Some 58% of recently polled US adults said that when they read an email, they make judgments about the sender's intelligence based on the email's style, tone, and language, reports email service provider GMX about the results of its recent study of email use and behavior.

The 2009 GMX Email Psychology Study suggests email is important in the US for learning about others and developing a sense of their intellect, personality, age, authority, and other characteristics:

• 33% of respondents try to guess someone's age based only on the language, tone, and style that person uses in emails.
• 28% try to infer the sender's status as authority figure among his or her peers.
• 23% judge how successful the sender might be in a lifetime.
• 20% interpret the sender's social status.

Some of the study's other findings:

• When receiving an email, 11% of respondents make a judgment about the sender's sexual attractiveness, and 8% gauge the sender's fashion sense.
• When writing and sending emails, 57% of surveyed adults reported feeling concern about how their own level of intelligence will be perceived. Those who reported the highest degree of concern are more likely to adopt intentionally a particular writing style or tone of voice in their emails to peers, family, or coworkers, the study also found.
• Other traits respondents said they want to convey:
  • 31% said they care about how calm they seem.
  • 28% want to seem happy.
  • 25% wish to be thought authoritative.
  • 14% care about perceptions of their age.
  • 9% are concerned about seeming sexually attractive.
  • 6% said they want to be seen as fashionable.

"Email has evolved into a highly valued means of communication. Most people now make social judgments based on the emails they receive and care about their own email identity," said Eva Heil, managing director of GMX.

The findings also suggest that most people believe email has become an acceptable medium for sharing sensitive and important information. Of those surveyed, 60% say email is appropriate for getting asked out on a date and for informing family and friends of major life decisions. Doing so with incorrect grammar and with abbreviations was acceptable to 59% of respondents.

About the data: 1,002 US adults (18-65) who regularly use email for both work and personal reasons were surveyed in February 2009 via electronic feedback form by MaCorr Research on behalf of GMX.