Anticipated Ongoing Interaction Versus Channel Effects on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

Previous research on the interpersonal tone of computer-mediated communication shows different effects using longitudinal computer-mediated groups than are found in research using one-shot groups, even before the developmental aspects associated with time can accrue. One factor distinguishing these approaches is the anticipation of future interaction experienced by longitudinal groups. This research reports an experiment assessing the relative effects of anticipated future interaction and different communication media (computer-mediated versus face-to-face communication) on the communication of relational intimacy and composure. Asynchronous and synchronous computer conferencing and face-to-face groups were examined. Results show that the assignment of long-term versus short-term partnerships has a larger impact on anticipated future interaction reported by computer-mediated, rather than face-to-face, partners. Evidence also shows that anticipation is a more potent predictor of several relational communication dimensions than is communication condition. Implications for theory and practice are identified.     

When does the medium matter? Knowledge-building experiences and opportunities in decision-making teams

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether temporal scope—the extent to which teams have a past or expect to have a future together—affects face-to-face and computer-mediated teams’ ability to communicate effectively and make high quality decisions. Results indicated that media differences existed for teams lacking a history, with face-to-face teams exhibiting higher openness/trust and information sharing than computer-mediated teams. However, computer-mediated teams with a history were able to eliminate these differences. These findings did not extend to team-member exchange (TMX). Although face-to-face teams exhibited higher TMX compared to computer-mediated teams, the interaction of temporal scope and communication media was not significant. In addition, openness/trust and TMX were positively associated with decision-making effectiveness when task interdependence was high, but were unrelated to decision-making effectiveness when task interdependence was low.     

All in due time: The development of trust in computer-mediated and face-to-face teams

This study examines the development of trust and cooperation in computer-mediated and face-to-face teams. Fifty-two, three-person teams worked on a mixed-motive task over a 3-week period using computer-mediated or face-to-face interaction. Results showed that trust started lower in computer-mediated teams but increased to levels comparable to those in face-to-face teams over time. Furthermore, this pattern of results also held for teams that switched from face-to-face to electronic media and vice versa. Content analysis showed that high levels of inflammatory remarks were associated with slow trust development in computer-mediated teams. The results challenge prevailing assumptions about how trust develops in distributed teams and suggest modifications to established theories of computer-mediated communication.     

Computer-Mediated Communication and Group Decision Making: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of research comparing decision making in face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication groups was conducted. Results suggest that computer-mediated communication leads to decreases in group effectiveness, increases in time required to complete tasks and decreases in member satisfaction compared to face-to-face groups. All of the moderators tested (anonymity in the group process, limited versus unlimited time to reach decisions, group size, and task type) were significant for at least one of the dependent variables. The article concludes with cautions about the unbridled rush by organizations to adopt computer-mediated communication as a medium for group decision making and implications of the present findings for theory and research on computer-mediated communication and group decision making.     

Communication Formats and Their Impact on Patient Perception and Working Mechanisms: A Mixed-Methods Study of Chat-Based vs. Face-to-Face Psychotherapy for Insomnia

The application of Internet-based interventions within stepped-care models raises the question of when patients should receive Internet-based treatment and when patients should receive face-to-face (FtF) treatment. To address this question, the patient perception and effects of working mechanisms were evaluated after brief psychotherapy for insomnia applying a mixed-methods approach. Treatment was either delivered through a text-based chat or it was delivered FtF. Almost half of the patients who received the chat-based treatment indicated that chat-based communication was appropriate for them when dealing with sleep difficulties, but that they would prefer FtF communication for more sensitive topics. Results from the therapists’ evaluations of working mechanisms yielded that these working mechanisms were more strongly associated with treatment outcome in the FtF condition than they were in the chat-based condition. To understand and to interpret the results, media richness theory may be a useful tool: More severely impaired patients and patients with more complex concerns may need more complex (richer) communication formats for treatment delivery. Such heuristics may help to better justify treatment recommendations and optimize media choice in Internet-based interventions, e.g., by defining moments when human interaction is needed and moments when communication could be conducted by nonhuman chatbots.     

Computer-mediated communication and time pressure induce higher cardiovascular responses in the preparatory and execution phases of cooperative tasks

The cardiovascular (CV) response to social challenge and stress is associated with the etiology of cardiovascular diseases. New ways of communication, time pressure and different types of information are common in our society. In this study, the cardiovascular response to two different tasks (open vs. closed information) was examined employing different communication channels (computer-mediated vs. face-to-face) and with different pace control (self vs. external). Our results indicate that there was a higher CV response in the computer-mediated condition, on the closed information task and in the externally paced condition. These role of these factors should be considered when studying the consequences of social stress and their underlying mechanisms.     

Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

This study involved an experiment of the effects of time and communication channel—asynchronous computer conferencing versus face-to-face meetings—on relational communication in groups. Prior research on the relational aspects of computer-mediated communication has suggested strong depersonalizing effects of the medium due to the absence of nonverbal cues. Past research is criticized for failing to incorporate temporal and developmental perspectives on information processing and relational development. In this study, data were collected from 96 subjects assigned to computer conferencing or face-to-face zero-history groups of 3, who completed three tasks over several weeks’time. Results showed that computer-mediated groups increased in several relational dimensions to more positive levels and that these subsequent levels approximated those of face-to-face groups. Boundaries on the predominant theories of computer-mediated communication are recommended, and principles from uncertainty reduction and social penetration are discussed.     

Anticipated,experienced, and remembered subjective effort and discomfort on sustained attention versus working memory tasks

This study examined individuals’ ability to accurately anticipate how cognitively effortful and uncomfortable a task will feel based on a short sample of the task. Participants completed a sustained attention or working memory task. Post-practice, participants rated the effort and discomfort that they anticipated their task would require and engender, respectively. Participants also rated their effort and discomfort during task-administration and the effort and discomfort they recalled feeling after task-administration. Sustained attention task participants anticipated significantly less effort than working memory task participants. Sustained attention task participants felt significantly more effort during the task and remembered feeling more effort than they had anticipated. Working memory task participants felt significantly less effort during the task than they had anticipated. Sustained attention task participants anticipated, experienced, and recalled feeling more discomfort than working memory task participants. Individuals’ anticipation of effort required depends on the task and is different from the effort they actually feel during the task and later recall feeling.     

预期交流与创造力的关系:解释水平的调节作用

该研究探讨了预期交流对创造力的影响, 以及解释水平在其中的调节作用。实验1采用结构性想象任务探讨预期交流是否影响创造力。结果表明, 相较于没有预期交流, 预期交流条件下的个体表现出更高的创造力。实验2采取了创意产生任务, 并探讨了解释水平在其中的调节作用。结果表明, 当完成抽象的、高解释水平任务时, 相较于无预期交流, 预期交流条件下个体在新奇性和变通性两个维度上表现出了更高的创造力; 当完成具体的、低解释水平任务时, 预期交流的效应不复存在。也就是说, 只有当创造力任务要求高解释水平的抽象思维时, 预期交流才能促进创造力的发挥。总结而言, 本研究在过往对于交流与创造力以及解释水平与创造力的研究基础上进一步发现, 对于抽象创造力任务, 虽然真正的信息交流尚未发生, 但仅仅对于交流的预期就会提高创造力水平。     

Judgment Accuracy and Outcomes in Negotiation: A Causal Modeling Analysis of Decision-Aiding Effects

This study examines how interaction structure (no formal structure versus modified Nominal Group Technique) and communication channels (face-to-face versus computer-mediated) affect negotiation performance by changing negotiation judgment accuracy. Participants assumed the role of a selling division manager or one of two buying division managers and completed an intra-organizational transfer pricing negotiation task in groups of three members each. In half of all groups, members interacted freely without any formal structure; in the other half, members interacted using a two-step, modified Nominal Group Technique. Within each of these two conditions, half the groups met directly and communicated face-to-face; in the other half, members were physically isolated and communicated with the aid of a simultaneous electronic-messaging facility. Results showed that unstructured groups and computer-mediated groups had lower judgment accuracy, obtained lower outcomes, and distributed resources more unequally than structured groups and face-to-face groups, respectively. Further analyses using causal modeling revealed that judgment accuracy played a significant role in determining negotiation outcomes. Specifically, negotiation structure caused increases in both individual and group profits and decreases in inequality of resource distribution by reducing fixed-sum error. Computer-mediated communication increased both fixed-sum error and incompatibility error and these increases explained the effects of communication medium on resource distribution. However, changes in fixed-sum error only partially explained the effects of communication medium on individual and group profits. Changes in incompatibility error did not explain any of the effects of communication medium on profits. These results are discussed in terms of implications for the design and implementation of decision aids for small group negotiation.     

Decision Accuracy in Computer-Mediated versus Face-to-Face Decision-Making Teams

Changes in the way organizations are structured and advances in communication technologies are two factors that have altered the conditions under which group decisions are made. Decisions are increasingly made by teams that have a hierarchical structure and whose members have different areas of expertise. In addition, many decisions are no longer made via strictly face-to-face interaction. The present study examines the effects of two modes of communication (face-to-face or computer-mediated) on the accuracy of teams' decisions. The teams are characterized by a hierarchical structure and their members differ in expertise consistent with the framework outlined in the Multilevel Theory of team decision making presented by Hollenbeck, Ilgen, Sego, Hedlund, Major, and Phillips (1995). Sixty-four four-person teams worked for 3 h on a computer simulation interacting either face-to-face (FtF) or over a computer network. The communication mode had mixed effects on team processes in that members of FtF teams were better informed and made recommendations that were more predictive of the correct team decision, but leaders of CM teams were better able to differentiate staff members on the quality of their decisions. Controlling for the negative impact of FtF communication on staff member differentiation increased the beneficial effect of the FtF mode on overall decision making accuracy.     

Group and Interpersonal Effects in International Computer-Mediated Collaboration

Drawing on two recent theories, this article proposes interaction hypotheses involving the joint effects of salient group versus individual identity and long-term versus short-term group membership on the social, interpersonal, and intellectual responses of group members collaborating via computer-mediated communication. Participants from institutions in two countries used computer-mediated communication under various conditions. Results indicate that some conditions of computer-mediated communication use by geographically dispersed partners render effects systematically superior to those obtained in other mediated conditions and greater or lesser than effects obtained through face-to-face interaction.     

Pragmatic use of stereotyping in teamwork: social loafing and compensation as a function of inferred partner-situation fit

Using 4 experiments, the authors examined how stereotypic information about teammates influences social loafing and compensation during collective tasks. In each experiment, participants performed better on cognitive tasks when there was a poor (vs. good) fit between the stereotypic strengths of their partner and the requirements of the task. This pattern occurred whether participants used gender stereotypes (Experiment 1) or occupational stereotypes (Experiments 2 to 4) and occurred even when participants only anticipated working on a collective task (Experiment 4). In Experiment 3, the pattern occurred only in the collective (not in the coactive) condition, providing direct evidence for social loafing. Together, these results suggest that people use stereotypes to tune their motivation to optimize the ratio of their own individual effort to the team's expected output.     

Generality of a Theory of Collective Induction: Face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated Interaction,Amount of Potential Information,and Group versus Member Choice of Evidence

In order to assess the generality of a theory of collective induction that has previously been supported for face-to-face interaction (Laughlin and Hollingshead, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1995), three experiments compared face-to-face and computer-mediated interaction for four-person groups for three successive rule induction problems. The predictions of the theory fit the obtained probabilities of group hypotheses for distributions of member hypotheses better than four other plausible models for both face-to-face and computer-mediated groups, over four levels of potential information, and for group versus member choice of evidence. There were comparable numbers of correct hypotheses for face-to-face and computer-mediated interaction, increasing correct hypotheses with increasing potential information, and comparable numbers of correct hypotheses for group versus member choice of evidence. The three experiments indicate the generality of the theory for both traditional face-to-face interaction and computer-mediated interaction, four levels of potential information, and group versus member choice of information. The comparisons of face-to-face and computer-mediated interaction extend the emphasis on social communication processes on decision and idea generation tasks of previous research to social combination processes in the acquisition and processing of new information in cooperative rule learning.     

A case study on support for students' thinking through computer-mediated communication

This is a case study on support for thinking through computer-mediated communication. Two graduate students were supervised in their research using computer-mediated communication, which was asynchronous and written; the supervisor was not present. The students' reports pointed out there was more planning and editing and low interactivity in this approach relative to face-to-face communication. These attributes were confirmed by their supervisor's report. The students also suggested that the latter was effective in support of a production stage of thinking in research, while the former approach was effective in support of examination of thinking. For distance education to be successful, an appropriate combination of communication media must consider students' thinking stages. Finally, transient and permanent effects should be discriminated in computer-mediated communication.     

When what you type isn’t what they read: The perseverance of stereotypes and expectancies over e-mail

People form impressions of others by communicating with them, but not all modes of communication transmit information with equal fidelity. E-mail, for instance, is an inherently more limited mode of communication than is voice because of its relative lack of paralinguistic and non-verbal cues. The present research investigated the implication of this distinction for the biasing influence of stereotypes and expectancies. Three experiments demonstrated that racial stereotypes and bogus expectancies influence people’s impressions of a target more strongly over e-mail than voice interactions (Studies 1-3). This occurred despite an experimental design that ensured that the word-for-word content was constant across the two mediums. Follow-up analyses revealed that the effect was due, at least in part, to the greater ambiguity of e-mail versus voice communication (Study 3). Although e-mail affords many benefits, the present research suggests that it may also have some unexpected costs.     

Is Religiosity in a Prospective Partner Always Desirable? The Moderating Roles of Shared Social Identity and Medium of Communication when Choosing Interaction Partners

The profession of religion gives rise to myriad inferences and connotations, yet surprisingly little research has examined how it may influence with whom we choose to work. Two experiments conducted at a UK university investigated how religiosity by prospective collaborators affected attitudes and behaviour towards them. Participants in experiment 1 (N = 96) and experiment 2 (N = 120) demonstrated that individuals have a greater preference for, and are more likely to choose, a partner who shares their religious tendencies, but only when they anticipate working face-to-face. When electronic communication was anticipated, this bias disappeared. The implications for these findings are then discussed, particularly with regard to how they may impact on real-life issues such as online recruitment.     

The role of self-guided training in the relationship between task conflict and innovation in virtual teams

This study was conducted to evaluate the moderating role of self-guided training in the relationship between task conflict and team innovation in synchronic computer-mediated communication (SCMC) teams. For this purpose, a laboratory study was carried out in which 26 teams were assigned to the training condition and 24 to the control condition. Results confirmed that SCMC teams develop a negative relationship between task conflict and innovation, but also revealed that self-guided training may slow these counterproductive effects down. Our study provides new evidence of the linear relationship between task conflict and team innovation in SCMC teams, extending previous research findings obtained in face-to-face teams to virtual context and suggest that self-guided training can be useful for virtual team innovation.     

Motherhood: a potential source of bias in employment decisions

Results of 2 experimental studies in which job incumbents were said to be applying for promotions to traditionally male positions demonstrated bias against mothers in competence expectations and in screening recommendations. This bias occurred regardless of whether the research participants were students (Study 1) or working people (Study 2). Although anticipated job commitment, achievement striving, and dependability were rated as generally lower for parents than for nonparents, anticipated competence was uniquely low for mothers. Mediational analyses indicated that, as predicted, negativity in competence expectations, not anticipated job commitment or achievement striving, promoted the motherhood bias in screening recommendations; expected deficits in agentic behaviors, not in dependability, were found to fuel these competence expectations. These findings suggest that motherhood can indeed hinder the career advancement of women and that it is the heightened association with gender stereotypes that occurs when women are mothers that is the source of motherhood's potentially adverse consequences.     

The Effect of Message Persistence and Disclosure on Liking in Computer-Mediated Communication

In computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems, the messages that a user types usually persist on the screen for some time, a feature that distinguishes CMC from face-to-face interaction. Persistence may activate psychological self-perception, leading communicators to infer from their persistent messaging how they feel about the subject more so than if messages did not persist. This study applies persistence and self-perception to the relationships between self-disclosure and liking. It identifies which among several disclosure or liking relationships may be most susceptible to self-perception effects. An experiment found that message persistence interacts with a conversational partner’s responses to self-disclosure and intensifies liking toward the partner. Suggestions follow for future research further exploring the mechanisms of persistence, and reconceptualizing self-perception factors in interactive media settings.