The Bitter-Sweet Labor of Emoting: The Linguistic Comparison of Writers and Physicists

Abstract

: In this exploratory archival study, the motivation of writers of fiction and physicists was examined by studying word usage as a clue to unconscious motivators of their work. The hypothesis was that artists make art to deal with issues in their own lives, thus relying on emotions, particularly negative emotions (markers of presence of issues), to govern their work. Consequently, it was predicted that distinguished writers of fiction, as compared to distinguished physicists, would use more emotion-related words when discussing their work, particularly negative emotion-related words. Interviews conducted with 9 physicists were matched to the interviews with 9 writers, and analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program (Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001). Writers used significantly more emotion-related words, in particular more negative-emotion words, including the greater use of anger-related, anxiety-related, and depression or sadness-related words. Almost identical results were obtained when the 9 physicists were compared to the nonmatched, larger sample of 124 writers. The study implies differences of inner preoccupation (relating to work) between creative people oriented towards literary art and physical science.

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