The Psychology of People Who Hate Phone Calls

Why do I hate phone calls? If you watch your phone ring even when it's someone you love, this is the psychology of phone anxiety, and why the call you avoid would probably feel better than you think. In this video: the Three Missing Buttons (Edit, Pause, Exit) that make a call feel like a live performance, the forecasting error behind the fear of phone calls, why your voice makes you sound smarter than your texts, the liking gap that makes you replay every call, what Mom's voice does to stress hormones, and simple ways to get your buttons back if you prefer texting over calling. Edit, Pause or Exit — which missing button scares you most on a call? Comment 1, 2 or 3. Watch next: Parties Drain You (But Not Your Friends) | The Psychology of Introverts    • Parties Drain You (But Not Your Friends) |...   Chapters: 0:00 It's Mom. You Watch It Ring. 0:32 Why Your Body Treats a Call Like an Alarm 0:59 The Three Missing Buttons 2:42 The Call Nobody Wanted to Make 4:16 Your Voice Makes You Sound Smarter 5:56 Why You Replay Every Call 7:13 What Mom's Voice Does to Your Body 8:42 Why Every Ring Sounds Like Bad News 10:06 How to Get Your Buttons Back 11:25 You're Not Bad at Calls Sources: Kumar & Epley (2021), Journal of Experimental Psychology: General — "It's surprisingly nice to hear you" Schroeder & Epley (2015), Psychological Science — "The sound of intellect" Kraus (2017), American Psychologist — voice-only communication and empathic accuracy Boothby, Cooney, Sandstrom & Clark (2018), Psychological Science — the liking gap Seltzer, Prososki, Ziegler & Pollak (2012), Evolution and Human Behavior — instant messages vs. speech Uswitch survey (UK, April 2024, 2,000 adults) Turkle (2015), Reclaiming Conversation (book) This video is for education only and is not medical or mental-health advice. 🔔 Subscribe to Inside Your Head (@InsideYourHeadTV) and turn on the notification bell so you never miss a new episode. #psychology #phoneanxiety #telephobia #texting