Do you think it more likely that someone would lie in an email than in a handwritten text?
According to a recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, email is the more likely medium for people to convey lies. In trying to analyze this, I recognize that a handwritten note is clearly identified with you. However email messages can be saved for years by multiple people and are more likely to surface later. It seems to me that one should be very careful when sending something out into cyberspace.
Three different studies were conducted for the article, “The Finer Points of Lying Online: Email versus Paper and Pen.” Not only were people more willing to lie in an email message but they felt justified in doing so.
We already know that heavy use of email cuts into productivity because it distracts people who have not built in good time management skills. Could this be one more reason to cut back on the volume of email?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Alex Posicionamiento Web // Jul 1, 2010 at 2:27 am
The emailing system in the internet is one of the systems in the internet where there are a lot of liars. There are also different ways you can lie in emailing because there is a lot of time to think about what to say. People often lie in emails just to impress or convince someone. It has been said that 60% of the content of your email is a lie because the essence of not seeing the person personally is already a part of the lie.
This is a great feed! thank you!
Alex
2 Jeane - Ropa de ciclismo // Feb 2, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Personally I use the electronic mail for professional purposes. Obviously I can not lie or write falsehoods. As you say, an email can be saved for years.