Sorry about the tpyos! People who are under stress at work are more likely to make mistakes when typing – and how they move the mouse is a better judge of stress than heart rate, researchers say
- People who were more stressed moved mouse more often and less precisely
- Meanwhile relaxed people took shorter, more direct routes to reach destination
Employees who are stressed are more likely to commit typographical mistakes, a study shows.
Swiss researchers found the workers type and move their mouse differently – and less accurately – from more relaxed colleagues.
The study was based on 90 people in a lab performing office tasks that were as close to reality as possible, such as planning appointments or analysing data.
Participants’ mouse and keyboard behaviour as well as their heart rates were monitored, and they were asked several times during the experiment how stressed they felt.
While some people were allowed to work undisturbed, others also had to take part in a job interview. Half of this group were also repeatedly interrupted with chat messages.
Employees who are stressed are more likely to commit typographical mistakes, a study shows. (file image)
Analysis revealed people who were more stressed moved the mouse pointer more often and less precisely, and covered longer distances on the screen.
Meanwhile relaxed people took shorter, more direct routes to reach their destination and took more time doing so.
People who were stressed also made more mistakes when typing, and wrote in fits and starts with many brief pauses.
Relaxed people took fewer but longer pauses while typing on a keyboard.
Psychologist Jasmine Kerr, from ETH Zurich, said the connection between stress and our typing and mouse behaviour can be explained by what is known as neuromotor noise theory.
‘Increased levels of stress negatively impact our brain’s ability to process information,’ she said. ‘This also affects our motor skills.’
The researchers also discovered that people’s typing and mouse movement behaviour was a better indicator of how stressed they were compared to measuring their heart rates.
The team said their mathematical model might enable employees – and employers – to prevent chronic stress early on by detecting who is most stressed in the workplace.
Analysis revealed people who were more stressed moved the mouse pointer more often and less precisely, and covered longer distances on the screen. (file image)
However they cautioned that workplace stress detection would need to be handled carefully.
‘We want to help workers to identify stress early, not create a monitoring tool for companies,’ they said.
According to a survey carried out in the UK in 2020, 79 per cent of people said they frequently suffer from work stress.
This was higher than the number of people who said they suffer from monetary or family stress.
Other statistics suggest 13.7 million working days are lost each year in the UK because of work-related stress, anxiety and depression, costing £28.3 billion annually.
The findings of the new study were published in the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.