Ithaca (NY) - A recent 88 person study conducted by Jeffrey Hancock and his team at Cornell University, found that people communicating over text messages can accurately gauge the other person's mood and emotional state. In a previous study from 2007, Hancock found that people are more honest in email or when texting than they are when face to face or on the telephone. 37% of his test sample group lied when on the phone, compared to only 14% in texts and emails.





OMG y lie?



Hancock believes the driving force behind our tendency to lie is the immediacy of the response. This, coupled to a notably looser set of "are we lying?" parameters in speech - even much more so than in other forms of communication, make it an idea mixture.



When speaking face to face or on the phone, for example, there's a very clear rhythm that's quickly established. There's also a type of immediate need for each other's responses because when questions are asked the rhythm has to be maintained. If someone blurts out, "Do I look fat in this?" What's the response? It has to be quick. It has to be now. And according to studies in psychology, it's easier to tell the truth than it is to lie.



Still, Hancock's study showed that people will lie nearly 3x as often when faced with an immediate response. When communicating via text or email, time is no longer a prime factor. The additional seconds involved allow one to more appropriately formulate a response. This allows the truth to come out in a form which may not be quite as abrupt or hurtful as would an immediate response like, "Yes."



When the response is more thought out, one might say, "Darling, you've always been able to turn every head in the room. I think this time that Mother Nature has done a little number on both of us." Whew! Crisis averted.





Get it in writing



Hancock's 2007 work showed that, due to the looser set of verbal parameters we use for determining whether or not we're lying, it's more easy for us to dismiss something we say. In fact, he even goes so far as to suggest how easy it is to encourage someone to be more honest to themselves and their spoken word. Just get them to verify it in writing.



"I'm writing to confirm that you will have that task done by close of business Tuesday." Seeing it in writing allows the more easily dismissed speech to be supplanted by something that, to people, is more real. It's like the old adage: "Of course it's true, I read it on the Internet."





Mood assessment in text messages



Hancock's more recent study involved 44 pairs of participants. That study shows that texting may not be the cold, distant form of communication once thought. And certainly not one which will be the downfall of society. In fact, his study shows rather the reverse.



People can actually experience the full range of emotions while texting, and to a significant degree. This includes anger, happiness, sadness, longing, even arousal and much more. Hancock believes this ability to experience the full range of emotions may also explain some of its appeal.



While texting is a relatively slow form of communication, much slower than verbal speech, it also allows more "thought seconds" for responses. Since the immediacy issue is no longer a prime factor, people are able to think more completely about what it is they want to say, how to say it. But more importantly, texters can "feel the moment" for a longer period of time (as a minute or more may go by before there's a response), resulting in a type of bonding that verbal communication does not always have to the same degree.





The mood test



Hancock's team of 44 pairs of texters SMS'd for up to 20 minutes after being told to find out as much as they could about each other person. They were also asked to discuss some recent thing that was stressing them out. And, to encourage communication, one member from each of the pairs watched either a very powerful scene from the movie Sophie's Choice, or a clip from a movie involving small talk.



Once the test was administered, the results showed that every participant was able to accurately convey their partner's state of mind, mood and had a connection to them which they believed was real. Those who were teamed up with someone who watched a scene from Sophie's Choice, a movie about a woman who, while in Auschwitz, was forced to choose which of her two children would be put to death, were notably saddened after the chat.





Conclusions from Hancock's study



It appears that texting is a real, viable form of communication. One which allows us to be more honest with each other, while experiencing an even closer bond with the other person than is often possible in verbal communications. It gives us real time to feel, and to consider a broader picture. In short, it's seems texting may be a very good way to communicate after all.