Tell me how you type on your keyboard, I’ll tell you what kind of stressed person you are. The way people type and use a computer mouse may be a better predictor of stress than their heart rate, Swiss researchers said Tuesday, believing their model could help prevent chronic stress.
“The way we type on our keyboard and move our mouse seems to be a better predictor of our stress level than our heart rate in an office work environment,” said study author and mathematician Mara Nagelin.
Keyboard and mouse examined
For this study, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) observed 90 participants in a laboratory performing realistic office tasks, such as scheduling appointments or recording and analyzing data.
They recorded the participants’ mouse and keyboard behavior, as well as their heart rate, and regularly asked the participants how stressed they felt.
While some participants were allowed to work without interruption, half of the group were repeatedly interrupted by chat messages and were also asked to participate in a job interview. Researchers have established that stressed people type and move the mouse differently than relaxed people.
The researchers also found that people who feel stressed at the office make more errors when typing and tend to write in spurts, with many short pauses. Relaxed people, on the other hand, take fewer but longer breaks when typing on their computers, they found.
Impact on motor skills
The link between stress and keyboard and mouse behavior can be explained by the so-called neuromotor noise theory.
The researchers felt there was an urgent need to find reliable ways to detect increased stress, noting that one in three employees in Switzerland experience stress at work.
They are currently testing their model using an app, with data recorded from Swiss employees who have agreed to have their mouse and keyboard use, as well as their heart rate, recorded while they work. The results are expected by the end of the year. “We want to help workers quickly identify stress, not create a tracking tool for companies,” the study authors say.
Source: BFM TV
