Too much texting can make you shallow: Study

Toronto: Teens who are hooked on to texting are more likely to be shallow, placing more importance on wealth and image than moral, aesthetic and spiritual goals, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Winnipeg in Canada found that teens who texted more than 100 times a day were 30 per cent less likely to feel strongly that leading an ethical, principled life was important to them, in comparison to those who texted 50 times or less a day.

Higher texting frequency was also consistently associated with higher levels of ethnic prejudice.

The study involved more than 2,300 introductory psychology students who completed a one hour on-line psychology research survey that included measures of texting frequency, personality traits, and life goals.

Data were collected at the beginning of the fall semester for three consecutive years.

The main goal of the study was to test the so-called 'shallowing hypothesis'. The 'shallowing hypothesis' was first described by Nicholas Carr in his book 'The Shallows'.

According to the shallowing hypothesis, ultra-brief social media like texting and Twitter encourages rapid, relatively shallow thought and consequently very frequent daily use of such media should be associated with cognitive and moral shallowness.

Researchers Dr Paul Trapnell and Dr Lisa Sinclair also reported significant annual declines since 2006 in first year students' mean levels of self-reported reflectiveness and openness to experience but not in any other broad personality traits annually measured in their surveys.

Approximately 30 per cent of students reported texting 200 plus times a day. 12 per cent reported texting 300 plus times per day. Those who texted frequently also tended to be significantly less reflective than those who texted less often.

In the researchers' lab study, some students texted, some spoke on cell phones, and some did neither.

Then, all students rated how they felt about different social groups. Those who had been texting rated minority groups more negatively than the others did.

Trapnell and Sinclair said they see little reason for panic over 'moral shallowing' at the present time, but concluded the topic may warrant greater research attention.