Most Americans Check E-mail During Thanksgiving, Other Holidays

If you like sneaking a peak at your BlackBerry or iPhone under the Thanksgiving dinner table, you're not alone. A new survey from Harris Interactive finds that 59 percent of American workers plan to check their e-mail over the holidays, including Turkey Day and Christmas.

Of these, more than half (55 percent) will check e-mail once a day and 28 percent with check multiple times a day. Why the need to keep tabs on their inboxes? Seventy-nine percent of workers say they've received a work e-mail on days off during the holidays.

Men are more inclined than women to check e-mail during supposed downtime, according to the survey -- 67 percent of men check their inboxes, while only half of women do.

And while some people are trying to stay on top of their e-mail on days off, 12 percent of workers "dread" finding work memos waiting for them, and one in 10 people report feeling pity for the sender of those holiday work e-mails. Young workers tend to feel more annoyed and frustrated by work messages than their older counterparts, but this demographic is also more likely to whip out a smartphone to check e-mail while at a holiday gathering.

Using e-mail as an escape isn't uncommon, however -- 19 percent of respondents say e-mail is a welcome distraction from the family reunions and plateloads of food. A small number (5 percent) of people even admit to using work e-mail as an excuse to avoid holiday commitments or awkward conversations.

Harris Interactive polled 2,179 adults over the age of 18 for the survey, which was conducted this month on behalf of Xobni, an e-mail software company.