Text Messages Disclose How People Truly Feel, Early Findings Suggest

According to a new study to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, prophets of doom may have to revise their forecasts that technology is killing good quality human communication.

In a statement, the team from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research say their preliminary findings suggest text messaging is a more effective way to elicit candid responses to sensitive questions from individuals, than a phone call.

"The preliminary results of our study suggest that people are more likely to disclose sensitive information via text messages than in voice interviews," said Fred Conrad, a cognitive psychologist and director at the University of Michigan.

Although the team are in the early stages of analysing their findings, according to Michael Schober of The New School for Social Research, who conducted the study with Conrad, it seems that texting may reduce some respondents tendencies to ‘shade the truth’ or present themselves in the best possible light.

“What we cannot yet be sure of is who is most likely to be disclosive in text. Is it different for frequent texters, or generational, for example?" said Schober.

According Ofcom, 13% of the UK population has a mobile phone but no landline. In the US, the rate goes up to one in five households.

For the study, the researchers recruited approximately 600 iPhone-users on Craigslist, through Google Ads, and from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, offering them iTunes Store incentives to participate in the study.

Respondents answered more honestly via text than speech on questions such as exercise habits and alcohol consumption.

And researchers noted their volunteers remained thoughtful in their answers despite the likelihood they were multitasking while texting.