How many of you have ever told a lie when face to face with somebody? How many of you have done it while texting? If you find it easier to lie in the latter category – don’t worry because you’re not alone. According to some research done by the University of British Columbia, text messaging leads to people being more deceitful when compared to other modes of communication.
The researchers performed a study on 170 students, using various forms of communication: face-to-face, video, audio or texting. The students were promised money to increase their involvement in the role play. The students were divided into “brokers” who had to sell stocks and “buyers” who were told that their cash reward would depend on the yet-to-be-determined value of the stock.
The brokers were given knowledge that the stock was rigged to lose half of its value, while the buyers were only informed after the mock sales transaction had taken place. They then reported whether or not the brokers told lies to sell their stock.
Well, the results speak for themselves. Buyers who received information via text messages were 95% more likely to report deception than if they had interacted via video, 31% more likely to report deception when compared to face-to-face, and 18% more likely if the interaction was via audio chat.
The results aren’t surprising, as it is common knowledge that liars are more likely to avert eye contact when spinning a tale, so text-based communication will allow them to easily put their “skills” to good use. However, the researchers did come up with a recommendation from the study: online shoppers using websites like eBay should consider talking to sellers on the phone/Skype for more truthful answers as opposed to email communication. Hit the source link for the full report.