A recent study, conducted by the researchers of The University of Texas, has revealed that impending breakup may exist in a relationship when small words are used by the partners in everyday conversations. This condition may develop months before the partners realize where their relationship is heading.
To understand the same, the researchers made use of the archived social media data to access the language indications of people going through breakups. Text analyses were conducted on 1,027,541 posts from 6,803 Reddit users who had posted about their breakups. The posts consisted of users’ Reddit history of 2 years, catering to their breakups across the various domains of their life. Language markers of an impending breakup were apparent, 3 months before the event. The major signs of this condition were increased use of I-words, we-words, and cognitive processing words along with drop-in analytic thinking.
Thus, whether someone was getting dumped or was going to dump, language markers of the impending breakup were notable up to three months before the event.
To Know More, You May Refer To:
Seraj, Sarah, Blackburn, Kate G., and Pennebaker, James W.. Language left behind on social media exposes the emotional and cognitive costs of a romantic breakup. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (7). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2017154118