Study: People like it when politicians say nice words

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal found a significant correlation between politicians' favorability ratings and how often they said pleasant words connoting cooperation and general niceness.

Studying the speech habits and approval polls of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the researchers determined that "The individual words whose use most strongly predicted public approval were as follows: gentle, involve, educate, contribute, concerned, give, tolerate, trust and cooperate."

The study also noted that politicians can expect more favorable news coverage if they say nice things, though the effect takes about six months to kick in.

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