Feeling out of your element?
Going down a stress spiral?
There are certain words to calm down yourself when you’re bugging, based on word shape.
A recent study published inPsychological Sciencefound that participants felt particularly calmed by round-sounding pseudowords as compared to spiky words.
Now, what Earth does that mean?
Well, for example, participants found themselves less aroused and stimulated to round, likeliterallyround, words likebouba.
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On the flip side, a word likekikitends to inspire more stimulation.
This is called the bouba-kiki effect, and it speaks to the sounds and shapes that we find comforting.
This is interesting in two regards.
First, it implies why certain words like virus can arouse nervousness (beyond its connection to COVID-19).
you could have grounding associations between abstract concepts like shapes and linguistic signs, such as spoken words.
And second, certain words might have different affects on our emotions, regardless of their meaning.
What Would You Tell Your Younger Self?
Its fun to say: Bouba, maluma, bouba, maluma, bouba, maluma.
The study focuses on female college students who are native-English speakers.
But if you find it calming, keep those round words rolling.
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