Ethical Problems Communicating Through Text Messaging

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Students at BYU may be all smiles in person, but that’s not always the case when using text messaging.

The Sauder School of Business from the University of British Columbia performed a study using fake stock exchanges and found those people who communicated through text messaging were more likely to report deception.

[media-credit name=”Photo illustration by Chris Bunker” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]
Some people won't hesitate to text others any comment they have, but when speaking face to face they are more polite in their conversation.
“I told a girl she was fat and needed to go to the gym,” said Richard Boyce, an English major from Bristol, R.I. “I would never say that in person.”

Boyce said he felt people were meaner over text messages.

“It’s easier to lie because you have time to form what you are going to say,” Boyce said. “It’s easier to be brutally honest too because you can’t see their reaction.”

Brooke Pitcher, a home and family living major from Westminster, Colo., said it is easier to be brutally honest over text messaging because once it is sent, it can be forgotten.

“I told my friend I didn’t want to be friends with him anymore because he was being self centered and didn’t care about our friendship,” Pitcher said.

Paul Booren, a senior double majoring in political science and economics, said it was easier to use white lies or make up excuses over text.

“If someone asks me to do something and I don’t want to go, it’s a lot easier to say ‘I have plans’ or ‘I’m busy’ over text,” Booren said. “If someone asked me in person it’s different. You’re on the spot and you don’t have time to think of responses.”

According to a study from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, text messaging is seen as more deceitful than other forms of communication.

In the study, students were asked to perform fake stock transactions for a cash reward.

“The brokers were given inside knowledge that the stock was rigged to lose half of its value,” according to a news release found on the business school’s website. “Buyers were only informed of this fact after the mock sales transaction and were asked to report whether the brokers had employed deceit to sell their stock.”

The study used four different kinds of communication — face to face, video, audio and text messaging. Buyers who communicated through text messages were 95 percent more likely to report deception than other forms of communication.

Professor Ronald Cenfetelli at UBC was a co-author of the paper and related the study to all modern forms of communication.

“People are communicating using a growing range of methods, from Twitter to Skype,” Cenfetelli said. “As new platforms of communication come online, it’s important to know the risks that may be involved.”

The study performed by the Sauder School of Business demonstrates that although texting is a form of communication, it may not be ideal for all situations. The consequences for lying or being honest is unapparent to most people using text messaging. For conversations of importance, face-to-face communication is still the best way to go.

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