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Our Words Reveal the Condition of Our Hearts

In his book The Secret Life of Pronouns, social psychologist James Pennebaker has spent years researching the significance of our words. With a team of grad students, he developed a sophisticated computer program that analyzes what our words say about us. Based on his research, Pennebaker claims that the words we generate over a lifetime are like "fingerprints." Even small words, or what he calls "stealth words"—like pronouns (such as I, you, we, they) and prepositions (to, for, over)—"broadcast the kind of people we are."

As a simple example of his research, Pennebaker analyzed the typical tweets of four celebrities:

Paris Hilton: "Good morning everyone! Have a fabulous day! Xoxo Paris:)"
John McCain: "went to the mountains above Beirut yesterday to meet with Walid Jumblatt—the leader of the Druze—fascinating experience."
Oprah Winfrey: "Hanging with friends—"Pom martinis—getting ready to watch Xmas special. 10 eastern 9 central. Going caroling afterward!"
Lady Gaga: "time to drink a bottle of wine and sketch for the new tour. St.louis was brilliant. There's eyeliner on my knee, and blood on my elbow. Shady."

Pennebaker knows that on one level, "Paris Hilton is simply calling out a greeting. John McCain is describing meeting an important person in Lebanon. Oprah Winfrey tells us about her plans for the evening. Lady Gaga wants us to know … [about] her new tour."

But as an experienced scientist and researcher, Pennebaker also makes the following observations about these celebrities' word-fingerprints:

Hilton is relentlessly upbeat with her exclamation points and emoticons. McCain works to impress his readers with his big words and worldliness. Winfrey, the consummate salesperson, drops what time the Christmas special (which is actually her Christmas special) will air. Lady Gaga conveys that she is a bit wild but also thoughtful, but judging by her use of pronouns, somewhat prone to depression.

Based on his research, we don't randomly choose our words; instead, words reveal the condition of our hearts. Or as Pennebaker says, words act like "powerful tools to excavate people's thoughts, feelings, motivations, and connections with others."

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