L9 - Self-disclosure In Virtual Relationships

Question 1

What is the prominent difference between face to face and virtual relationships?

Answer 1

• Self disclosure occurs faster in virtual

Question 2

Why does Self disclosure occur faster in virtual relationships?

Answer 2

• Anonymity: people hold off disclosing personal info in real life because they are scared of rejection/ridicule/leaks unless they really trust the person.
• There is much less risk of all that in virtual relationships.

Question 3

What is the hyper personal model?

Answer 3

• Self disclosure in virtual relationships happen faster than face to face ones
• They quickly become more intense and feel more intimate and meaningful
• They also end more quickly as it’s hard to sustain the level of self disclosure

Question 4

Why do virtual relationships feel more intimate? What is selective self-presentation

Answer 4

• Easier to manipulate self disclosure online
• It is when participants have more time to edit their response to present themselves in a better light.
• Projecting a positive image makes the partner want to disclose more info, increasing the intensity of the relationship.

Question 5

Evaluation of the hyper personal model (+/-)

Answer 5

(+) Research conducted demonstrating the effect of being online in self-disclosure. In online discussion forums, questions and answers are more direct, probing and intimate.
(-) Research found that relationships that begin online are more durable, rather than ending more quickly. This is because of more open self-disclosure early in the relationship.
(-) Self disclosure varies depending on context. People disclose more on gaming sites than on dating sites because the latter leads to face to face encounters

Question 6

What is the Reduced Cue Theory?

Answer 6

• Self disclosure in virtual relationships might be less open and honest than face to face ones.
• We rely on subtle cues which are absent in virtual relationships e.g tone of voice.
• Reduction in non-verbal communication leads to deindividualisation as it diminishes individual identity and brings behaviours that people usually restrain themselves from displaying.
• online communications can seem more aggressive and people might self disclose less as they fear verbal aggression

Question 7

Evaluation of Reduced Cue Theory

Answer 7

(-) Developed when social media lacked face to face tech. Much less interaction, but now tech has advanced.
(-) Non-verbal communication is not absent, cues are just different e.g emoticons and timing of responses