... hävdar Robert Schrauf, professor i lingvistik vid Penn State enligt en studie som refereras i ABC News: Study: Negative Words Dominate Language (2 feb 2005).

Schrauf tror alltså att världens språk har fler ord för negativa känslor än för positiva. Beror det då på att denna jorden verkligen är en jämmerdal? Nja, trots allt kanske inte, spekulerar Schrauf:

"Over the centuries, Schrauf says, people have developed more words to describe negative emotions because survival and quality of life may be at stake.

'Negative emotions require more detailed thinking, more subtle distinctions,' says Schrauf. (...)

So we conjure up more negative words because the language needs to be precise. And this research suggests that's probably true for every culture and every age group. Even though some of the words may not have precisely the same meaning in every language, they tend to be more negative than positive.

But that doesn't mean we're bad, Schrauf says. It just means we're trying to cope, and it's easier to cope with joy than it is with shame."

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