A Tiny Pronoun Says a Lot About You
A Tiny Pronoun Says a Lot About You
How Often You Say I Says More Than You Realize
By Elizabeth Bernstein, Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2013
Its a common belief that people who say I a lot are full of themselves, maybe even narcissists. Surprising new research turns that assumption on its head. Elizabeth Bernstein and University of Texas researcher James Pennebaker explain. Photo: AP.
You probably don't think about how often you say the word "I."
You should. Researchers say that your usage of the pronoun says more about you than you may realize.
Surprising new research from the University of Texas suggests that people who often say "I" are less powerful and less sure of themselves than those who limit their use of the word. Frequent "I" users subconsciously believe they are subordinate to the person to whom they are talking.
Pronouns, in general, tell us a lot about what people are paying attention to, says James W. Pennebaker, chair of the psychology department at the University of Texas at Austin and an author on the study. Pronouns signal where someone's internal focus is pointing, says Dr. Pennebaker, who has pioneered this line of research. Often, people using "I" are being self-reflective. But they may also be self-conscious or insecure, in physical or emotional pain, or simply trying to please.
Dr. Pennebaker and colleagues conducted five studies of the way relative rank is revealed by the use of pronouns. The research was published last month in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology. In each experiment, people deemed to have higher status used "I" less.
The findings go against the common belief that people who say "I" a lot are full of themselves, maybe even narcissists.
Click this link to read the whole article, and find out about yourself:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304626104579121371885556170.html?mod=djemWMPAsia_h
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I'm not too sure how often I say 'I', but I know I say 'I' fairly often. Do you?
Pretty sure that I do!
What's that expression? "An 'I' for an 'I', a 2th for a 2th"?
Funny, Buzz.
Word choices can be very telling. I think the same about a lot of other associated words that point to the " I " perspective in the person's comments.
The ' I ' perspective also seems to be relative to the type of article involved. A Journalist's report or Documentary being seeded, isn't going to incorporate the first person, but an article about a personal experience is most likely going to have some.
I don't mind personal articles. It's when the point of their articles is to be egoist or "self-important," rather than focusing more on information, that it boggles my emotions.