What The Number Of Unread Emails In Your Inbox Reveals About Your Personality, According To Psychologists
It seems the way that you handle your emails can serve as a glimpse into the kind of person you are in your daily life.
NicoElNino | Shutterstock Several psychologists revealed that unread emails in a person's inbox and the action they take to address them can actually say a lot about the type of person they are.
Psychologists explained what the number of unread emails in your inbox reveals about your personality.
In an interview with Business Insider, multiple experts claimed that a person's email habits are more telling than we may initially realize. Whether a cluttered email inbox makes you stressed or the more unread emails, the better, there seems to be valuable insight into your email habits and personality.
Managing emails can be a bit stressful, especially when it comes to doing it for work. There are definitely people who immediately see a new work email and will either file it in the appropriate folder or delete it if it isn't important instead of simply letting it sit in their inbox and create clutter. And there are equally as many people who will let their unread emails just sit and collect in an endless mess of junk mixed with TBD correspondences.
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Filers and deleters like to keep their inboxes empty.
Larry Rosen, a research psychologist, admitted to Business Insider that the filer/deleter will read the incoming email and send a response if it calls for one or delete it if it's not useful. This person's email account tends to stay at zero and is a reflection of how organized and meticulous they may be in their everyday lives. Rosen explained that in his personal life, he tends to fall into this category.
Being away from his inbox for too long, he shared, makes him nervous — and he suspects it has something to do with his brain. "A huge, exploding inbox releases stress-based neurotransmitters, like cortisol, which make them anxious," he said.
Rosen suggested that this email management strategy boils down to a desire for control. While some people are fine leaving their house, their workspace, or their inbox a mess, filers/deleters simply can't.
The saver will have a few unread messages but doesn't always delete a message after reading.
Pamela Rutledge, a director of the Media Psychology Research Center, told Business Insider that there are a few explanations for this kind of behavior, but one of them definitely borders on perfectionism.
"Perfectionists save read emails with the idea that they will get to them [eventually]," she explained to the publication.
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"These same people will have a to-do list that is so long it can't possibly be useful," she continued. And yet, these same people will have their week-old laundry still sitting in that chair in their closet.
People saving emails is, in a way, their version of thinking they'll get around to answering them eventually. Rutledge claimed that saving read emails is a person's way of giving themselves a sense of security.
Lastly, the person who ignores doesn't delete or read emails at all.
Ron Friedman, a psychologist, and author, explained to the publication that keeping a slew of unread emails in your inbox isn't really a cause for concern but that unread emails can be a sign of feeling overwhelmed or disengaged.
On the other hand, he pointed out that it could mean "you recognize that [monitoring and organizing those emails] isn't helping you achieve progress. And that's a sign of intelligence."
It's even possible for some email ignorers to be more organized and productive than anyone else. An email doesn't necessarily mean that it's a top priority, and sometimes ignorers are aware of other important duties at work compared to replying back to an email.
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Workers spend two full days a week responding to emails.
According to a study by Microsoft reported by The Wall Street Journal, researchers found that 25% of most active users on their site spent an average of 8.8 hours a week reading and writing emails.
The data doesn't even account for the time workers spend instant messaging on their phones or corresponding with co-workers.
While it's amusing to look at how people's personalities are reflected in how they manage their emails, it obviously isn't the only factor.
Everyone has a different approach when it comes to handling their email, and no one's approach is right or wrong either.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.