Not particularly a linguist myself, I was surprised how much enjoyment I got out of this book. In some ways, my perspective on the world changed. Pronouns make up a large part of our sentences, yet we rarely pay attention to what they are saying. In his vast research, Pennebaker does. From findings about deep seeded depression, to figuring out if people are lying, Pennebaker delves into the hidden meaning of the pronouns we use. One instance, which I was actually able to test out myself, is how pronoun usage can gauge a person's self esteem. Ill explain the theory within the framework of the Obama campaign. Apparently, many advocates on the right noticed that Obama was using a lot of I words, or first person pronouns. Wanting to put Obama in a bad light, they argued that by using so many I words, Obama was showing how he was only focused on himself and arrogent. Pennebaker decided to test this theory out. Interestingly, he found that Obama was in fact using less I words than any president in recent memory. Instead, Obama was using a lot of we pronouns. Ironically, Pennebaker came to the same conclusion as those on the right did, but for the opposite reason. Using a lot of I words denotes low self esteem because it shows a need to put yourself and your accomplishments out there, rather than letting them talk for themselves. Conversely, we pronouns shows that one does not feel this and is confident with themselves. So in fact, this overconfidence exists in Obama (whether that is good or bad is up to you) but is shown through the we pronouns he is using, not the I ones. You can look through your old emails to both professors and friends and see if you saw what I did. When talking to a superior, I frequently used, subconsciously, a ton of I words, as I must have wanted to upgrade myself. The opposite happened when I spoke to those under me. Now conscious of this fact, it made it very difficult to write emails, as I was focusing on every word (thank G-d it's become easier now). While reading this, you may have noticed I have been using a lot of I words myself. That is actually due to something else, which I will get to later. There were other things that Pennebaker looked at that correlate with mental health and self esteem. More willingness to use larger words and sentences also work with this model. According to this, it should make sense for us all to use more we pronouns, but there is a concern about honesty. In the Kerry campaign, Kerry started using a lot of I pronouns. His advisors thought that he should be using more we words, so Kerry shifted completely, using we words almost exclusively. What this shows, however, is a level of dishonesty. And perhaps, this is one of the reasons Kerry lost the election. When people say "we are going to do this" but really they mean "you are" or "I am" it conveys a sense of deceit. In fact, this was one fo the ways Pennebaker was able to test lying. So, at the begining of this post, you see me using a lot of I words. That is not because I am depressed, but because I read this book (perhaps you did too) and I am explaining what I thought, not what we thought. Here using those pronouns should show I am telling the truth (unless I know this, in which case I could be lying. Mind Blown). Another lie detector was a large use of emotion words. Rather than explaining what happened which was either good or bad, just saying it was positive without the information backing it up can also hint to lying. After taking the testimony from witness stands, the average person could tell whether the person was lying half the time. Pennebackers research (computer software) could tell 76% of the time. While this is not perfect, it is certainly better than what a person can tell. Perhaps most interestingly, the research was able to tell if a guy and a girl talking liked each other. This is a little more complicated, so I will leave it to you to read it in the book.
All in All, I thoroughly enjoyed this book about pronouns. I find that my speaking, listening and writing has gotten deeper because of it.
