| Title |
Increases in Individualistic Words and Phrases in American Books, 1960–2008
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, July 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0040181 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell, Brittany Gentile |
| Abstract |
Cultural products such as song lyrics, television shows, and books reveal cultural differences, including cultural change over time. Two studies examine changes in the use of individualistic words (Study 1) and phrases (Study 2) in the Google Books Ngram corpus of millions of books in American English. Current samples from the general population generated and rated lists of individualistic words and phrases (e.g., "unique," "personalize," "self," "all about me," "I am special," "I'm the best"). Individualistic words and phrases increased in use between 1960 and 2008, even when controlling for changes in communal words and phrases. Language in American books has become increasingly focused on the self and uniqueness in the decades since 1960. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 37 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 11 | 30% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 14% |
| Italy | 2 | 5% |
| Spain | 1 | 3% |
| Japan | 1 | 3% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 3% |
| Slovenia | 1 | 3% |
| Sweden | 1 | 3% |
| Brazil | 1 | 3% |
| Other | 2 | 5% |
| Unknown | 11 | 30% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 28 | 76% |
| Scientists | 6 | 16% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 5% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 130 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 21 | 16% |
| Germany | 2 | 2% |
| Canada | 1 | <1% |
| Australia | 1 | <1% |
| Slovenia | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 103 | 79% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 36 | 28% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 17 | 13% |
| Researcher | 10 | 8% |
| Other | 8 | 6% |
| Other | 23 | 18% |
| Unknown | 12 | 9% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 30 | 23% |
| Arts and Humanities | 30 | 23% |
| Social Sciences | 16 | 12% |
| Linguistics | 9 | 7% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 6 | 5% |
| Other | 24 | 18% |
| Unknown | 15 | 12% |