Hmm.

[hummingwolf]

Not long ago there were reports of a study whose results indicated that people who frequently use the words "I," "me," and "my" are less happy than those who use these words less frequently. It seems that people who aren't thinking of themselves all the time are more cheerful than those who speak more in the first person.

In my case, many of the times I use the first-person terms, I use them to show that I realize that what's true for me isn't necessarily true for anyone else. Sure, here in the journal I talk about myself more than other people--this is my journal, after all. But in regular conversation, it looks to me that a lot of my self-references are indications that I understand that other people aren't always like me. Of course, my perceptions here could be off and I really am terribly self-absorbed.

In any event, now I'm wondering: Are people who don't speak much in the first person happier because they're less interested in themselves than they are in the amazing world around them, or are they happier because they have the luxury of assuming that everybody else is just like them?

Comments

[nalidoll.livejournal.com]

I've always assumed it was the latter..

oh.. my.
that was an "I" statement.

goodness.
do you think i am self-absorbed?
(was that an "I" or a "you" statement?"

hmm...

heh.. does it count if you refer to yourself in first person in lower case all the time?
i don't think it does.
but then, i could just be too absorbed to notice..

*grin*

(seriously, i believe that most -with a few excpetions- happy people out there, the cheerfully happy ones, are just that because they are comfortable assuming they fit right in. i used to want that - alot. now, i am going for a higher level of difficulty in the happiness department - i want to be truely comfortable knowing that i completely different, and content to know that only one out of ten will ever understand what i am saying, and not all of those will care. heh)

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

hmmm, maybe some of both. my mom was a good conversationalist and loved to listen to other people, without undue use of the I. but she was also untroubled by any concerns about whether she herself was perfectly wonderful. i wish i had inherited more of that disposition -- i'm terrible about talking too much about me. :/

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're just better at recognizing the inherent happiness they have, because they're good at thinking objectively. I'd be interested in seeing how the conclusion of "happier" was reached.

I'm like you in my speech habits... I've gotten myself in a lot of trouble talking in generalisms, so I try not to anymore. That's why I say that I think like a nondualist and talk like an Otherkin, and therefore nobody ever understands what I'm saying. :)

[madralaoi.livejournal.com]

I can't see that it would make any difference whatsoever whether you use "I", "you" or just use "it" in happiness. There is a difference in distance though.
If someone never uses "I think" or "I like" I tend to feel that they want to separate themselves from what they're saying.

That's not really what you talked about though... *grins*

i only have 'i's for you

[icdedpeople.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard those reports but I've very often wondered the same thing and had the same conflicts. I feel (hey just look at these sentences I'm writing now) that my writing is made boring by their overuse. Just seeing the word 'I' popping up all over the place in my own writing bothers me sometimes. Writing them in lowercase is often a petty relief. Or just leaving them out entirely.

[whitelinefever.livejournal.com]

It's the only point of view I am comforatble in expressing.When one gets to the we and they I couldn't really say for certain what is going on.
It may be my large ego speaking though.