Justin Kruger, PhD and his colleague Nicholas Epley, PhD, of the University of Chicago, have published research that helps explain why these electronic misunderstandings occur so frequently. In a study in the December Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 89, No. 5, pages 925–936), they find that people overestimate both their ability to convey their intended tone–be it sarcastic, serious or funny–when they send an e-mail, as well as their ability to correctly interpret the tone of messages others send to them.
The reason for this communication disconnect, the researchers find, is egocentrism–the well-established social psychological phenomenon whereby people have a difficult time detaching themselves from their own perspectives and understanding how other people will interpret them.
And as e-mail has become more prevalent, Epley says, the opportunities for misunderstanding have increased.
“Of course there’s nothing new about text-based communication; people have been writing letters for centuries,” he explains. “But what’s different in this medium is…the ease with which we can fire things back and forth. It makes text-based communication seem more informal and more like face-to-face communication than it really is.”
Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.Like this author?
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 4 Feb 2006
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
Grohol, J. (2006). Study: Miscommunications in email chalked up to egocentrism. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 14, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2006/02/04/study-miscommunications-in-email-chalked-up-to-egocentrism/
