Sticks and Stones: Investigating the Belief that Words Can Harm

People differ in their belief that speech can cause lasting psychological harm. We present the ten-item Words Can Harm Scale (WCHS) as a valid and reliable measure of this belief. Items assess attitudes about harmful speech (e.g., "Vulnerable people should not be exposed to certain kinds of speech, as this might harm them") and written words (e.g., "I could be left emotionally scarred by something I read"). In a representative sample of American adults (N = 956), the WCHS demonstrated strong internal reliability (α = .92) and robust test-retest reliability (r = .80). People higher in the belief that words can harm tended to be younger, female, non-White, and politically liberal. The WCHS was associated with self-reported intellectual humility, empathy, moral grandstanding, and the belief in the importance of silencing others. The WCHS was also associated with concern for political correctness and endorsement of trigger warnings and safe spaces. Individuals who believed that words can harm had worse mental health: they reported being more anxious and depressed, less resilient, and having more difficulties in emotion regulation. The WCHS is a reliable tool for measuring beliefs about the harmfulness of speech—a salient and divisive issue within modern cultural discourse.