Like it or not, the words we use not only shape our thoughts but also our universe. We build our mental models of the world through words, so the choice of one or the other is not due to chance, nor is it always the result of a meditated mental process.
The words we use daily are the expression of our internal states, and at the same time determine our reaction to events. They are a kind of filter that we cannot get rid of easily and of which, often, we are not even aware. Therefore, the choice of words reveals a lot about who we are and how we feel, unmasking states that we are sometimes not even fully aware of.
In fact, psychologists at the universities of Wisconsin, Arizona and California have identified the type of language we use when we are stressed, so if you find yourself repeating some of these words often you can take them as a warning sign that you are exhausted, tense. and / or anxious.
Functional words: the automatic ads that betray us
If you often use adverbs like "really", "incredibly" or "definitely", you are probably very stressed. Psychologists classify them as "functional words" and claim that they are a fairly accurate indicator of our level of anxiety.
Functional words are those that don't mean much on their own. Unlike verbs and nouns, these words don't provide much information but only serve to reinforce the rest of the speech. Within the functional words there are affirmative adverbs, some pronouns and some adjectives.
Psychologists have long suspected that we tend to resort to functional words more frequently when we are stressed. Therefore, they tested their hypothesis by asking 143 people to bring recording devices with them for two days.
These people also underwent an analysis in which their white blood cells were counted, as an increase in them is known to be a symptom of stress.
After analyzing the audio collected in two days and laboratory tests, the psychologists found that, in fact, the most stressed people, with higher white blood cell counts, used functional words more often. Their speech was full of adverbs such as: really, certainly, incredibly and surely.
They also noted that they prioritized pronouns like "I" and "mine" rather than "they" and "yours," which indicates a more self-centered view of the world, caused by the pressure they feel. In other words: Stress forces us to close ourselves in our inner world, so we lose perspective. And this is manifested through a more "selfish" discourse.
Your words can tell you what you don't know yet
The most curious thing about this experiment is that functional words could predict the level of stress better than people's perceptions themselves. In fact, sometimes when we go through a particularly difficult and tense time, we focus so much on trying to get out of that situation that we don't realize the level of stress we are suffering from.
Fortunately, functional words can become a warning sign that alerts us to our level of stress, anxiety and tension, so that we can stop along the way and change direction. Psychologists explain that this is due to the fact that the choice of functional words is more automatic and less conscious, while the choice of verbs and nouns is a much more conscious process.
