A team of researchers at Brigham Young University conducted a study on the relationship between a person's mood and computer mouse speed. The researchers found that there is indeed a change in mouse speed whenever a person feels a different set of emotions. When a person is angry, the movement becomes jerky yet surprisingly slow, while people who feel sad or frustrated perform less precise mouse movements with erratic speed.
"It's counter-intuitive; people might think, 'When I'm frustrated I start using the mouse faster.' Well, no, you actually start moving slower," said Jeffrey Jenkins, the lead author of the study, according to The Telegraph.
Methodology of the study included making the subjects angry while answering a survey on a website with a purposely slowed-down loading time. Penalties were also given whenever a wrong answer was given by the user, and they were told that their bad scores meant they had a low I.Q.
Beyond determining the relationship of mood and mouse speed, Jenkins presents his research to website developers, whom he believes can find the most benefit from the results of the study. With the data his research has achieved, websites can determine a person's mood and relate that to the site's content. If people move their mouse in a speed that relays they are frustrated, then developers can have the chance to review that content. Same goes for determining what content has led to losing website traffic.
"Using this technology, websites will no longer be dumb. Websites can go beyond just presenting information, but they can sense you. They can understand not just what you're providing, but what you're feeling," said Jenkins, The Telegraph adds.
The abstract of the study can be accessed here.
