So many things can keep you from seeing your loved ones in person, from busy schedules to long distances to a rather unexpected pandemic. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, the people we miss are often only a phone call or text message away. But if you're someone who's more prone to typed out messages than verbal ones, you may want to reconsider. According to science, if you want to feel more connected to the people you're talking to, you should call them instead of texting.
繁忙的日程、遥远的距离、突如其来的疫情……太多的事情阻止你亲自去见你所爱的人。幸运的是我们有现代科技,只要一通电话或一个短信就能联系上我们想念的人。但如果你更倾向于发短信而不是打电话,你可能需要重新考虑一下。科学告诉我们,如果你想和交谈的人感觉更亲近,你应该给他们打电话,而不是发短信。
A new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, found that communication interactions that included voice, like a phone call or video chat, created stronger social bonds than communication through typing, like text messaging or email.
发表在《实验心理学杂志》的一项新研究发现,打电话或视频聊天等包含语音的通信互动比发短信和电子邮件等打字通信方式更能加强社交纽带关系。
In the study, researchers used various experiments to gauge connectedness. In one, they asked 200 people to make predictions about what it would be like to reconnect with an old friend by email or by phone and then assigned people at random to do one or the other. Although people anticipated that a phone call would be more awkward, hearing someone's voice actually made the experience better.
在这项研究中,研究人员运用了各种实验来衡量纽带关系。在其中一项实验中,他们请200个人预想通过电邮或打电话重新和一个老朋友取得联系的场景,然后随机指派人们发电邮或打电话。尽管人们预期打电话会更尴尬,但听到对方的声音实际上会让体验更好。
"People reported they did form a significantly stronger bond with their old friend on the phone versus email, and they did not feel more awkward," study co-author Amit Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business, said in a statement.
研究报告的合著者、麦康姆商学院营销学助理教授阿米特·库马尔在一份声明中称:“人们报告称他们与老朋友打电话相比发电邮可以建立起更强的纽带关系,而且并不感到更尴尬。”
In another experiment, the researchers had strangers connect by either texting, talking over video chat, or talking using only audio. They found that both forms of voice communication—whether video or audio only—made the strangers feel significantly more connected than when they communicated via text.
在另一个实验中,研究人员让陌生人通过发短信、视频聊天或语音聊天来联络。他们发现,无论是视频还是语音聊天,这两种语音通信方式都比发短信更能显著增强陌生人之间的纽带关系。
Sabrina Romanoff, a Harvard trained clinical psychologist based in New York City, says people tend to text or email instead of calling because of convenience, as they see it as a controlled form of communication where they can "correspond information exactly in the way they intend without unexpected additions by the other person."
哈佛大学毕业的纽约临床心理学家塞布丽娜·罗曼诺夫表示,为了方便,人们倾向于发短信或电子邮件,而不是打电话,因为他们将短信和电邮视为可控的通信方式,可以“精确地发送自己想传达的信息,而不会受到另一个人意外插话的干扰”。
Romanoff says that in reality, texting can make it hard to determine the true meaning behind a conversation. "A phone call is actually more convenient when considering the net effects of the message," she explains. "Each party is more present, and therefore, able to gauge the meaning behind the content without ruminating on the endless possible meanings behind words and punctuation."
罗曼诺夫指出,事实上,发短信会让人难以确定对话背后的真实含义。她解释道:“如果想保证信息传达的效果,打电话其实更方便。双方都在,因此能理解对话内容背后的含义,而不用没完没了地反思词句和标点背后的潜在含义。”