
All right, okay, it’s time to come clean – and be honest! Does it grind your gears when people make even the tiniest grammatical error? Does your restless leg syndrome kick in or your eye start twitching… to the point where you feel a deep, intense need to correct them all? From the differences between “your” and “you’re” to “there,” “their,” and “they’re” and “where” and “wear” – don’t even get started on misspelling “the” with “teh.”

So, what’s the verdict? Does that sound like you? Because if it does, even scientists will agree that you are a jerk. (No, that’s nota typo.) A University of Michigan study published in PLOS One pretty much proved it. [1] In fact, researchers believe they can trace your “Grammar Police” behavior all the way back to specific personality traits.


So, What Makes A Grammar Police?

83 people participated in the study which involved reading email responses to an ad for a housemate. Some responses were error-free while others included grammatical mistakes such as “teh” instead of “the” or the classic “too” vs “to” and “it’s” vs “its.” [1]Advertisement

After reading them, participants had to answer some questionnaires, one of which required them to judge the writer of the response based on the following perceived characteristics: [2]

I think I would be friends with this person

The writer would be a good housemate

The writer seems a lot like me

The writer seems friendly

The writer seems more sophisticated than most of my friends

The writer seems less intelligent than most of my friends

The writer seems conscientious

The writer seems considerate

The writer seems likeable

The writer seems trustworthy

The other questionnaire was personality test for the participants and included the following five traits: extraversion, agreeability, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Afterwards, they were also asked whether or not they spotted any grammatical errors or typos and, if so, how much it irked them.

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As you would expect, based on these combined responses, everyone gave lower ratings to people who made more typos and grammatical mix-ups. However, when it came to personality traits, researchers noticed something interesting…

Compared to extraverts who tended to let typos slide, introverts judged people who made grammatical errors more negatively and harshly. Researchers also noticed that participants who characterized themselves as less agreeable actually got more upset by grammatical errors. [3]

In other words, as Chris Weller wrote for Tech Insider, “People who correct other people’s typos can be some of the biggest nuisances around – not just because they’re pointing out flaws, but for the added conceit of thinking they’re doing you a favor.” [4]

Is there a member of the grammar police who keeps sticking their nose into your life? You may want to send the link to this article their way – but only the link. (Wouldn’t want to risk making a typo or grammatical error now, would you?)

AdvertisementOr are you that member of the grammar police? If so, the next time you experience that deep-seated desire to correct someone’s typo or grammatical error, take a deep breath and reconsider… Because, ironically, your actions will speak louder than words. (And no one wants to be a jerk, right?)