{
  "title": "A tense email: check the tone before replying",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2025-03-10",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "A brief message can seem hostile without having been written that way. Research suggests separating the content received from the tone attributed to it.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Emotional Intelligence",
  "place": {
    "name": "Basel",
    "region": "Bâle-Ville",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Justin Kruger, Nicholas Epley, Jason Parker and Zhi-Wen Ng (2005, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) show, in experiments on email communication, that people overestimate their ability to convey tone, particularly sarcasm or seriousness."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The mechanism: a channel with fewer cues",
      "point": "Kristin Byron (2008, Academy of Management Review) proposes a theoretical model of emotional miscommunication by email."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The hasty conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that every sensitive conversation should take place verbally."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the evidence cannot promise",
      "point": "The experiments cited do not reproduce the full constraints of a pharmaceutical supply chain or a multilingual scientific project."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Bâle",
      "point": "In Basel, a team working across pharmaceuticals, life sciences, Rhine logistics and international R&D can test a rule for two weeks: when an email seems hostile but its intention remains uncertain, ask a factual question before sending an accusatory reply."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Ng",
      "year": "2005",
      "source": "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Byron",
      "year": "2008",
      "source": "Academy of Management Review"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 412,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Emotional-Intelligence-Basel-courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/courriel-tendu-verifier-le-ton-avant-de-repondre-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation-intelligence-emotionnelle-bale",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/bale",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}