A recent study that is the product of Lehigh University has claimed that people tend to lie more through e-mails, as compared to communication taking place through pen and paper. 

During the month of August, these findings were presented at the Academy of Management annual meeting in Santa Monica, CA by Liuba Belkin, assistant professor of management in the College of Business and Economics. 

She is the co-author of this study along with Terri Kutzberg of Rutgers University and Charles Naquin of DePaul University. 

Belkin said that through this study, they wanted to prove that there is a lot of difference in the attitude of people towards e-mail wirings and paper and pen writing, since most believe that both are at the same level. 

To prove this fact, Belkin and her partners took a group of students, to whom they gave an imaginary amount of money, which the participants had to divide between themselves and another group. 

The second group of students didn’t knew the amount of money given to the first group. While half of the children from the first group gave their offer through pen and [paper, the other half gave it through e-mail. 

It was found by the researchers that though both groups lied about the money in the pot, the group using the e-mail had higher degree of liers as compared to those using pen and paper.  

According to Belkin, this pattern occurs since many believe that lying through e-mail is more justified than lying through paper. 

Belkin reported, “When you write something on paper, there are more legal consequences because you write it with your own hand. Paper is more conceived as a formal document.”

Furthermore, two hypotheses were developed by the researchers related as to why people tend to lie more through e-mails. 

Belkin clarified, “One contributing factor could be that when people use the Internet, social norms of behavior are forgotten because of a skewed sense of social distance. Another contributing factor could be that the internet has changed core values. There is less self-disclosure, more dishonesty and less sincerity. When you communicate online, there is a false perception of anonymity. You behave in a way you wouldn't around your friends or family.”

She also said that experts firmly believe that though there is no single ideal communicative medium, certain channels are considered to be better for specific situations. She feels that unclear messages are further made more complex to understand, if sent through e-mails. 

Finally she concluded, “The conclusions are that people lie more in e-mail versus on paper, and people feel more justified in doing so. So, paper and e-mail are not the same medium. The difference is in the perceptions that people hold toward the media.”