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Are you sending the wrong message?
Researchers revealed the texting habits that could make you accidentally sound more intense.
Adding periods between words dials up the “emotional intensity” by seemingly adding deliberate emphasis, according to scientists at Binghampton University.
The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology this month, explored the phenomenon of “textisms” — such as periods after each word in a sentence — and how they impact the perceived meaning of messages.
“Textisms, such as irregular punctuation and deliberate misspellings, are sometimes used to replace the multimodal cues, such as tone of voice and gestures, that are available in spoken language,” professor of psychology and study author Celia Klin told Psys.org.
“Critically, our findings indicate that the recipients of texts often interpret textisms as they were intended, as conveying emotion and intensity.”
The study builds upon past research of Klin’s, who previously concluded that including periods while texting were deemed insincere.
This time, the study involved a group of undergraduate college students who were asked to review fake text messages that either included periods between each word or words sent as individual text messages.
The participants were then asked to score how disgusted or frustrated the imaginary texter seemed to be based on the messages.
According to the cohort’s answers, researchers found that grammatically unnecessary punctuation or series of one word texts communicate “an increased sense of intensity or emotion.”
“Readers assume that the decision to include a textism — such as including a period after each word or putting each word in its own text bubble — was deliberate and meaningful. That is, they believe that the textisms were included to communicate meaning.” Klin explained.
“This can be thought of with regard to the concept of ’emotion work.’ Text recipients understand that the inclusion of textisms required work and assume this work was undertaken deliberately.”
The findings coincide with the larger trend of period abandonment in Gen Z texts.
The young generation killed the punctuation long ago, believing that it came across as being angry or annoyed if used at the end of a sentence when texting.
On social media, youngsters have previously explained that texting “normal” — as in, with correct grammar and punctuation — is reserved for when they are “upset or mad.”
“Only old people or troubled souls put periods at the end of every sentence,” journalist Victoria Turk wrote in her digital etiquette book, “Kill Reply All,” insisting that periods are “not necessary” in a text.
“It’s clear when you’ve finished your thought already, so what function does the period fulfill? As a result, using a period in messaging now looks rather emphatic, and can come across as if you’re quite cross or annoyed.”
