13 Quotes by James W. Pennebaker

One of the most interesting results was part of a study my students and I conducted dealing with status in email correspondence. Basically, we discovered that in any interaction, the person with the higher status uses I-words less (yes, less) than people who are low in status.

As the number of studies increased, it became clear that writing was a far more powerful tool for healing than anyone had ever imagined.

The emotional findings, then, suggest that to gain the most benefit from writing about life’s traumas, acknowledge the negative but celebrate the positive.

Human relationships are not rocket science – the are far, far more complicated.

Holding back our thoughts, feelings and behaviors can place people at risk for minor and major diseases.

If you are looking for a lover, a job, a new house, or a serial killer, Snoop is for you. It’s great science and a fun read by a world-renowned personality researcher.

Function words behave differently than you might think. For example, the most commonly used word in spoken English, I, is used at far higher rates by followers than by leaders, truth-tellers than liars. People who use high rates of articles – a, an, the – do better in college than low users. And if you want to find your true love, compare the ways you use function words with that of your prospective partners.

I’ve since learned that when someone changes the conversational direction, it serves as a powerful marker of what is on his or her mind.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that most of my colleagues and friends have their own favorite but relatively obscure words that even they aren’t familiar with. The.