As we ask ourselves why social discourse has become so antagonistic and vitriolic lately, one clear culprit seems to be our growing reliance on written as opposed to face-to-face communication. Some dramatic evidence of the effect of impersonal communication can be found in the research on electronic negotiating by Harvard Business Professor Kathleen Valley. Her findings are dramatic:
- More than half of email negotiations end in impasse, as opposed to only 19% of face-to-face negotiations.
- People are more prone to exaggerate, withhold information, attack, and escalate conflict when they negotiate by writing.
- Electronic negotiation tends to be more inflexible than spoken, with far less of an effort made toward seekimg mutual benefit.
While these findings relate to negotiation by email, I believe they can be broadened out to any internet-based communication. Unfortunately, this is a disease that is more easy to diagnose than to cure.
