Share this story
Close X
Switch to Desktop Site

Do little words give big insights?




About these ads




Linguists distinguish between content words and function words, such as pronouns, articles, and other words that bolt the content words together into meaningful communication. Pennebaker has found differences between the sexes: Women use more pronouns, notably "I"; men use the definite article more, presumably because they are more likely to say things like, "I think the problem is with the left front wheel." (This analysis is not without controversy.)

Pennebaker has found that subordinates tend to use "I" relatively more often than those in charge, and that people who are lying tend to use "I" less.

Pennebaker's analysis of presidential rhetoric has gotten a fair bit of attention. President Obama has drawn fire from some critics for alleged overuse of "I." This is seen as a sign of arrogance. But the Pennebaker analysis shows that Mr. Obama uses the first-person singular less than any other president since Harry Truman. So why do so many people think just the opposite?

Pennebaker's analysis ascribes this to the way we process information selectively. For those predisposed to consider the president arrogant, every little "me" he utters is more evidence. And yet, given the (admittedly counterintuitive) idea that people who see themselves as on top use first-person singular less often than people who see themselves as subordinate, it may be fair to say that Obama's speech patterns do indicate self-confidence, which his critics may inevitably interpret as arrogance.

About these ads

As Ben Zimmer put it in The New York Times, "[T]he knock on Obama may indicate that listeners can properly discern his self-confidence (along with what Pennebaker calls his 'emotional distance') but then attribute this quality to precisely the wrong details of his speaking."

Follow Stories Like This
Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox.