Analyze This!

[Eilonwy]

It's been pointed out to me that my siblings and I have a habit of answering "I guess" to some yes or no questions.
For example:
"Do you want an omelet for breakfast?"
"I guess."

My initial guess is that, when we were little, to answer "no" would get us chastised or criticized, so instead we would reluctantly agree by being noncommittal, then it became a habit.


I'm interested in other takes on this, though, so what would cause the children in a family to often answer noncommittally to innocuous questions?

 

[Snoopy22]

I interpret I guess as yes, spasmodic joy need not be displayed on all positives. No different then OK, yup or ya depending on where you may live.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I would guess that it's something kids pick up from either older kids or adults- that the kids aren't doing it from some inner sense of ambivalence so much as just copying it as the 'right' answer to give in that situation. Who established it as the 'right' answer in the first place would probably indicate the original core of the ambivalence (which might help pinpoint why it's there).

It is a sort of funny answer though. My son and I actually have a running joke about it- we'll drop an intentionally funky sounding "I guess" at suggestions of a compromise, or in a situation where things don't go completely our way (to make fun of possibly having the expectation for everything to go our way, or as a way to acknowledge we realize we've already got the better end of some deal).

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

It's been pointed out to me that my siblings and I have a habit of answering "I guess" to some yes or no questions.
For example:
"Do you want an omelet for breakfast?"
"I guess."

My initial guess is that, when we were little, to answer "no" would get us chastised or criticized, so instead we would reluctantly agree by being noncommittal, then it became a habit.


I'm interested in other takes on this, though, so what would cause the children in a family to often answer noncommittally to innocuous questions?

Theory 1: You don't have strong preferences, so the options you're presented with don't get you excited. If you got excited about other questions and possibilities (BJ, free analysis, BJ analysis) then I'd say this might be the case.
Theory 2: You're not used to asserting yourself. You're more comfortable being kind of invisible as opposed to having a clear, defined presence to you.
Theory 3: You like guessing.

 

[Eilonwy]

I interpret I guess as yes, spasmodic joy need not be displayed on all positives. No different then OK, yup or ya depending on where you may live.

At first I thought it might be a location thing. It still might be. However, I asked some of the people I went to school with whether they answered that way often and all of them said "no".
BTW, I got a chuckle from the bolded.

I would guess that it's something kids pick up from either older kids or adults- that the kids aren't doing it from some inner sense of ambivalence so much as just copying it as the 'right' answer to give in that situation. Who established it as the 'right' answer in the first place would probably indicate the original core of the ambivalence (which might help pinpoint why it's there).

It's not something I ever heard my mom say. She was always very certain in her answers. Of course, she could have said it in French and I never would have known. Just like I never knew she cursed until we went to Belgium and someone there said "nom de Dieu" and I remembered mom saying that a lot when I was little, so I asked what it meant.

I don't know if my dad answered that way or not.

Theory 1: You don't have strong preferences, so the options you're presented with don't get you excited. If you got excited about other questions and possibilities (BJ, free analysis, BJ analysis) then I'd say this might be the case.
Theory 2: You're not used to asserting yourself. You're more comfortable being kind of invisible as opposed to having a clear, defined presence to you.
Theory 3: You like guessing.

Good theories. Thanks!
Number 3 is best...I guess.

 

[sprinkles]

I do that when no answer stands out and I really don't care to think about it. Either because I've got other things on my mind or because nothing pops out and it doesn't seem worthwhile to dig for a legitimate answer.

I don't think it's necessary to have an opinion on everything.

Also funnily enough this is one reason I don't like ordering at Subway. They ask what you want on it. Usually I really don't care what I want on it. I want to tell them "I want sustenance to stuff into my face. I don't care. Throw random crap on it. Put everything on it. I really don't care so long as it is shaped like a sandwich and won't kill me."

Edit:
Also I think it my case it was rare to have any choice of food items when growing up. It was sort of 'you get what you get or starve'.

 

[Eilonwy]

Thanks, [MENTION=16071]sprinkles[/MENTION].

So, it looks to me like the consensus is that it's about having no strong preference or opinion, which may have stemmed out of early experiences.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

You know, I'd say that if it *feels* (to you) like there's some significance to it, then there's probably something worth thinking about. I've noticed that I can latch onto some small thing myself and it'll seem indicative of some bigger underlying problem, it's like a symbol that stands out 'as a clue'. While "I guess" in itself seems rather innocuous, that doesn't mean there isn't something going on that agitates you (on some level) that might be worth trying to figure out.

 

[WALMART]

I agree with the concensus; I suppose you have no opinion.


PS. Gazzaniga rocks.

 

[HongDou]

My initial guess is that, when we were little, to answer "no" would get us chastised or criticized, so instead we would reluctantly agree by being noncommittal, then it became a habit.

If you want to roll with that, like other people said it's because you don't have strong opinions/preferences. Maybe you restrain yourself from creating more solidified opinions because that would create tension and/or conflict with others? This would mean you dislike conflict or criticism so you would subconsciously stop yourself from becoming too set on an idea so that when someone tries to sway it, it doesn't affect you as much.

This is all just pure speculation, though.