According to a news item that has been reprinted in just about every Vancouver newspaper in the past week—no doubt taking over precious space usually reserved for pictures of conjoined twins from Brazil and penetrating investigative pieces titled “This weekend in cheerleading”—researchers at the University of B.C. have made the shocking discovery that people are more likely to lie when they are texting someone as opposed to talking to them face-to-face. Say it ain’t so.
The study involved 170 students and compared the level of deceit people are prepared to use in a variety of media, from text messages to face-to-face interactions. We could go on and explain the exact details of the study, but frankly it all sounds a little convoluted and kind of boring. The press release from UBC includes cringe worthy quotes such as, “People are communicating using a growing range of methods, from Twitter to Skype,” says Sauder Assoc. Prof. Ronald Cenfetelli, a co-author on the paper. “As new platforms of communication come online, it’s important to know the risks that may be involved.” So we’ll spare you.
The point is, people are less likely to lie to your face than they are in an impersonal text message or the casual encounters section on Craigslist. Not that we’d know anything about that.
However, the most startling discovery of the study was that researchers felt this phenomenon needed to be studied in the first place and that newspapers actually found it newsworthy.
Speaking of news… there’s still no cure for cancer.
