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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: 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.