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A new study says using a period in your text messages (i.e. proper punctuation) makes messages seem 'less sincere' than if no punctuation is used.
The study, Texting insincerely: The role of the period in text messaging, was conducted by researchers at Binghamton University's Department of Psychology.
Researchers studied the texting behavior of 126 undergraduates within exchanges framed as either text messages and handwritten notes, according to the Washington Post. Texting was chosen as "one of the most frequently used computer-mediated communication (CMC) methods" and "mimics face-t0-face communication."
The results were pretty straightforward: "When the exchanges appeared as text messages, the responses that ended with a period were rated as less sincere than those that did not end with a period," according to the study's abstract. It made no difference whether punctuation was used on handwritten notes.
"When speaking, people easily convey social and emotional information with eye gaze, facial expressions, tone of voice, pauses, and so on," the lead researcher Celia Klin said in a statement.
In other words, using a period in conversation is "an act of psychological warfare against your friends," Post reporter Rachel Feltman said.
Click here to read more on the study.
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