Study Says People Who Continually Point Out Typos Are 'Jerks'

HughPickens.com writes: Sophie Kleeman, writes at Gizmodo that according to a study at the University of Michigan people who are more sensitive to written typos and grammatical errors are indeed the kinds of 'Type A assholes' everyone already suspects them to be. Researchers gathered 83 people and had them read emails that either contained typos ("mkae" or "abuot"), grammar errors (to/too, it's/its or your/you're), or no spelling mistakes at all. Participants were asked at the end of the experiment whether or not they'd spotted any grammatical errors or typos in the emails, and, if so, how much it had bothered them. The researchers then asked the participants to complete a Big Five personality assessment -- which rates where they are on a scale of openness, agreeableness, extraversion/introversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness -- as well as answer questions about their age, background, and attitude towards language. People who tested as being more conscientious but less open were more sensitive to typos, while those with less agreeable personalities got more upset by grammatical errors. "Less agreeable participants showed more sensitivity to 'grammos' than participants high in agreeability," the researchers said, "perhaps because less agreeable people are less tolerant of deviations from convention."

Comments

Re:Why are they calling autists/Asperger's "jerks"

[TheReaperD]

Umm, as someone with mild autism, I can say that no, as the study states, it's not whether or not it bothers you, it's whether you're enough of an ass that you must point it out to the world that they're wrong. There are many things online that bug me. My usual response? Move on to something else. That is what people who try not to be assholes do. Autism doesn't make you an asshole; being an asshole makes you an asshole.