Here’s how the emails you send at work could betray you
Plenty of us take time umming and ahing over how to phrase something in an email.
But it may not surprise you to know that changes you make consciously are by no means the whole story.
A paper, led by professor Paul Taylor of Lancaster University, looked at how changes in language choice in emails can hint at an insider attack – a fed up employee who’s about to go rogue.
Taylor’s researchers ran day-long simulations where volunteers started the day as a co-worker but, as the day went on, were picked off and paid to worm information out of the system.
The results were quite surprising. Those who had agreed to be insiders “showed distinct changes in their email behaviour”, says Taylor.
They starting using single rather than plural pronouns – referencing the ‘I’ over the ‘we’. Several studies Taylor alludes to show the growing self-absorption of someone who’s orientated towards malicious intent.
Suicidal poets, depressed students and those going though personal crises often elevate their use of personal pronouns. Taylor’s work demonstrates that those looking to distance themselves from an immediate recipient also do it, avoiding the use of ‘we’ words often invoked to reinforce a sense community and togetherness.
The insiders also showed greater negative affect, as their feelings towards the workplace and those in it started to sour. “Disgruntlement” can come out through angry outbursts, confrontational behaviour and general negative sentiment, says Taylor. Past research has shown insiders tend to have increased outbursts and become less cooperative.
Another difference noted was that the potential rogue-employees’ language became more nuanced and prone to errors, bending under the cognitive strain of a double identity. They work harder at appearing open and trustworthy and adapt behaviour quickly if there’s a chance of being caught, explains Taylor. All this requires “extra mental effort” – the changes in language are similar to those seen in someone responding to personal or professional upheaval in a short space of time.
Of course, the changes in language use crept into the interpersonal level, too. The insiders appeared to move away from the language mimicry so typical of cooperative interaction. Taylor found this shift – indicative of social distancing – became so marked that it was possible to use the metric to distinguish 92.6 per cent of insiders from their co-workers.
Taylor’s demonstrated how language use can bypass the need to profile behaviours – it points to behaviour and potential behaviour direct.
But of course, unless you are thinking of upping and leaving, there’s probably no need to worry – even if you do have an ultra-switched on (and prying) boss.