The love letter has its modern-day equivalent — and it comes with emoji capabilities. A recent paper looked into the most romantic form of communication and found that, strangely enough, email beat out voicemail for the top spot. This comes as a big surprise, given what emailing in our day-to-day lives is usually reduced to — no more warm "You've Got Mail!" greetings and you're lucky if you sign-off with something that doesn't sound unintentionally passive-aggressive.
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The study had participants leave a romantic voicemail and write a loving email for their (actual or theoretical) partner. As they prepared their messages, researchers observed their physical state with sensors placed on their faces and feet. These sensors measured changes in sweat and facial expressions, both of which can be analyzed to gauge emotions and arousal.
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While the participants' emotions didn't change with the form of communication, their arousal noticeably increased when they wrote their emails. Additionally, the word choice in the emails proved more affectionate and thoughtful than how they spoke on their voicemails. Although this came as an unexpected finding, one explanation as to why people tend to be more expressive in their emails may be that they feel a need to compensate when the person receiving their message can't hear their voice. Just like sarcasm, love and attraction are difficult to pick up when you're just reading a screen. Click through to Shape for more advice on connecting with your partner. (Shape) Related: 8 Email Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
While the participants' emotions didn't change with the form of communication, their arousal noticeably increased when they wrote their emails. Additionally, the word choice in the emails proved more affectionate and thoughtful than how they spoke on their voicemails. Although this came as an unexpected finding, one explanation as to why people tend to be more expressive in their emails may be that they feel a need to compensate when the person receiving their message can't hear their voice. Just like sarcasm, love and attraction are difficult to pick up when you're just reading a screen. Click through to Shape for more advice on connecting with your partner. (Shape) Related: 8 Email Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making