Why texting may not be the best idea in times of stress

If you’re in need of support, it could be beneficial to put down the phone and speak to someone face-to-face.

According to an associate professor Susan Holtzman who teaches psychology at UBC’s Okanagan campus, even though people can connect through wireless devices, during stressful times it may not be the best way to communicate.

Holtzman presents her findings in a recently published research study which compared both the social and emotional impact of support provided by text messaging versus in-person support.

“It was fairly clear that even though people may be connected socially through a device, it may not be the best way to communicate during a stressful experience,” said Holtzman. “In both experiments, respondents’ positive mood was significantly higher after receiving in-person support, compared to those who received support through text messages.”

In the study, participants aged between 18 and 25 were given a stressful task and then randomly assigned to receive emotional support either in person, via text messaging, or to receive no support at all.

Based on the findings, Holtzman found that digitally-mediated communication lacks a number of visual and auditory cues that have important implications for human well-being.

For instance, research has revealed that viewing photographs of a loved one's face or hearing a mother's voice can have stress-cushioning effects. However, according to Holtzman, text communication has the possibility of being misinterpreted, thereby reducing the effectiveness of support attempts.

“Social support has been identified as one of the most powerful predictors of well-being, particularly during times of stress,” said Holtzman. “Our results suggest that there may be costs to an increasing reliance on digital forms of communication, such as text messaging, to connect and exchange support with our social networks.”

Participants in her study were part of a cultural context where text messaging is a valued source of connection, explained Holtzman.

What's also interesting to note is that when a close friend provided emotional support during the study, either in-person or by text message, satisfaction was virtually identical. So despite the fact that text messaging doesn’t appear to be as effective at improving moods, it may remain a popular method of seeking support because of that sense of connection it offers people in that age group.

Holtzman also highlighted a growing trend for some crisis lines to use text messaging and online chat services to respond to calls for help.

“We don’t want to say that texting is good or bad as there are definite benefits when it comes to using text messages to communicate—especially when people don’t feel comfortable making a phone call or reaching out face-to-face. But we still have a long way to go in understanding how to best support people through text messages and other forms of digital communication.”

Holtzman’s research was recently published in Computers in Human Behaviour.

Her research was funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the University of British Columbia.

What do you think? Have you noticed in times of need that you benefit more from face-to-face communication than via texting? Let us know!