Although recent election coverage may suggest otherwise, research shows that people are more likely to use positive words than negative words on the whole in their communications. Behavioral scientists have extensively documented this phenomenon, known as language positivity bias (LPB), in a number of different languages. However, a new study conducted by researchers at USC Dornsife and the University of Michigan, suggests that our tendency to use positive language has been on the decline in the United States over the past 200 years.
While LPB is well-established, there has been little consensus on what mechanisms are responsible for the effect. Previous studies, which looked at language as static, have proposed that LPB is due to subjective moods, objective circumstances or social influences.
But in a study published on Nov. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers took a new approach to measuring LPB by looking at the fluctuation of the ratio of positive words to negative words used over time in American English.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday November 27 2016, @03:38AM
since empty land is scarce these days
It's only scarce in the popular parts of the country that a lot of people wish to live in; the farther one goes from those population centers, the lower the population density and cost of land.