title: Human language reveals a universal positivity bias.
abstract: Using human evaluation of 100,000 words spread across 24 corpora in 10 languages diverse in origin and culture, we present evidence of a deep imprint of human sociality in language, observing that (i) the words of natural human language possess a universal positivity bias, (ii) the estimated emotional content of words is consistent between languages under translation, and (iii) this positivity bias is strongly independent of frequency of word use. Alongside these general regularities, we describe interlanguage variations in the emotional spectrum of languages that allow us to rank corpora. We also show how our word evaluations can be used to construct physical-like instruments for both real-time and offline measurement of the emotional content of large-scale texts.
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; peter.dodds@uvm.edu btivnan@mitre.org chris.danforth@uvm.edu.
authors: Peter Sheridan
authors: PS
authors: Dodds
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401;
authors: Eric M
authors: EM
authors: Clark
authors: Center for Computational Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139;
authors: Suma
authors: S
authors: Desu
authors: Center for Computational Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139;
authors: Morgan R
authors: MR
authors: Frank
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401;
authors: Andrew J
authors: AJ
authors: Reagan
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401;
authors: Jake Ryland
authors: JR
authors: Williams
authors: School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;
authors: Lewis
authors: L
authors: Mitchell
authors: Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195;
authors: Kameron Decker
authors: KD
authors: Harris
authors: Center for Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; and.
authors: Isabel M
authors: IM
authors: Kloumann
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401;
authors: James P
authors: JP
authors: Bagrow
authors: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA 22102.
authors: Karine
authors: K
authors: Megerdoomian
authors: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA 22102.
authors: Matthew T
authors: MT
authors: McMahon
authors: Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA 22102 peter.dodds@uvm.edu btivnan@mitre.org chris.danforth@uvm.edu.
authors: Brian F
authors: BF
authors: Tivnan
authors: Computational Story Lab, Vermont Advanced Computing Core, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401; peter.dodds@uvm.edu btivnan@mitre.org chris.danforth@uvm.edu.
authors: Christopher M
authors: CM
authors: Danforth
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: happiness; language; positivity; social psychology