Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 87, October 2018, Pages 109-120
Computers in Human Behavior

Full length article
To text or talk: Does communication modality matter when providing criticism to others?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.011Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Lab-based experiment compared in-person criticism to text message criticism in emerging adults.

  • In-person and text message criticism both had a detrimental impact on emotional wellbeing.

  • Impact on positive and negative affect and stress was virtually identical, regardless of medium.

  • Those low in mindfulness had significantly greater hurt feelings when communicating via text.

Abstract

Text messaging affords users the ability to quickly and conveniently send messages – both supportive and critical – to members of their social network. Despite the ease with which users can send potentially hurtful messages, it is unclear how the impact of these messages compares to in-person interactions. The current study is the first to directly compare the emotional impact of in-person criticism to text message criticism using a randomized controlled design. Emerging adults (n = 172) completed a lab-based stressor and were then randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) in-person criticism, 2) criticism via text message, or 3) no feedback (control). Criticism was provided by a similar-aged female confederate. Both criticism groups reported significantly lower positive affect and higher negative affect and stress, compared to the control group, with no meaningful difference between the two forms of criticism. Those low on trait mindfulness reported significantly more hurt feelings when criticized through text (versus in-person), providing preliminary evidence that mindfulness could serve a protective role when receiving criticism via mobile messaging. Findings are also important in light of emerging evidence that efforts to make amends through digital communication may be less effective than in-person communication at fostering positive affect and bonding.

Introduction

In the United States, 95% of adults own mobile phones (Pew Research Center, 2017), with similar rates seen in Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa (Poushter, 2016). Despite the constant influx of new mobile messaging and social media applications, text messaging remains the most frequently used function on smartphone devices (Skierkowski and Wood, 2012, Smith, 2011). Text messaging affords users the ability to remain connected to their support networks throughout the day, to hold private conversations while in the company of others, and generally serves as a quick and convenient way of interacting (Coyne et al., 2011, Pettigrew, 2009). Recent research suggests that text messaging has also become a prevalent means through which adolescents and emerging adults (defined as those between the ages of 18–25; Arnett, 2000) argue with and criticize members of their social network (Harrison and Gilmore, 2012, Harrison et al., 2015, Vykoukalová, 2007). This raises an important question: Does it matter that youth are using digitally-mediated communication to express negative thoughts and feelings towards one another, rather than in-person communication? From the broader social support literature, we know that day-to-day interpersonal stress, including conflict and social rejection, has the strongest impact on daily mood, over and above other types of daily stressors (Bolger, DeLongis, Kessler, & Schilling, 1989). Meanwhile, chronic interpersonal stress has been consistently linked to an increased risk of depression and other mental health disorders in adolescents (Beeri and Lev-Wiesel, 2012, Platt et al., 2013), emerging adults (Coiro, Bettis, & Compas, 2017), and the general adult population (Coyne, 1976, Heinrich and Gullone, 2006). However, most of this literature pre-dates the surge in popularity of text messaging and other mobile messaging technologies. It remains unclear how the emotional impact of critical remarks may differ (for better or worse) if they come via text message or in-person communication, and whether there are individual differences in emotional responses to this criticism.

In a sample of emerging adults, the primary objective of the current study was to conduct a direct, controlled comparison of the emotional effects of criticism expressed via text message versus in-person communication using a lab-based, randomized controlled design. The second objective was to examine the potentially protective role of trait mindfulness among those receiving criticism, and to explore whether mindfulness may be particularly important within mediated communication. This is the first study, to the authors’ knowledge, to use a randomized controlled design to address these objectives. Current theories that address the relative impact of in-person versus digitally-mediated criticism are somewhat conflicting, and the empirical literature remains sparse and inconsistent. In the next section (Section 2), relevant theories and empirical research are reviewed, followed by an introduction to the concept of mindfulness and how it may play a role in this context. Details regarding the specific nature of the current study, research questions and hypotheses are presented in Section 3. Our methodological approach is described in Section 4 and results are presented in Section 5. Lastly, a discussion of the findings (Section 6), implications (Section 7), and conclusions and future directions (Section 8) are presented.

Section snippets

Relevant theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and beyond

Theories from both the social psychological and CMC literature can inform the question of whether aversive text message interactions can influence well-being in the same way as in-person interactions. From an evolutionary perspective, humans have a fundamental need to belong and to feel accepted by others (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). This belongingness hypothesis makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint since social bonds would have historically promoted reproduction and survival. It has been

The current study, research questions, and hypotheses

A growing literature suggests that text messaging can serve as a meaningful source of interpersonal stress in younger generations. Most studies have historically investigated the stressful aspects of text messaging within adolescent populations (Cupples and Thompson, 2010, Kamibeppu and Sugiura, 2005, Lenhart et al., 2010, Pierce, 2009, Thompson and Cupples, 2008, Underwood et al., 2012). However, recent research highlights the need to better understand this issue in emerging adulthood (

Participants

A sample of emerging adults was recruited through an undergraduate psychology research subject pool and from the surrounding community (using advertisements on community websites, and posters in public locations across the community). All participants were required to be 18–25 years old, speak fluent English, and able to provide informed consent. Participants were excluded from participating if they had been diagnosed with a psychological disorder or were taking medication for a psychological

Participants

The final sample consisted of 172 participants (59.3% female) with an average age of 20.01 (SD = 1.81, range 18–25). The sample was predominantly European (50.6%), followed by East or Southeast Asian (20.6%), South Asian (12.9%), and other ethnicities (15.9%). A total of 66.3% were Canadian-born. The average age when participants obtained their first cell phone was reported to be 14.5 (SD = 2.19, range 7–19) and 84.6% had a cell phone by the age of 16. Overall, participants reported being

.Discussion

Text messaging has become a popular way for youth to develop and maintain social relationships, as well as a means through which they have arguments and criticize others (Cupples and Thompson, 2010, Harrison and Gilmore, 2012, Skierkowski and Wood, 2012, Smith, 2011). When it comes to exchanging negative thoughts and feelings with their peers, emerging adults have reported that text messaging has a number of advantages over in-person communication (Kelly et al., 2012, Reid and Reid, 2010).

Theoretical contributions

The similar effects of text and in-person criticism provide strong support for SIPT, AST, and CET which argue that experienced users are able to accurately convey their intended message via digitally-mediated communication, despite the lack of available verbal and non-verbal cues (Carlson and Zmud, 1999, Desanctis and Poole, 1994, Walther, 1992). The findings regarding communication modality also support evolutionary theory (Wesselmann et al., 2012), which states that humans are highly

Conclusions and future directions

When emerging adults want to express negative thoughts or feelings towards someone in their social network, they now have a wide range of communication tools to do so, including in-person communication, voice calls, emails, and more recently, video chat, mobile messaging, and social media (Walther, 2011). Findings from the current randomized controlled study provide evidence that the practice of communicating criticism via text message is not any more detrimental on the short-term emotional

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant to the second author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (430-2013-000976). The authors would like to express their gratitude to Brittany Boorman, Kaylee Misener, Nicole Legg and Ali Tracy for their assistance with data collection for this project and to Dr. Michael Woodworth and Dr. Brian O'Connor for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this work.

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