Linguistic analysis is concerned with the relationship between cognitive processes and language production, which is a complex process. Our conscious or subconscious choices of language provide psychologists with insight into cognitive functions like perception, memory, thinking and learning, all of which helps us make sense of the motivation, behaviour, attitudes and thinking styles of individuals.
When we try to present ourselves in a certain way, we tend to try to use the 'right' words. We select what we think are appropriate nouns and verbs, but are much less able to control the nuances of our language; our use of articles and pronouns. For example individuals use more first-person singular pronouns if they are depressed or dealing with a personal crisis; one of the key elements on the critical pathway to insider risk. These small words (linguistic markers) create the style of a text, which can provide insight into an individual's psychology and any changes in their attitudes, motivation and levels of stress.
When we try to present ourselves in a certain way, we tend to try to use the 'right' words. We select what we think are appropriate nouns and verbs, but are much less able to control the nuances of our language; our use of articles and pronouns. For example individuals use more first-person singular pronouns if they are depressed or dealing with a personal crisis; one of the key elements on the critical pathway to insider risk. These small words (linguistic markers) create the style of a text, which can provide insight into an individual's psychology and any changes in their attitudes, motivation and levels of stress.
"It is not always the content of our communications that provides the clues to our psychology but the syntax, sentence structure and use of functions (articles, pronouns etc.), that belies our psychological state." Niqi Mee, Head of Insider Risk, J2S Insider Risk
What others do
Many organisations currently use content or sentiment analysis of email and communications to identify keywords and phrases; “I hate my job”, “let's talk offline", to detect negative attitudes, stress or at-risk behaviour but while the content of a subject’s communications can provide some insight into their attitudes and intent, the language and phrases are often sector specific and can be affected by current trends in popular culture. Innocent references to TV shows and catch phrases can be known to flood insider risk monitoring with false flags and the software then misses the early warning signs present in other aspects of our language that can identify the presence of personal or organisational stressors before an insider begins to act against an organisation.
what we do |
In order to improve the identification of potential risk, where appropriate, we use state of the art linguistic analysis tools and techniques to analyse digital communications. We can pinpoint the cognitive processes underlying language use by identifying the linguistic markers that are not consciously controlled. This can provide early warning indicators of personnel under stress which may indicate at-risk behaviour, and enable our clients to bring employees back to equilibrium, before disaffection or stress affects their ability to operate successfully in an organisation.
While tools cannot categorically define whether any employee will act against the organisation, they can reduce the 'noise' to provide insight into the communications of individuals and enable the organisation to identify where an employee may be at-risk and where necessary, intervene. This allows organisations to monitor and manage at-risk employees by providing them with the support necessary to overcome personal and organisational stressors before they choose to act against the organisation as a malicious insider or damage the organisation unintentionally.
While tools cannot categorically define whether any employee will act against the organisation, they can reduce the 'noise' to provide insight into the communications of individuals and enable the organisation to identify where an employee may be at-risk and where necessary, intervene. This allows organisations to monitor and manage at-risk employees by providing them with the support necessary to overcome personal and organisational stressors before they choose to act against the organisation as a malicious insider or damage the organisation unintentionally.