More than half of Britons admit they make social judgements on people who email them by looking at the style and language of their message.
Researchers for GMX found that most of the public forms an opinion on the sender’s intelligence, age and social status, based on the ‘look and feel’ of their email.
One in three polled signalled such ‘email psychology’ was to be expected, and purposefully composed their own messages to convey a good impression.
Coming across as ‘intelligent’ on email was the most common desire, followed by wanting to appear as either authoritative or calm, shows the poll of 2,000 users.
Intelligence was the most common aspect to be judged, followed by
age, and social status, yet such ‘e-judgements’ were less likely among the over-50s.
Women were twice as likely to feign cheerfulness as men, with more than a quarter saying they used a “false tone” or a smiley, :-) , to mask their true feelings.
Across both sexes, the early 20-somethings were the likeliest to craft their ‘email image’ and, more than any other age group, headed off awkward phone calls via mail.
But just as they keep people at arm’s length, more under 24-year-olds say inboxes can also bring users closer, as almost half said they would ask someone out on a date via email.
Apr 24, 2009
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