Facebook And Texting Makes People 'More Shallow' Psychologists Claim

This applies to most of us

If you're constantly updating your timeline with pictures of your breakfast or sending people snaps of your train journey home, psychologists may have some bad news for you.

According to a new study, the rampant use of "media technology" has led to a "dramatic decline in ordinary daily reflective thought."

The "shallowing hypothesis" suggests that as we use certain forms of communication such as texting and Facebook, we also get used to shorter and more rapid thinking.

Some of the key claims tested includes the relationship between text frequency, social media use and personality traits such as reflectiveness and moral shallowness.

Two Canadian researchers, Kathryn Lafreniere and Logan Annisette, found that those who did more of the former placed less importance on "moral life goals."

It is important to note that their conclusions are based on small cohort of just 149 people, who are all undergraduate students at a Canadian university.

Each participant had to complete an online questionnaire that assessed their life goals and reflective thoughts based on their use of social media and texting.

If you're looking for further validation of these conclusions, a previous study conducted in 2013 by the University of Wisconsin, involved 2,314 students and also arrived at similar conclusions.

The main take home point from both studies is that those who frequently text or used social media are less engaged with reflective thought and value "moral life goals" less.

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