NEWS: Negative Words More Prominent In Language, page 1

posted on Feb, 2 2005 @ 07:57 AM

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Robert Schrauf, an associate professor of applied linguistics and an anthropologist at Penn State, says that the working vocabulary of the average human consists of words with negative connotation. A study was conducted by Schrauf in Chicago and Mexico City. The study also implies a consistency between the young and old.

www.abcnews.go.com
In both cities, two sets of participants, one in their 20s and the other in their 60s, were asked to jot down as many words as they could in two minutes that express emotion. Then they were asked whether each word was positive, negative or neutral.

"I found this surprising result," Schrauf says. "Half of all the words that people produce from their working vocabulary to express emotion are negative. And 30 percent are positive and 20 percent are neutral."

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This is an interesting study. This could provide insight to the motivations of the majority of our population. I think the centralization of negativity is misleading however because, in my experience, negative thoughts evolve regarding the absence of something positive as well. That would give you a disproportionate interpretation of the data. It could also be a window into how current events affect the human mentality. People really aren't very happy. A very interesting study, to say the least.

subz

posted on Feb, 2 2005 @ 08:08 AM

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While interesting, its hardly science.

It could well be that you can express more positive things quickly with a smile and the praise could be optional. While most people would voice up if they were disagreeing with a situation, a frown wouldnt really change things.

Nygdan

posted on Feb, 2 2005 @ 08:47 AM

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How is it not science? Your explanation of the phenomenon is an explanation, the study itself, on the face of it, seems rather scientific. Something or another needs to explain the results of the 'test'.