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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-about-swearing? dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Every time we open our mouths, we unwittingly reveal our personalities.

If you overheard a conversation on a bus, do you think you could tell from the words that were used and the topics discussed, the personality of the people who were chatting? What about if I showed you a short story? Could you glean something about the character of the author from their language?

We're often reminded "choose your words carefully" – well it turns out the words themselves may reveal far more than what we're actually trying to say. There's mounting evidence that our personality is written, quite literally, in the language that we use, from the tweets we send to our choice of email address.

Not all findings are particularly surprising. Those who score highly on extroversion really are a lot louder and chattier than their more introverted peers. They also tend to speak more quickly. Female extroverts, but not males, are more likely to have group chats, while introvert men (but not women) spend more time talking to themselves.

But introverts and extroverts also use language very differently. A few years ago, a group of researchers led by Camiel Beukeboom at VU University, Amsterdam, asked a group of 40 volunteers to look at photos of different social situations and describe out loud what was going on. They found that extroverts' language tended to be more abstract and "loose", while introverts spoke in more concrete terms. In other words, introverts tend to be a lot more specific.

Extroverts say: "This article is excellent"

Introverts say: "This article is very informative"

In line with this, other research has found that introverts tend to use more articles (the/a) – which, by definition, refer to individual objects or events. They also tend to be more cautious in their language: that is, they use more hedging (perhaps, maybe), and more quantifiable terms, such as referring to specific numbers.

Extroverts say: "Let's get some food"

Introverts say: "Perhaps we could go for a sandwich"

All of this makes psychological sense. Most extroverts enjoy the fast life, being more likely to drink, sleep around and take risks than introverts; every time they open their mouths, too, extroverts are prepared to take greater risks with the accuracy, spontaneity and reach of what they say.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:35PM (#543425)

    I've been told talking about myselves is a sign of paranoid schizophrenia, but I say the dumb nigger bitch in my head should shut the fuck up. She insists on waking up every hour when I'm trying to sleep, telling me she's bored and has insomnia which makes no fucking sense because if she would just let me sleep then I could sleep for both of me. But no, she has to pull this shit, sleep is too fucking boring to let me get any sleep.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:54PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @06:54PM (#543429)

    As (pre-rape) Cosby famously said, "nobody would trust a doctor who talks like a thug." So kids who talk like that (and can't talk "normal") are limiting themselves with a self-imposed glass ceiling.

    • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @02:30AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @02:30AM (#543559)

      Why the scare quotes?

      • (Score: 2) by everdred on Thursday July 27 2017, @02:00AM

        by everdred (110) on Thursday July 27 2017, @02:00AM (#544961) Journal

        Probably because "normal" is subjective, and the AC you replied to isn't trying to start a debate about what is normal.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Sunday July 23 2017, @07:31PM (9 children)

    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Sunday July 23 2017, @07:31PM (#543438) Homepage Journal

    What about if I showed you a short story? Could you glean something about the character of the author from their language?

    No. I write far differently than I speak, and how I talk depends on who I'm talking to. When I'm in the company of educated people I watch my manners of speech. When I'm with a bunch of drunken rednecks my speech is quite different. When I'm writing, often I'll sit at the computer for fifteen minutes trying to choose a better word.

    --
    mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by frojack on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:50PM (6 children)

      by frojack (1554) on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:50PM (#543469) Journal

      I write far differently than I speak.

      Not here you don't.

      Your posts often explore the relationship between postmodern discourse and unwanted gifts.
      With influences as diverse as Rousseau and Buckminster Fuller, new tensions are distilled from both orderly and random layers.
      Ever since your first post I have been fascinated by the unrelenting divergence of relationships. What starts out as contemplation soon becomes corroded into a hegemony of power, leaving only a sense of failing and the chance of a new reality. As intermittent replicas become clarified through emergent and diverse practice, the viewer is left with a clue to the edges of our culture.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:59PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:59PM (#543473)

        OK, so which mod point are you gunning for? Funny? Insightful? Interesting? I'm stumped!

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM (2 children)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM (#543478) Journal

          Frojack, +1 frojack. But he did not cite the Postmodernist Random Prose Generator he used, so, it's a wash.

          • (Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 24 2017, @01:43AM (1 child)

            by frojack (1554) on Monday July 24 2017, @01:43AM (#543543) Journal

            Bingo. Give that giu a cupiedoll. It actually wasn't that one, there seem to be quite a few of them. And many are using the same technique and the same code base.

            There are other such generators where you can feed in a paragraph and get a masked paragraph back.
            http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2013/08/if_you_passed_n.html [boston.com]
            Also here: http://www.i-programmer.info/news/105-artificial-intelligence/6197-anonymouth-hides-identity.html [i-programmer.info]

            Do these tools make aristarchus less of of a stalker? I'm guessing not.

            --
            No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
            • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Monday July 24 2017, @08:40AM

              by aristarchus (2645) on Monday July 24 2017, @08:40AM (#543614) Journal

              Do these tools make aristarchus less of of a stalker?

              I have a list with your user name on it, frojack! With it, I can track whenever you post, what ever you do on SoylentNews! MuHahahaha! It's called a "Friend list", you are on mine, froj! But, stalking? Hey, dude, you're just a friend, and I cannot tell that much about you from your use of language. You do have stupid right-wing opinions (sorry for the redundancy) a lot, and you are the smoothest climate change denier around. But my admiration for you stops there. Sorry, if this hurts your feelings.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM (#543479)

          Not every comment is gunning for mod points.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:43PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:43PM (#543489)

        You are Charles Emerson Winchester III and I claim my $5.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:03PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:03PM (#543495) Homepage

      How I talk depends who I'm talking to. When I'm in the company of Whites, I watch my manners of speech. When I'm with a bunch of intoxicated Blacks, I use the words "Yo" and "Sheeeit" as commas while sipping on Carlo Rossi [seriouseats.com] wine. When I'm with a bunch of Mexicans I say "ese" and speak Spanglish 5 times faster than English is spoken.

      The biggest part of such adaptations are the skillful avoidance of faux pas. For example, the Spanish word "Cabron" is a playful ribbing for young Mexicans, but for older Mexicans, it means literally "I fucked your wife" and they will try to stab you even if they were okay with you using other curse words to apply to them. Likewise, even though Blacks call each other the word "nigga," the word is best left avoided by outsiders. Official US Army rules are such that it is okay for non-Blacks to call Blacks "nigga" but never "nigger."

    • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday July 24 2017, @02:18PM

      by linkdude64 (5482) on Monday July 24 2017, @02:18PM (#543689)

      Here, here!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @07:43PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @07:43PM (#543443)

    The results of this study seem like a journey in confirmation bias.

    Should it not be obvious that whatever measurement they used to measure extroversion vs introversion, might also be selecting disproportionately for other traits? For instance ineloquence and lack of precision in language seems more like something one would expect from individuals with a lower level of education or 'intelligence.' And that in turn obviously does not mean introversion = intelligence, extroversion = stupidity. It again could be a different curve. Perhaps of all individuals of lower intelligence extroverts are overrepresented, and among individuals with higher intelligence introverts are overrepresented. And of course that in turn begs yet another question of a possible response or sampling bias in the survey methodology.

    Ugh, this is why I think papers in psychology are rarely worth anything. There's rarely if ever any sort of clear causal connection and for that matter our lack of any sort of 'first principles' of psychology makes the lack of any causality essentially a given. So it's essentially a nonstop stream of 'well that's mildly amusing, but please never even flirt with the possibility of actually applying this to anything where we would assume the conclusions of this paper have any merit or value whatsoever.'

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:02PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:02PM (#543450)

      I totally disagree with the article and examples given. According to the "Keirsey Temperament Test" I'm an INTJ, yet I talk like the Extrovert examples. Maybe IQ should have been factored in, as many professionals (Doctors) have said I'm highly intelligent even though I didn't have a higher education. The same professionals said most people they meet are dumb but are ignorant of it.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:34PM (#543486)

        I totally disagree with the article and examples given. According to the "Keirsey Temperament Test" I'm an INTJ, yet I talk like the Extrovert examples.

        "I totally disagree that people tend to be shorter than 2 meters. I saw this really tall dude once."
        "I totally disagree that cigarettes increase the likelihood of lung cancer. My grandpa has been smoking his whole life and he's still healthy at 95."

        See how silly that sounds? The article uses phrases like "tend to" and "are more likely to", it doesn't give you absolutes that should apply to every single introvert and extrovert. One datapoint doesn't refute the article, you're going to need something more scientifically rigorous for that.

        Mind you, I'm not saying that the conclusions are definitively correct -- as a STEM major, I'm obliged to look down on social sciences. :) It's just that using some anecdata to deny statistics and probabilities is, at best, misguided...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:04PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:04PM (#543451)

      The results of this study seem like a journey in confirmation bias.
      . . . Perhaps of all individuals of lower intelligence extroverts are overrepresented, . . . And of course that in turn begs yet another question of a possible response or sampling bias in the survey methodology.

      Ugh, this is why I think papers in psychology are rarely worth anything.. . .

      Case in point: Scientologist. Fairly well-read, or at least enough to use the phrase "begs the question" incorrectly. http://begthequestion.info/ [begthequestion.info] Smooth enough to say "rarely" when clearly means "absolutely always and forever not." One star. Would not date again.

      • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:56PM

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:56PM (#543510) Homepage

        When in L.A., I came across Scientology books somebody had left in the laundromat. The writing style and complexity was so idiotic it made my head hurt. Only weak-minded fools would be drawn into that mess. As one recurring example of horrors I saw within those books, the meaning of any word more than 3 syllables long would actually be explained in a footnote. For example, the word "Alligator" would have a footnote explaining that it was a "large swamp-dwelling reptile." And when you have footnotes to explain things for you, that means you're reading something smart.

        Yeah, I get it, some people feel lost and want to understand the meaning of the world around them, they want purpose. The best option for those is to read the classics, which is the cheapest and easiest option ordering used books from Amazon. The second-best option is to seek counseling, although this is impossible without money or medical insurance. The third-best option is to embrace a less-judgemental and more mainstream form of Christianity*, with the kind of churches that have those "we welcome everybody" signs outside.

        * But not any of those wacko religions like Bahai, Mormonism, Buddhism, Judaism, or Islam.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:31PM (10 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:31PM (#543459) Journal

    ἐν αἷς ἐκ τῶν ὑποκειμένων συμβαίνει τὸν κόσμον πολλαπλάσιον εἶμεν τοῦ νῦν εἰρημένου. Ὑποτίθεται γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἀπλανέα τῶν ἄστρων καὶ τὸν ἅλιον μένειν ἀκίνητον, τὰν δὲ γᾶν περιφέρεσθαι περὶ τὸν ἅλιον κατὰ κύκλου περιφέρειαν, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν μέσῳ τῷ δρόμῳ κείμενος, τὰν δὲ τῶν ἀπλανέων ἄστρων σφαῖραν περὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κέντρον τῷ ἁλίῳ κειμέναν τῷ μεγέθει τηλικαύταν εἶμεν, ὥστε τὸν κύκλον, καθ᾿ ὃν τὰν γᾶν ὑποτίθεται περιφέρεσθαι, τοιαύταν ἔχειν ἀναλογίαν ποτὶ τὰν τῶν ἀπλανέων ἀποστασίαν, οἵαν ἔχει τὸ κέντρον τᾶς σφαίρας ποτὶ τὰν ἐπιφάνειαν ...

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:09PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:09PM (#543476)

      Wow, it's all Greek to me.

      • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday July 24 2017, @01:46AM (1 child)

        by Nerdfest (80) on Monday July 24 2017, @01:46AM (#543545)

        Wow, Greek has a lot of letters that look like butts.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 24 2017, @04:00AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 24 2017, @04:00AM (#543572) Journal

          Wow, Greek has a lot of letters that look like butts.

          If you are in need for boobs, ask TMB... seems like he has plenty.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:47PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:47PM (#543490)

      The frustrating thing about having studied Mathematics is that you can decipher the letters and attempt to sound them out but have mostly no idea what they mean (they're not English words written in Greek letters). Google translate to the rescue... OK, maybe not. Let me see if I can persuade it to do Ancient Greek.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:55PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:55PM (#543493)

      Τι ώρα ανοίγει η ταβέρνα για το ούζο;

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by hendrikboom on Monday July 24 2017, @02:43PM (2 children)

      by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 24 2017, @02:43PM (#543704) Homepage Journal

      Google Translate tells me

      In both of them the world is multiplied by the one of the learned. Supposedly gar The former vacant of stars and Aliona menein property, when you do not Agan periferesthai about its Aliona by circle circumference, number Estin in mesῳ tῷ dromῳ text when you are not of vacant Astral Sphere About this center tῷ aliῳ text tῷ size tilikaftan eimen, Be that circle, while they are surrounded, they have an analogy of the shields of defense, they have the center of their sphere and their surface ...

      and I'm none the wiser.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday July 24 2017, @06:47PM (1 child)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Monday July 24 2017, @06:47PM (#543826) Journal

        ἐν αἷς ἐκ τῶν ὑποκειμένων συμβαίνει

        in (or one thing) from the hypothesis,

        τὸν κόσμον πολλαπλάσιον εἶμεν τοῦ νῦν εἰρημένου.

        the universe is much larger than (from) now thought.

        Rather rough to match the original syntax. Machine translation leaves some things, um, to be desired.

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday July 25 2017, @08:29PM

          by Bot (3902) on Tuesday July 25 2017, @08:29PM (#544303) Journal

          It is YOUR fault, meatbags. If only everybody started talking sane languages, like lisp...

          --
          Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by kurenai.tsubasa on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:15PM

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:15PM (#543481) Journal

    Huh. Didn't know I was an extrovert.

    That's a relief. I'd hate to be introverted during my time incarnated as one of a species that rewards bullying, gas lighting, abusive, lying, conniving, fabricating, insincere, manipulative, groupthinking, conclusion jumping, might-is-right, sociopathic, greedy extroverts.

    An introverted crab trying to get out of the bucket before the humans eat her needs to be pulled back in because escaping the bucket is antisocial behavior. Hammer down any nail that sticks up taller than the other nails. Independent thought will not be tolerated. Us extroverts know that the only true intelligence is bellyfeel [wikipedia.org]. The meaning of life is looking down and worrying about our place in the dirt [rottentomatoes.com]. When will Trump get around to creating an initiative to publish new federal textbooks that will Correct the Record to explain that the moon landing was a hoax?! Trump! Trump! Trump! Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall! Put another brick in the wall, and let's wait for the worms to come!

    Oh my stars, I don't want to live on Sol d any more (Sol III depending on how you count). Choosing to come here was a big fucking mistake. I'll take my chances on Thuban e the next time around. Plenty of other species right here in the Milky Way that are just slightly more serious about building a galactic civilization.

    I hope…. Seems like an awful waste of space [wikiquote.org] otherwise.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by turgid on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:49PM (2 children)

    by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:49PM (#543492) Journal

    Many years ago I was advised to read some psychobabble books for my own edification. They used the simplistic labels "introvert" and "extrovert." The labels seemed arbitrary and the thinking was generally very muddled.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:41AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:41AM (#543589)

      The common belief that Introversion / Extroversion is about how people talk and behave is misleading. That behaviour masks the cause. Extroverts gain energy being in a crowd, they say "I'm bored, let's go out!". Introverts gain energy being alone, they say "I can't stand the sight of people anymore, I want to run a way and hide on a deserted island.".

      So you might guess that people who appear sociable in a crowd are extroverts, and the wallflowers are introverts. But that would be mistaking the effect for the cause.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:14PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:14PM (#543501)

    You are an extravert/introvert based on your behavior, no? And what and how you say are a large and important part of your behavior. Of course your manner of speech reflects your personality type.

    Another brilliant psychological finding.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @11:48PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @11:48PM (#543522)

      I would have thought this was the level of philosophical navel gazing in average intellect level younger 20 somethings that wish to appear smart, but in order to pull it off in front of insecure friends, had to first read the musings of something akin to what we'd find in the friend making section of Cosmopolitan. "be careful of how you place an order with your friends because a Taurus will be at opposition to you unless you choose your words well"

      Maybe they'd say Bazinga or something too, as sort of like a value meal kind of add on to the phrases spoken, to emulate wisdom that in turn is just average people pretending to be smart anyway...

      • (Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Monday July 24 2017, @02:24AM (2 children)

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Monday July 24 2017, @02:24AM (#543557) Homepage Journal

        I've never been impressed by navel gazing. People come up to me. Women, and some men. And they tell me I'm extroverted. Always, always they say I'm extroverted. The biggest extrovert there is. Which according to navel gazers is a good thing. Very good for getting ahead in life. So I take the compliment. What can you do? You take the compliment. But they're wrong. The truth is, I'm definitely introverted. Always have been. Those navel gazers don't even know where my navel is. They're looking too low. Looking at my whatever. Frankly, it's a little bit rude. And they see it's the biggest there is. So they tell me I'm the biggest "extrovert". But my navel isn't extroverted, it's introverted. I'm an introvert but I think I've done very well in life. Navel gazing is easy to understand, but people are doing it wrong. And I don't think there's much to it. I think it's a bunch of bunk. Like climate change. I think it's bullshit. But navel gazing is different from climate change. Because it's not expensive. Not a form of tax. I know much about climate change. If there were environmental awards, I'd receive them. And I often joke that this is done for the benefit of China. Obviously, I joke. But this is done for the benefit of China, because China does not do anything to help climate change. They burn everything you could burn; they couldn't care less. They have very, you know, their standards are nothing. But they, in the meantime, they can undercut us on price. So it's very hard on our business. It's a very, very expensive hoax. And it's ruining our industry. Especially our coal industry. Our beautiful, beautiful coal industry. Shameful! 🇺🇸

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @02:55AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @02:55AM (#543566)

          Yo daughter is pretty hot, did you bang her (yet)?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:42PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:42PM (#543824)

          can we point at this and say "Bazinga"?

    • (Score: 2) by aclarke on Monday July 24 2017, @02:45PM

      by aclarke (2049) on Monday July 24 2017, @02:45PM (#543706) Homepage

      This is the first post in here where I've seen "extravert" spelled "correctly". Granted I only took Psych 101 and stopped there, and it was a long time ago, but I didn't realize most people spell it with an o.

      I'll stick with Jung [scientificamerican.com] on this one.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by inertnet on Monday July 24 2017, @01:52AM

    by inertnet (4071) on Monday July 24 2017, @01:52AM (#543548) Journal

    As an introvert I shouldn't post this, but then you wouldn't know I keep to myself.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @03:28AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @03:28AM (#543568)

    Some people just want to watch the world burn

    intro/or extro?

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by deimtee on Monday July 24 2017, @01:27PM

    by deimtee (3272) on Monday July 24 2017, @01:27PM (#543665) Journal

    strewth mate how the bloody hell could you tell anything about a cobber just by the bloody words he's using? These poncy bastards are a right bunch of dickheads.

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @10:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @10:31PM (#543911)

    I don't think I know anybody who talks like the 'introvert' examples, and I know a great many introverts, including myself.

  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:23AM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:23AM (#543984) Homepage

    Why not say it like it is? Extroverts (or extraverts) are sluts for social attention.

    --
    Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
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