base rates calculated using spoken language should not be used as reference points when interpreting analysis of written language).

Each proportional measure has a unique base rate, meaning the psychologically relevant words captured by each proportional measure occur naturally in language at varying rates. Some measures have a higher base rate like cognitive_processes (base rate in natural conversation = 0.1227). Other measures like discrepancy have a lower base rate (base rate in natural conversation = 0.0145). Thus, for some measures, a change of .05 can be huge psychologically even though the score magnitude looks tiny if you're not familiar with the measure.

If your analysis focuses on the psychology of a specific sub-population (i.e., executives) or context (i.e., work calls) that is not represented by our published base rates, we recommend calculating base rates based on your proprietary datasets to be able to understand what is a high or low score in the context of your data. This can be accomplished by either calculating the mean score of each Receptiviti measure for your dataset post-analysis or by using Receptiviti's custom norming tool.

note

The base rates provided for SALLEE Emotions are drawn from a very large and diverse language dataset and are intended solely as reference points. Please note that emotional scores can vary widely and are highly sensitive to context, tone, and circumstance.

Spoken Norms Base Rates

LIWC

Measure	Mean	Stdv
liwc15.achievement	0.0156864	0.00896096
liwc15.adjectives	0.039879	0.0108305
liwc15.adverbs	0.0582961	0.0158574
liwc15.affective_processes	0.0440714	0.0164322
liwc15.affiliation	0.0293051	0.0192892
liwc15.all_punctuation	0.149943	0.0605968
liwc15.analytical_thinking	0.505986	0.216155
liwc15.anger_words	0.00284224	0.00338075
liwc15.anxiety_words	0.00174824	0.00202782
liwc15.apostrophes	0.034745	0.0149419
liwc15.articles	0.0674661	0.015672
liwc15.assent	0.00617692	0.00669608
liwc15.authentic	0.430433	0.194159
liwc15.auxiliary_verbs	0.0969327	0.0193046
liwc15.biological_processes	0.00934392	0.00866691
liwc15.body	0.00274842	0.00348921
liwc15.causation	0.0162946	0.00644977
liwc15.certainty	0.0145231	0.00555023
liwc15.clout	0.68802	0.190865
liwc15.cognitive_processes	0.123115	0.0281735
liwc15.colons	0.000182561	0.000716176
liwc15.commas	0.0412558	0.0279754
liwc15.comparisons	0.0259105	0.011387
liwc15.conjunctions	0.066115	0.0137953
liwc15.dashes	0.00823717	0.0146303
liwc15.death	0.000895483	0.00193854
liwc15.dictionary_words	0.89548	0.0419544
liwc15.differentiation	0.0336184	0.01088
liwc15.discrepancies	0.0163186	0.00739854
liwc15.drives	0.0808326	0.0258348
liwc15.emotional_tone	0.618772	0.225757
liwc15.exclamations	0.000251008	0.00151587
liwc15.family	0.00194952	0.00392999
liwc15.feel	0.00388894	0.00340994
liwc15.female	0.00385913	0.00815393
liwc15.filler_words	0.000305401	0.00139136
liwc15.focus_future	0.0146854	0.00628323
liwc15.focus_past	0.0368525	0.0190014
liwc15.focus_present	0.119793	0.0272751
liwc15.friends	0.00216598	0.00267326
liwc15.function_words	0.546137	0.0477916
liwc15.health	0.00411603	0.0050477
liwc15.hear	0.00784896	0.0059247
liwc15.home	0.00306113	0.00383459
liwc15.i	0.0343926	0.0234175
liwc15.impersonal_pronouns	0.0706703	0.0202231
liwc15.informal_language	0.0128721	0.0115143
liwc15.ingestion	0.00198586	0.00332097
liwc15.insight	0.0275727	0.0108129
liwc15.interrogatives	0.0162412	0.00596389
liwc15.leisure	0.00957182	0.010114
liwc15.male	0.0100239	0.0123938
liwc15.money	0.0115466	0.012779
liwc15.motion	0.0198376	0.00739901
liwc15.negations	0.0161393	0.00795081
liwc15.negative_emotion_words	0.010983	0.00706285
liwc15.netspeak	0.00133404	0.00301138
liwc15.nonfluencies	0.00458697	0.0045717
liwc15.numbers	0.0236537	0.0171302
liwc15.other_grammar	0.278743	0.0341839
liwc15.other_punctuation	0.00769956	0.0095485
liwc15.parentheses	0.000319097	0.00131115
liwc15.perceptual_processes	0.0213276	0.00911987
liwc15.periods	0.0519266	0.0293854
liwc15.personal_concerns	0.0453083	0.0204955
liwc15.personal_pronouns	0.0945636	0.0275632
liwc15.positive_emotion_words	0.0324209	0.0150219
liwc15.power	0.0235424	0.0109927
liwc15.prepositions	0.12877	0.0178209
liwc15.pronouns	0.165322	0.0345094
liwc15.quantifiers	0.0234709	0.00757616
liwc15.question_marks	0.00393125	0.0064933
liwc15.quotes	0.00117106	0.00400123
liwc15.relativity	0.129528	0.0255581
liwc15.religion	0.00135238	0.00312144
liwc15.reward	0.0165691	0.0090235
liwc15.risk	0.00432279	0.00377794
liwc15.sad_words	0.0024095	0.00218905
liwc15.see	0.00864022	0.00498853
liwc15.semicolons	0.000224234	0.000892304
liwc15.sexual	0.000433195	0.00143551
liwc15.she_he	0.0100448	0.0128678
liwc15.six_plus_words	0.213883	0.0491734
liwc15.social_processes	0.0985366	0.0284974
liwc15.space	0.0681477	0.0152513
liwc15.swear_words	0.000405211	0.00133469
liwc15.tentative	0.0314505	0.0119751
liwc15.they	0.00835238	0.00641713
liwc15.time	0.0441597	0.0138875
liwc15.time_orientation	0.170983	0.0287364
liwc15.verbs	0.175824	0.0309965
liwc15.we	0.0206273	0.0177875
liwc15.work	0.0253243	0.0154333
liwc15.you	0.0211483	0.0133236

SALLEE Emotions

Measure	Mean	Stdv
sallee.sentiment	0.516116366244894	0.0308410015619418
sallee.goodfeel	0.100846381976162	0.0461579336600042
sallee.badfeel	0.0686136494863709	0.0443063068886882
sallee.emotionality	0.193751037989964	0.0700074042812606
sallee.ambifeel	0.0279646485907223	0.0176830373773708
sallee.approach	0.135223587903985	0.0514492821162878
sallee.avoidance	0.0473144764580809	0.0331941991821287
sallee.admiration	0.033332333054721	0.0202637946680387
sallee.amusement	0.003137077615406	0.0062281909765347
sallee.excitement	0.0121739908008766	0.0143022885520791
sallee.gratitude	0.0181400072851303	0.0133443311424969
sallee.joy	0.0209092586102479	0.0175296276726278
sallee.love	0.0185555131804948	0.0143547306859791
sallee.anger	0.025035084822676	0.0240320025304493
sallee.boredom	0.0024636997335821	0.0047641173048394
sallee.disgust	0.0107153259110113	0.011972027443823
sallee.fear	0.0226570084046184	0.0204881400896081
sallee.sadness	0.0162768315241016	0.0149143685946252
sallee.calmness	0.0100927592657571	0.0085104296870682
sallee.curiosity	0.0091978918529449	0.0112651402566057

Written Norms Base Rates

LIWC

Measure	Mean	Stdv
liwc15.achievement	0.0157437	0.00956914
liwc15.adjectives	0.0451384	0.0100299
liwc15.adverbs	0.0477705	0.0178575
liwc15.affective_processes	0.0547714	0.0199929
liwc15.affiliation	0.0215316	0.011642
liwc15.all_punctuation	0.164898	0.0468774
liwc15.analytical_thinking	0.621625	0.24443
liwc15.anger_words	0.0053888	0.00591107
liwc15.anxiety_words	0.00279604	0.00242396
liwc15.apostrophes	0.0185493	0.015402
liwc15.articles	0.0663611	0.0205136
liwc15.assent	0.00384407	0.00542152
liwc15.authentic	0.449034	0.248591
liwc15.auxiliary_verbs	0.08143	0.0237861
liwc15.biological_processes	0.0246586	0.0174967
liwc15.body	0.00796412	0.00751632
liwc15.causation	0.0148121	0.00643048
liwc15.certainty	0.0139405	0.00589577
liwc15.clout	0.581337	0.20804
liwc15.cognitive_processes	0.108311	0.0305972
liwc15.colons	0.00244938	0.00407788
liwc15.commas	0.0382497	0.0256828
liwc15.comparisons	0.0222256	0.00695673
liwc15.conjunctions	0.0600964	0.0142388
liwc15.dashes	0.00860721	0.00944564
liwc15.death	0.00148521	0.00237832
liwc15.dictionary_words	0.862015	0.0522411
liwc15.differentiation	0.0293569	0.0118191
liwc15.discrepancies	0.0169691	0.0083716
liwc15.drives	0.0735027	0.0201745
liwc15.emotional_tone	0.575082	0.264847
liwc15.exclamations	0.00720915	0.0148132
liwc15.family	0.00467469	0.00606797
liwc15.feel	0.00610012	0.00446765
liwc15.female	0.0103722	0.0146321
liwc15.filler_words	0.000343825	0.000776028
liwc15.focus_future	0.0137743	0.0076538
liwc15.focus_past	0.0424332	0.0211448
liwc15.focus_present	0.0979263	0.0399397
liwc15.friends	0.00315343	0.00338504
liwc15.function_words	0.508298	0.0578201
liwc15.health	0.00957108	0.0130435
liwc15.hear	0.00747993	0.00586397
liwc15.home	0.0051454	0.00486593
liwc15.i	0.0474989	0.0321653
liwc15.impersonal_pronouns	0.0493682	0.0158787
liwc15.informal_language	0.015609	0.0190321
liwc15.ingestion	0.00504371	0.00660189
liwc15.insight	0.0226022	0.00886695
liwc15.interrogatives	0.0141309	0.00557117
liwc15.leisure	0.0116361	0.00876493
liwc15.male	0.0168055	0.0174231
liwc15.money	0.00674614	0.00887423
liwc15.motion	0.0206508	0.00718073
liwc15.negations	0.015602	0.00841695
liwc15.negative_emotion_words	0.0175574	0.0104995
liwc15.netspeak	0.00616887	0.0119934
liwc15.nonfluencies	0.00261875	0.00272702
liwc15.numbers	0.0173492	0.0127054
liwc15.other_grammar	0.252522	0.0406932
liwc15.other_punctuation	0.00999886	0.016047
liwc15.parentheses	0.00239922	0.00384123
liwc15.perceptual_processes	0.0262421	0.0123788
liwc15.periods	0.0618122	0.0254979
liwc15.personal_concerns	0.0525336	0.0262659
liwc15.personal_pronouns	0.0961124	0.0342884
liwc15.positive_emotion_words	0.036541	0.0169348
liwc15.power	0.0242762	0.0120206
liwc15.prepositions	0.130735	0.0220148
liwc15.pronouns	0.145569	0.0420835
liwc15.quantifiers	0.0202931	0.00692145
liwc15.question_marks	0.00654351	0.00751303
liwc15.quotes	0.00733319	0.0106882
liwc15.relativity	0.137027	0.0256214
liwc15.religion	0.00256211	0.00581801
liwc15.reward	0.015304	0.00724976
liwc15.risk	0.00446074	0.00309604
liwc15.sad_words	0.0039024	0.00314168
liwc15.see	0.0107275	0.00702211
liwc15.semicolons	0.00174653	0.00330957
liwc15.sexual	0.00154367	0.00301106
liwc15.she_he	0.0190523	0.021354
liwc15.six_plus_words	0.246948	0.0694989
liwc15.social_processes	0.0967361	0.0314074
liwc15.space	0.0668411	0.0171603
liwc15.swear_words	0.00290409	0.00650011
liwc15.tentative	0.02471	0.011058
liwc15.they	0.00765391	0.00568643
liwc15.time	0.0519246	0.015068
liwc15.time_orientation	0.153437	0.0363552
liwc15.verbs	0.15875	0.0364333
liwc15.we	0.00818935	0.00884057
liwc15.work	0.0293412	0.0245145
liwc15.you	0.0137265	0.0134485

SALLEE Emotions

Measure	Mean	Stdv
sallee.sentiment	0.516688452714283	0.0424318901218112
sallee.goodfeel	0.133166923885296	0.06788146547697
sallee.badfeel	0.0997900184567257	0.0592600038545297
sallee.emotionality	0.262658816590926	0.100241996602172
sallee.ambifeel	0.0350738402757094	0.0194911873157864
sallee.approach	0.173838206616407	0.0688886267626769
sallee.avoidance	0.0713486866993312	0.0430446403866653
sallee.admiration	0.039281031595755	0.0254293684098989
sallee.amusement	0.0088389990356598	0.0206273767356995
sallee.excitement	0.0073894419268624	0.0098043977139411
sallee.gratitude	0.0183016626291018	0.0126095811418309
sallee.joy	0.0238211020218329	0.0206670819730906
sallee.love	0.0352784064906563	0.028665435786645
sallee.anger	0.0340660272906104	0.0296090534997463
sallee.boredom	0.0062687852387848	0.0096810357422236
sallee.disgust	0.0184388904897591	0.0196116796885501
sallee.fear	0.0279191585191435	0.0201317584611499
sallee.sadness	0.0262212691749449	0.0188325608608942
sallee.calmness	0.0116217983733134	0.0089704647977253
sallee.curiosity	0.0099420199743363	0.0102380551126441