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The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us Paperback – January 15, 2013

by James W. Pennebaker (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 457 ratings
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A surprising and entertaining explanation of how the words we use (even the ones we don't notice) reveal our personalities, emotions, and identities.

In The Secret Life of Pronouns, social psychologist and language expert James W. Pennebaker uses his groundbreaking research in computational linguistics-in essence, counting the frequency of words we use-to show that our language carries secrets about our feelings, our self-concept, and our social intelligence. Our most forgettable words, such as pronouns and prepositions, can be the most revealing: their patterns are as distinctive as fingerprints.

Using innovative analytic techniques, Pennebaker X-rays everything from John McCain's tweets to the Federalist Papers. Who would have predicted that the high school student who uses too many verbs in her college admissions essay is likely to make lower grades in college? Or that a world leader's use of pronouns could reliably presage whether he will lead his country into war? You'll learn what Lady Gaga and William Butler Yeats have in common, and how Ebenezer Scrooge's syntax hints at his self-deception and repressed emotion in this sprightly, surprising tour of what our words are saying-whether we mean them to or not.

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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Publishing
  4. Publication date
    January 15, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1608194965
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1608194964
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
457 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and enlightening. They describe it as an easy, enjoyable read that helps them understand their own words and those around them. The book provides insights into how language reveals one's personality and relationships.

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InsightReadabilityLanguage contentPersonality
60 customers mention "Insight"52 positive8 negative

Customers find the book informative and enlightening. They appreciate the insights it provides on people and the potential for further research. The book covers various studies that cover a wide range of factors. It is a good overview of psychology research on the way we say what we say. Readers mention the story is put together from lots of research findings from the author and his buddies.

"Wonderful book with many examples of application!..." Read more

"...Much of his research was done collaboratively, not just with students and fellow researchers, but with public figures, professionals in other fields..." Read more

"...book may not be the best choice; however, it does provide insight into a relatively new idea, and his presentation of it is quite interesting :)" Read more

"...and coherent, not too shabby for a book of this nature, with many real-life examples...." Read more

51 customers mention "Readability"48 positive3 negative

Customers find the book engaging and readable. They say it's informative and recommend it for linguists and data scientists. The writing is clear and lively, making it an enjoyable read for regular readers.

"Wonderful book with many examples of application!..." Read more

"This book is fine. It isn't amazing in that it was not exactly what I was looking for when I read it...." Read more

"...this book simply-titled "The Secret Life of Pronouns" is such a fascinating reading...." Read more

"...The writing is clear and lively. There are appealing little eruptions of playfulness...." Read more

37 customers mention "Language content"34 positive3 negative

Customers find the book engaging and easy to read. They say it helps them understand their words and others' better. The writing style is simple and helpful for writers, especially those interested in linguistics, language arts, or statistical/computational topics. The author provides useful examples and makes it easy for readers to test many of the ideas.

"...It's been a big help as a machine learning professional, and I'd recommend it highly for anyone in linguistics, psychology, or machine learning who..." Read more

"...technical discussions of text analysis through an extensive Bibliography and References section--and pointers to downloadable research reports from..." Read more

"...provide insight into a relatively new idea, and his presentation of it is quite interesting :)" Read more

"...Personally, it's an extremely interesting book about spoken and written languages and how they reveal things about ourselves...." Read more

13 customers mention "Personality"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful about language and its impact on personality. They say it helps them choose words carefully and improve communication. The author has a straightforward voice that is easy to read, and the book is entertaining and informative.

"...Topics addressed include gender, status and social class, personality, leadership style, deception, interpersonal attraction, and group solidarity...." Read more

"...It's clearly a book about languages and how it reflects one's personalities...." Read more

"...the author and his colleagues were able to find strong correlations between word choice and various demographic breakdowns...." Read more

"...between the use of pronouns in speech or writing and various personality traits. But the book it's much more than just a collection of correlations...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Colleen Farrelly
    5.0 out of 5 stars Still Timely in the Age of LLMs
    Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Wonderful book with many examples of application! In a time of LLMs choosing words according to probability, a book like this fills a niche in understanding how humans communicate with the little words we choose.

    It's been a big help as a machine learning professional, and I'd recommend it highly for anyone in linguistics, psychology, or machine learning who wants to understand how speech reveals intent and state of mind.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • John M. Ford
    5.0 out of 5 stars It's the Little Words That Count
    Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    James Pennebaker studies words. Originally interested in the beneficial effect of writing about personal trauma, he and his students developed software to analyze this writing. Their investigation soon expanded to include spoken conversations, emails, political speeches, and other language samples. They discovered that much can be learned from the short "stealth words" that we barely notice, but that make up more than half of our speech. "Pronouns (such as I, you, we, and they), articles (a, an, the), prepositions (e.g., to, for, over), and other stealth words broadcast the kind of people we are."

    Pennebaker summarizes his trauma research, noting that "people who benefit from writing express more optimism, acknowledge negative events, are constructing a meaningful story of their experience, and have the ability to change perspective as they write." Searching for reliable linguistic indicators of these processes identified writing style rather than more substantive content words. The resulting LIWC software works well regardless of a text's content.

    Using both research findings and representative everyday examples, Pennebaker reviews what he has learned. Topics addressed include gender, status and social class, personality, leadership style, deception, interpersonal attraction, and group solidarity. The author not only presents conclusions from his own research, but links to supporting findings using non-linguistic methods. Specific findings include:

    - LIWC correctly identifies an author's gender 72% of the time using writing style. This increases to 76% when content words are included. (Human guesses range from 55 to 65%.)

    - On detecting depression: "Sadness generally causes people to focus inwardly. Pronouns tend to track people's focus of attention, and when in great emotional or physical pain, they tend to use I-words at high rates. Sadness, unlike most other emotions, is associated with looking back into the past and into the future. In other words, people tend to use past- and future-tense verbs more when they are sad or depressed compared to other strong emotions."

    - "No system has ever been shown to reliably catch liars at rates higher than 65 percent. And even those with hit rates in that neighborhood (including me) have done so in highly controlled and artificial circumstances."

    - "Linguistic style matching" across nine categories of function words occurs within the first 15 to 30 seconds of an attentive conversation. It is generally beyond conscious awareness. LSM profiles can predict a number of things better than chance, including whether a "speed dating" couple will pursue a further relationship after their initial four-minute discussion.

    Pennebaker clearly wants to share, not just his insights, but the methods used to achieve them. Much of his research was done collaboratively, not just with students and fellow researchers, but with public figures, professionals in other fields, and anyone else with interesting documents. Readers are pointed to web sites that let them experiment with Pennebaker's techniques and a version of his LIWC software is available for more in-depth investigations. An appendix includes "A Handy Guide for Spotting and Interpreting Function Words in the Wild."

    This book is an accessible summary of James Pennebaker's work with helpful citations of similar research by others. It serves as a guide to more technical discussions of text analysis through an extensive Bibliography and References section--and pointers to downloadable research reports from the author's web site. Interested readers might also enjoy Roderick Hart's Campaign Talk or one of the other related books the author mentions.
    139 people found this helpful
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  • Lane S
    4.0 out of 5 stars This book is fine. It isn't amazing in that it was not ...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This book is fine. It isn't amazing in that it was not exactly what I was looking for when I read it. Pennebaker has a very interesting line of study, that is, looking at how our words clue others in on our internal emotional states. The book is full of examples that I actually found helpful, in contrast to those that found it to have TOO MANY examples.

    My only problem is that these discoveries do not seem all that applicable for someone who wants to use just their eyes. When I bought the book, I guess I kind of expected to be able to skim over documents and effectively be able to pick out elements of an individual's personality. But as I read the book, I learned that they effectively use a computer program to do it. Maybe they use the computer program in order to quickly discern patterns in word choice that can be useful, but that doesn't seem to require a personal skill. It does not seem that you would have to know much about the subject in order to use the program and get results. So it felt a little pointless to be reading the book. The other thing is that it really is based on statistics. This was not quite enough to convince me that the language used provides a window into the soul, at most a very fogged up window. I also thought that some of the studies and evidence he gave could have been improved. If I understood correctly, there was a part in which he compared the works of maybe only 20 or so playwrights? I would expect that number to be well over 100, at least, in order to really show something.

    All of that said, the great thing about this book is Pennebaker's passion for his work. He throws in very natural sounding humor that made me want to learn more from him. Even though I was not fully able to understand the information he presented, his style seemed to make clear to me that, while he believes in the idea of his book, the studies really are still a work in progress. If you are looking for a different way to understand people, this book may not be the best choice; however, it does provide insight into a relatively new idea, and his presentation of it is quite interesting :)
    27 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Vivek Slaria
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
    Reviewed in India on December 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Good boook
    Report
  • Ruben Thomas
    5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
    Reviewed in Germany on August 23, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    excellent
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  • 書斎
    5.0 out of 5 stars これまで指摘されたことのない代名詞の用法が社会心理学的な観点から論じられている
    Reviewed in Japan on August 18, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    社会心理学的な観点から代名詞の用法を観察したニークな研究書。たとえば、Could we stop talking with one another? (私語がやまないクラスの教師のことば）を考えてみよう｡本来であれば、Could you stop…?というべきであるが、you には話者が相手を指さして「おい君たち」といったとがった雰囲気がある。weだととがった雰囲気を丸くする効果がある。このようなpoliteness の観点からみたwe の用法は，評者の見た学習英和辞典にも言及されていない。本書にはこのような有益な指摘が社会心理学的な観点から随処でなされている。
    いわゆる語用論研究でないので，少し取っつきにくいが、目を通す価値のある書である
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  • The Diggerswife
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is my type of book!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 5, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I will say right up front, it won't be a book everyone would enjoy. I am a lover of words, so it appeals to me, but my husband thought it was rather tough sledding. I enjoyed the insight into people's minds and applying that knowledge to my teenagers! Haha!
    Report
  • Jon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muy interesante, ameno.... y sorprendente ;)
    Reviewed in Spain on August 7, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Lectura muy recomendable para las personas que gusten de entender lo que las personas decimos, las motivaciones,.... y el lenguaje.
    Report