#4 Which language do you crave in?

Psychologist Paul Rozin is known for his work in cultural, and experimental psychology. In 2009 he co-authored with Julia M. Hormes a fascinating paper on craving. The authors postulated that problems with defining or finding synonyms for craving would mean that it may not be a natural category. The category here is defined in the psychological term.

Craving is a term which entered the English language in the 1300's. Now it is largely understood as a specific, strong urge. Craving for a food item, or a drink for example. Craving has been studied to some extent within the United States where a preference for sweet things has been registered. Outside the US such a craving has been found wanting. To set this right the authors decided to understand the prevalence of craving in 25 languages using control words. Only 64% of the dictionaries had a word for craving. Though the control words were much higher. In most of languages "craving" and "addiction" often overlapped across domains, evidently noteworthy. The authors did not just rely on translations but also scheduled semi-structured interviews with different language speakers who could understand "craving" in their native language, and English. Most of the participants agreed that "craving" when translated (wholly, or approximately) dealt with consummatory behaviour. The translation could not capture the world connoted by "craving" in the English language.

Why is it an important study? The working hypothesis is that absence of a synonym for a specific word in a particular language is evidence that the word does not correspond to a natural category. The authors argue that "craving" is a culture-specific notion which is largely popular in English-speaking countries. The periodicity of this feeling according to them should change, how psychological processes such as food choice, and addictions are viewed.