Why Texting and IM‘ing Won’t Replace Actual Speech — It’s Hormonal
- Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:44pm by
Liz Klimas
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Think the sound of mom’s voice is an instant stressor? Think again. According to a new study from the University of Wisconsin, hearing mom’s voice is actually biologically beneficial as opposed to more passive communication, like texting or instant messaging.
Wired reports that girls who took a stressful test and talked with mom — heard her voice in a face-to-face or phone conversation — exhibited lower levels of stress hormones and an increased level of comfort hormones. In comparison, those who chatted with mom electronically received none of these benefits.
According to the study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, the researchers consider the effects of the spoken word an adaptive advantage, capable of “altering human biology in a positive way, possibly [...] for strengthening the social bonds between individuals.”
Wired has more:
“IM isn’t really a substitute for in-person or over-the-phone interaction in terms of the hormones released,” said psychologist Leslie Seltzer of the University of Wisconsin, a co-author of the new study. “People still need to interact the way we evolved to interact.”
[...]
“It doesn’t matter how many smiley faces you put in your IM. It’s not going to have the same effect as talking in person,” said Seltzer.
According to Wired, after the girls in the study took a test and were broken into groups to contact their mothers — no contact, IM, phone and face-to-face — those who communicated via IM showed almost no “comforting power” from mom, similar to those who hadn’t contacted mom at all. The research studied cortisol as a stress hormone and oxytocin as a comfort hormone.
Hormone level comparisons based on method of communication after a stressful test. (Image: Seltzer et al./Evolution and Human Behavior via Wired)
The research only looked at people in trusted relationships — in this case mother-daughter — so it is unclear if its conclusion also applies to texting or IM’ing versus speaking with regard to different familial and friend relationships or with strangers.
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LibbyK
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 3:10amI think this should be top story. It it a topic that isn’t talked about or brought to light often enough.
Report Post »Netsurfer2
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 4:22pmIt seems as though texting has got out of hand in our society! Almost all the kids do it at work and during lunch stare at their little phone box! I think it’s better to get a life and start relating directly! Who give’s a damn about what others are doing or who won the game that you did not play in??? Our society is getting a lot more ridiculous from how people dictate to us in every way! I think it’s time people grow up!
Report Post »kcares
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:29amI value the time my daughters and I have together, and I can tell that they do too. We text, only when we have too, to save time, or are at work, which is rarely. I’m afraid that kids are not learning to spell, and I don’t have the energy or want to, to learn their texting launguage. Being a parent doesn’t stop when you children turn 18.
Report Post »AnAppealToGod
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:07pmPeople talking to each other isn‘t what’s going down the tubes, it’s proper grammar.
Report Post »fridaysgirl
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 12:22pmWe found a really simple solution…we refuse to be the purchaser of a cell phone for our kids. If they want one, they will grow up, get a job, and purchase one for themselves. Problem solved…they have to talk to us in order to communicate.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:31pmBravo!
Report Post »katiefrankie
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 12:14amI’m so proud I could cry. Really!
Report Post »kcares
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:31amKeep it up Fridays girl. I see my nieces with cell phones that I can’t afford to buy. Did I mention that they are spoiled brats, and I can’t stand to be in the same room, or house with them.
Report Post »Stormsmom
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 12:41pmActually, I found texting to be very useful during the teen years. The attitude and the eyerolls don’t come through. Some days it was the only way to communicate with my daughter if I wanted to avoid jail time for murder.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 8:46amMy wife can not give her patented “look” in a text or IM…Man she can bore a hole in your soul…
Report Post »mrfunn
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 7:22amSpeaking to someone results in more brain activity than texting.
Who are these people?
Did we the taxpayers pay for this crap?
The next thing the ‘researchers’ will find:
Report Post »Men and women really are different.
Stoic one
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 12:43pmTHAT study came out Friday
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 7:14amKinda like why porn will never replace sex… It’s primal !!! Gotta have it .
Report Post »Lilybean
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 5:02amWhile I really love technology and such I honestly can’t stand texting or emailing people back and forth. I would much rather talk on the phone or in person. I can express my feelings better and show more emotion.
Report Post »nzkiwi
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:59amI courted my wife partly through texting. She is a lot younger than me and had to show me how to use the damned thing. The phone eventually died, but I have it locked away to show our daughters when they are a bit older.
The methods of communication may vary, but communication is the most important bit.
And results vary as well.
Report Post »KAdams
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:55amTexting has brought out the cowards. Text is so unemotional, never interpreted correctly, always overreacted to. Thank God I don‘t subscribe to the ’modernest of technologies’.
Report Post »glennisright.com
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:48amYeah, tell that to my wife and daughters.
Report Post »katiefrankie
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:24amTee hee hee! I would love to see what effect a wife’s voice has on her husband in contrast to a text message. Especially since this is primarily what my husband heard tonight in the car on the way to and from dinner: “Do you always pull out of the driveway like that?“ ”It’s 55 through here, not 70, and I saw two people get pulled over today.“ ”I don’t think the highway patrol would feel the same way about that, honey.”
Report Post »Searchingforthelight
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 3:00amUnfortunately texting can become addictive and pornographic. Electronics can be used for good or evil.
Report Post »Just the sound of a baby’s cry can release hormones within the mother and change her chemically
allowing her to fight or flight, milk let down, or quick thinking reflexes. The real advantage of letting my children go to sleep with Opera or Bach throughout their childhood has attributed to at the age of 7 her ability to grasp on to opera at an early age and my other daughter who should have been downs according to the nurse, chromosomal difference. She may not be an expert in math, but is a heck of a painter and story teller, and loves to separate the instruments in her mind. (left brainer) 10 points for a positive environment.
MeteoricLimbo
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 1:31amevr sinc i tuk the evln wud sped ritin my redin n ritn haz improvd gr8tly
Report Post »MR_ANDERSON
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 2:02amNo Li 2 URself. OK?
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 1:11ambrb :)
Report Post »garbagecanlogic
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 12:27amUnfortunately, we will some day live to regret the day texting was invented. Especially if we are unfortunate enough to meet someone driving at us while doing so.
The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
Report Post »The U.N. Out Of The U.S.
heavywx
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 12:12amTexting is a great invention, but I really hate it. About 70% of the conversations I have with my girlfriend is done via text. I’d just rather hear a voice than read a stupid @$$ text.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:56pmHmm…sometimes, I hope that evolution turns out to be real and the human race evolves so kids don’t have thumbs anymore. Then maybe, I won’t be having a ten minute conversation with mine, only to realize they haven’t been paying attention at all, because their facebook feed is in dire need of updating…..
Report Post »BlazingPatriot
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:52pmAfter reading this story, I will now sleep well tonight!!
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