Saying 'like' a lot means you're conscientious, not an airhead

Saying 'like' a lot means you're conscientious, not an airhead
(Image credit: Facebook.com/Valley Girl)

New research shows that Valley Girls are just, like, really really thoughtful.

A new study published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology shows that those who used "filler speech" ("like," "um," "uh," "you know") tend to be more considerate. "When having conversations with listeners, conscientious people use discourse markers, such as 'I mean' and 'you know,' to imply their desire to share or rephrase opinions to recipients," the study's authors wrote.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.