Do you know someone who is very sensitive to written typos? Someone who actually enjoys pointing out grammatical errors? Someone who takes pleasure in pointing out and correcting these mistakes observed in the comment sections of Facebook and other social media networking sites?
The study conducted by the University of Michigan involved 83 people who are identified as either an extrovert or an introvert. All of the participants had to read emails which contained grammatical errors such as: your – you’re, there – their);Â or typographical errors such as: teh;Â misspelled words; and an impeccable flawless writing.
Afterwards, each of the readers was asked to give an evaluation of the intelligence, personality, and attitude of the writer based from the emails they have read.
Lastly, each of the participants took a test that aims to assess their personality. This way, the researchers will be able to find out how personality traits influence people’s reactions to Linguistic errors.
The research reported that extroverts, an outgoing and sociable person, were more likely to shrug off the errors they have found. Scientists attributed their findings to the fact that extroverts can separate a person’s mistake from their personality.
On the other hand, introverts, or those who replenish their energy in solitude, intimately connect their grammatical errors and typographical mistakes as a reflection of their personality, intelligence, and attitude.
In addition, the scientists behind the recent study found a separate negative correlation between a person’s level of agreeableness and their tendency to point out flaws. The least open-minded people are those who stood out as grammar police which means that they are the type of people who are less forgiving of deviations against the norm.
Well, generally speaking, there is nothing wrong about noticing grammatical errors, typographical mistakes, and misspelled words of others, However, they fail to take in consideration the feelings of the writer that they are embarrassing through their unsolicited way of pointing out these errors.
Even so, they tend to think that they are actually doing others a favor by pointing out their mistakes.
The next time you encounter a grammatical error as you are browsing through the comment sections, take time to observe how many people will allot time and effort to correct the mistake. See how many grammar police will argue and make a big deal out of the ‘unintended mistake’ which they could have tolerated and ignored in the first place.
Just a friendly reminder, social media such as Facebook is intended for efficient communication, rather than ‘correct and perfect’ communication.
If you really find it hard to ignore the itch of pointing out the mistakes of others, why not message the person who committed the mistake directly rather than point it out for the entire public to see.
Here is a video that parodies the grammar police. It’s too funny!