It may seem obvious, but while some people at work may speak the same language, they don’t necessarily use the same words or grammatical structures. These variations may be significant, according to a study published in the journal Language and Cognition, whose authors say we are more inclined to collaborate with people who speak like us.

“Our study shows that even small linguistic differences, which we may not even be consciously aware of, can play a role in our willingness to cooperate,” said study first author Theresa Matzinger.

The researchers put forward two hypotheses to explain this: we tend to be more cooperative with people whose linguistic preferences are similar to our own because we see it as a sign that they come from a similar background to ours – or because we appreciate the efforts they make to adapt their discourse, suggesting they might be cooperative in other areas, too.

The researchers tested the validity of these hypotheses with 100 English speakers, who had to choose which of four descriptions best matched an image they saw. Some were wrong, others correct, even if they used different turns of phrase.

The participants were then asked to repeat the experiment, but this time they had to choose between two textual options. Both were correct in describing the image on the screen, but they were not grammatically constructed in the same way.

The scientists led the participants to believe these descriptions had been written by two different people, and asked them to choose which of the two they would like to team up with. It turns out that the volunteers saw themselves collaborating more with someone who articulated their sentences in the same way as they did.

“This supports our first hypotheses: a sense of belonging to the same social group, based on linguistic expressions that are natural to oneself, is the more decisive factor in the choice of cooperation partners. The idea that the other person is adapting to one’s own way of expressing oneself and might, therefore, be more cooperative was much less important,” Matzinger outlined.

So, to collaborate effectively with your colleagues, you may need to pay attention to the way you speak – not to appear more polite, but to give your colleague the impression that you use the same vocabulary and grammatical structures as they do. Adapting your speech could be a way to gain acceptance from others.