Paper 3 - Relationships - Virtual Relationships

Question 1

What was the name of Sproull and Kieslers theory?

Answer 1

Reduced cues theory

Question 2

When was reduced cues theory invented?

Answer 2

1986

Question 3

What does CMC stand for?

Answer 3

Computer mediated communication

Question 4

What does ftf stand for?

Answer 4

Face to face

Question 5

Who created Reduced cues theory?

Answer 5

Sproull and Kiesler (1986)

Question 6

What was the starting point of reduced cues theory?

Answer 6

Sproull and Kiesler did an experiment. They found that CMC relationships are less effective than ftf because they lack many of the cues that we depend on.

Question 7

What does Reduced Cue Theory suggest?

Answer 7

The theory suggests that this leads to de-individualisation because it reduced people’s sense of individual identity, which encourages disinhibition to others

Question 8

What are disinhibitions?

Answer 8

Disinhibitions: a lack of restraint manifested in disregard for social conventions, impulsivity and poor risk assessment

Question 9

What is deindividuation

Answer 9

Deindividuation: is a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the loss of self-awareness in groups

Question 10

Which model looks at the positives of CMC?

Answer 10

The hyperpersonal model

Question 11

Describe the hyperpersonal model

Answer 11

argues that online relationships can be more personal and involve greater disclosure than FtF ones. This is because CMC relationships can develop quickly as disclosure happens earlier, and once established they are more intense and intimate.

People have more time to perfect their messages/images of themselves as a result it is much easier to manipulate self disclosure in a CMC relationship which may lead to more intimacy by self presenting in a positive and idealised way

It also promotes anonymity which could lead to higher levels of disclosure

Question 12

What are the 3 main phrases referred to in the hyperpersonal model?

Answer 12

Boom and bust
Self presenting
Strangers on the train effect

Question 13

In reference to the hyperpersonal model explain the boom and bust concept

Answer 13

In addition, it also means that relationships can end more quickly because of the high excitement level of interactions is not matched by the level of trust between the relationship partners.

Question 14

In reference to the hyperpersonal model explain strangers on the train effect?

Answer 14

Bargh (2002) pointed out that when you are aware that other people do not know your identity, you feel less accountable for your actions and behaviour. So you may well disclose more about yourself to a stranger than to even your most intimate partner

Question 15

What are the results from the hyperpersonal model?

Answer 15

Self awareness might effect CMC
• Joinson’s study: high or low public and private awareness
High private self-awareness and low public self-awareness resulted in significantly higher levels of self-disclosure
Anonymity and focusing on your thoughts and feelings to express them in writing.

Question 16

What is public self awareness?

Answer 16

Public self awareness: this is being aware of how you appear to others

Question 17

What is private self awareness?

Answer 17

Private self awareness: this is looking inwards, being aware

Question 18

When was Joinson’s study?

Answer 18

2001

Question 19

What are the method of Joinson’s study?

Answer 19

Undergraduate students were recruited to participate in a laboratory study.
Participants were paired (mostly in single sex pairs) and asked to discuss an abstract dilemma which stimulated conversation. Transcripts of the participants’ discussions were rated on their levels of self-disclosure.
Raters were not told which transcripts came from which condition. Only unprompted disclosures were included (not answers to direct questions) and task-related disclosures (opinion relevant to the task) were not counted.

Experiment 1: half of the pairs discussed the dilemma face to face and half discussed it from separate rooms using a computer chat programme.
Experiment 2: all of the pairs used the chat programme, but half of them also had a video connection, so they could see each other.

Question 20

What are the results of Joinson’s study?

Answer 20

In experiment 1, participants in the computer condition showed significantly more self-disclosure than the face-to-face participants.

In experiment 2, pairs who could see one another over video had significantly lower levels of self-disclosure than pairs without video.

Question 21

What were the conclusions of Joinson’s experiment?

Answer 21

People disclose more about themselves when communicating via computer than they do face to face, and using video reduces the level of self-disclosure in computer communication.

Question 22

What are the positive evaluations of Joinson’s study?

Answer 22

It was a lab experiment …

Question 23

What are the negative evaluations of Joinson’s study?

Answer 23

paired in same sex pairs, so the results cannot be generalised to communication between people who are not the same sex.

In the first experiment, although the raters were not told which transcripts came from which condition, it is likely they could tell which conversations were held face to face and which happens through computer chat. Rating therefore may be bias.

Question 24

What are gates?

Answer 24

individuals rely easily discernible physical features such as physical attraction or age to help them decide who would be a suitable partner.

Question 25

What are the problem with gates?

Answer 25

These features are known as gates and they often prevent those who are less attractive or socially skilled from forming relationships

Question 26

Explain negative evaluation: lack of research for reduced cues theory?

Answer 26

• The theory is wrong to suggest that nonverbal cues are entirely missing from CMC. They are different rather than absent.
• Walther and Tidwell (1995) point out that people in online interaction use other cues such as the style and the timing of their message.
• For example – taking the time to reply to an online message is interpreted as more of an intimate act rather than an immediate response. But not too much time, otherwise that might be seen as a snub.
• There are subtle differences which can be used in CMC that are similar to FtF relationships. Acrostics such as LOL, emoticons and emojis, are used as effective substitutes for facial expressions and tone of voice.
Relationships

Question 27

Explain the positive evaluation of the hyperpersonal model

Answer 27

Research support for the hyperpersonal model
• The hyperpersonal model predicts that people are motivated to self-disclose in CMC in ways that are sometimes ‘hyperhonest’ and sometimes ‘hyperdishonest’.
• Whitty and Joinson (2009) have evidence for this.
- When researching a number of online discussions they found that the questions tended to be very direct, probing and sometimes intimate. These kinds of questions would never been asked in an FtF meeting as it would be seen as ‘going too far’.
- FtF discussion tends to be ‘small talk’. It was also found that people had no issue in answering the personal questions online and were direct and to the point

Question 28

Explain the positive evaluation for virtual relationships?

Answer 28

Support for absence of gating
• McKenna and Bargh (2000) looked at CMC use by lonely and socially anxious people. They found that these people were able to express their ‘true selves’ more than in FtF situations.
• Of the romantic relationships that initially formed online, 70% survived more than 2 years. This is a higher proportion than for relationships formed in the offline world.

Question 29

What are the 2 general evaluations for Virtual relationships

Are they negative or positive?

Answer 29

Relationships are multimodal
Different types of CMC

Both are negative evluations

Question 30

Explain the general evaluation for Virtual Relationships: relationships are multimodal

Answer 30

• Walther (2011) argues that any theory seeking to explain CMC, including the role of self-disclosure, needs to accommodate the fact that our relationships are generally conducted online and offline through many different types of media.
• It is very rarely a straightforward matter of ‘either/or’. This is in fact probably the central characteristic of many modern relationships.
• What we choose to disclose in our online relationships will inevitably be influenced by our offline interactions and vice versa.

Question 31

Explain the negative evaluation of Virtual Relationships: Different types of CMC?

Answer 31

• Extent and depth of self-disclosure depends on type of CMC being used
• SNSs (social networking services)- people interacting with each other generally have relationships in the offline world.
• People disclose more on Facebook than they are willing to complete an online e-commerce webform (Paine et al. 2006)
• Internet dating: self-disclosure is reduced because communicators anticipate meeting Ftf
• Research that approaches CMC as a single concept Neglects its richness and variety = lacks validity.

Question 32

What and why did McKenna and Bargh (2000) argue was a huge advantage of CMC?

Explain further than the previous evaluation

Answer 32

The absence of Gating

• This means that a relationship can develop to the point where self- disclosure becomes more frequent and deeper.
This works by refocusing attention on self-disclosure and away from what might be considered superficial and distracting features.

It also means that people are free to create online identities that they could never manage FtF. This is referred to as the existence in second life.