Computer-mediated communication of emotions: a lens model approach

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is one of the most widely utilized communication techniques in the business world. Although widely used, little is known about the effectiveness of communicating affective information, emotion in particular, through CMC. Most CMC research has investigated communication of cognitive information, however, only a few studies partially incorporate affects in their analyses. As a result, a primary objective of this dissertation is to investigate the following research questions: (1) Can CMC transfer affective information? (2) To what extent does CIVIC transfer affective information? Integrating relevant literature from psychology as well as communication research, this dissertation proposed a conceptual model based on a modified version of Brunswik's lens model. The research model and hypotheses were developed to guide the empirical tests of the cue utilization, i.e, detecting a message sender's emotional intentions from email messages. A total of 225 student subjects participated in a 2 x 3 x 3 (with control groups) laboratory experiment. The results indicated that affective information could be transferred through CMC. In particular, message receivers were able to detect the sender's emotion by (1) associating the message content with positive or negative emotions, (2) using emotion cues such as emotion words, linguistic markers, and paralinguistic cues, and (3) combining these two techniques. The results further indicated that message receivers indicated a higher degree of senders' emotions when the number of emotion cues in the message increased. The results from this study provide some useful information for practitioners as well as for researchers. For practitioners, this study suggests that communicating emotions through electronic mediums requires careful selections of emotion cues that will be included in the message. For researchers, this study presents a research model that may be used as a foundation for future research in this area. Directions for future research include further examinations of variables that may affects the CMC of emotions. The current study could also be extended to investigate the CMC of emotions across different types of subjects, communication technology, and time frame.

[1]  R. Gifford,et al.  Nonverbal cues in the employment interview: Links between applicant qualities and interviewer judgments. , 1985 .

[2]  S. R. Hiltz,et al.  Experiments in group decision making: Communication process and outcome in face-to-face versus computerized conferences. , 1986 .

[3]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[4]  Eileen M. Trauth,et al.  Understanding Computer-Mediated Discussions: Positivist and Interpretive Analyses of Group Support System Use , 2000, MIS Q..

[5]  Kimberly K. Moreno,et al.  The impact of affective information on the professional judgments of more experienced and less experienced auditors , 2002 .

[6]  M. Markus.  Electronic Mail as the Medium of Managerial Choice , 1994 .

[7]  P. Slovic,et al.  The affect heuristic , 2007, European Journal of Operational Research.

[8]  David W. Park,et al.  Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction , 1994 .

[9]  Susan C. Herring,et al.  Computer-mediated communication on the internet , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[10]  W. Epstein,et al.  The current status of the size-distance hypotheses. , 1961, Psychological bulletin.

[11]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Cross-cultural consensus in personality judgments. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 1997 .

[13]  Milton Moskowitz,et al.  100 best companies to work for. , 2003, Fortune.

[14]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Message Equivocality, Media Selection, and Manager Performance: Implications for Information Systems , 1987, MIS Q..

[15]  Rosalind W. Picard,et al.  Affective intelligence — the missing link? , 1997 .

[16]  P. Juslin.  Emotional Communication in Music Performance: A Functionalist Perspective and Some Data , 1997 .

[17]  R. Lennox,et al.  Revision of the self-monitoring scale. , 1984, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  E. Brunswik.  Perception and the Representative Design of Psychological Experiments , 1957 .

[19]  Deidra J. Schleicher,et al.  Self-monitoring personality at work: a meta-analytic investigation of construct validity. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[20]  Susan B. Shimanoff.  Types of emotional disclosures and request compliance between spouses , 1987 .

[21]  Yuliang Liu,et al.  How Do Frequency and Duration of Messaging Affect Impression Development in Computer-Mediated Communication? , 2001, J. Univers. Comput. Sci..

[22]  V. R. Carlson,et al.  Size-constancy judgments and perceptual compromise. , 1962, Journal of experimental psychology.

[23]  Youngjin Yoo,et al.  Dynamic nature of trust in virtual teams , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[24]  R. Daft,et al.  Media Symbolism, Media Richness, and Media Choice in Organizations , 1987 .

[25]  Carlson Vr,et al.  Size-constancy judgments and perceptual compromise. , 1962 .

[26]  John R. Carlson,et al.  Channel Expansion Theory and the Experiential Nature of Media Richness Perceptions , 1999 .

[27]  P. Shaver,et al.  Emotion knowledge: further exploration of a prototype approach. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[28]  Andrew Ortony,et al.  The Referential Structure of the Affective Lexicon , 1987, Cogn. Sci..

[29]  J. Burgoon,et al.  Nonverbal cues and interpersonal judgments: Participant and observer perceptions of intimacy, dominance, composure, and formality , 1999 .

[30]  C. Cramton.  The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration , 2001 .

[31]  J. Stainer,et al.  The Emotions , 1922, Nature.

[32]  Robert Gifford,et al.  A lens-mapping framework for understanding the encoding and decoding of interpersonal dispositions in nonverbal behavior. , 1994 .

[33]  Susan B. Shimanoff.  Expressing Emotions in Words: Verbal Patterns of Interaction , 1985 .

[34]  James C. McCroskey,et al.  Validity of the PRCA as an index of oral communication apprehension , 1978 .

[35]  Laku Chidambaram,et al.  Relational Development in Computer-Supported Groups , 1996, MIS Q..

[36]  S. Planalp,et al.  Varieties of Cues to Emotion in Naturally Occurring Situations , 1996 .

[37]  William W. Cohen,et al.  Size judgment at different distances as a function of age level. , 1958, Child development.

[38]  H. Weiss,et al.  Affective Events Theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. , 1996 .

[39]  Dov Te'eni,et al.  Review: A Cognitive-Affective Model of Organizational Communication for Designing IT , 2001, MIS Q..

[40]  Ojelanki K. Ngwenyama,et al.  Communication Richness in Electronic Mail: Critical Social Theory and the Contextuality of Meaning , 1997, MIS Q..

[41]  T. R. Stewart,et al.  The essential brunswik: Beginnings, explications, applications. , 2001 .

[42]  Klaus R. Scherer,et al.  Vocal communication of emotion: A review of research paradigms , 2003, Speech Commun..

[43]  Phillip G. Clampitt,et al.  A strategy for communicating about uncertainty , 2000 .

[44]  J. G. Holmes,et al.  Trust in close relationships. , 1985 .

[45]  Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa,et al.  Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams , 1999, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[46]  Blockin,et al.  Vocal Expression of Emotion , 2004 .

[47]  J. Walther.  Relational Aspects of Computer-Mediated Communication: Experimental Observations over Time , 1995 .

[48]  G. Clore,et al.  Affective causes and consequences of social information processing. , 1994 .

[49]  Tom R. Tyler,et al.  Comparing psychological images of the social perceiver: Role of perceived informativeness, memorability, and affect in mediating the impact of crime victimization. , 1984 .

[50]  Jane Webster,et al.  Desktop Videoconferencing: Experiences of Complete Users, Wary Users, and Non-Users , 1998, MIS Q..

[51]  Lester M. Hyman,et al.  Which are the stimuli in facial displays of anger and happiness? Configurational bases of emotion recognition. , 1992 .

[52]  P. Juslin,et al.  Cue Utilization in Communication of Emotion in Music Performance: Relating Performance to Perception Studies of Music Performance , 2022 .

[53]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[54]  M. Snyder.  Public Appearances, Private Realities: The Psychology of Self-Monitoring , 1986 .

[55]  Laku Chidambaram,et al.  How Much Bandwidth Is Enough? A Longitudinal Examination of Media Characteristics and Group Outcomes , 1999, MIS Q..

[56]  M. Snyder.  Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. , 1974 .

[57]  M. Duke.  Theories of Personality and Theories of Art: A Budding Consilience , 2002 .

[58]  Robert W. Zmud,et al.  Inducing Sensitivity to Deception in Order to Improve Decision Making Performance: A Field Study , 2002, MIS Q..

[59]  Linda L. Putnam,et al.  Handbook of Organizational Communication: An Interdisciplinary Perspective , 1987 .

[60]  John Carey,et al.  Paralanguage in Computer Mediated Communication , 1980, ACL.

[61]  Sang Joon Kim,et al.  A Mathematical Theory of Communication , 2006 .

[62]  Laura K. Guerrero,et al.  Communication and emotion: Basic concepts and approaches , 1996 .

[63]  S. Utz.  Social information processing in MUDs: The development of friendships in virtual worlds. , 2000 .

[64]  Deborah Compeau,et al.  Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test , 1995, MIS Q..

[65]  J. Rotter.  A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. , 1967, Journal of personality.

[66]  P. Knowles,et al.  The ecological perspective applied to social perception: Revision of a working paper , 1982 .

[67]  W. Labov,et al.  Narrative analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. , 1997 .

[68]  D. Straub,et al.  Knowledge Worker Communications and Recipient Availability: Toward a Task Closure Explanation of Media Choice , 1998 .

[69]  S. Planalp,et al.  Communicating Emotion: Social, Moral, and Cultural Processes , 1999 .

[70]  J. McGrath,et al.  Group Task Performance and Communication Technology , 1993 .

[71]  Mark J. Martinko,et al.  Impression Management in Organizations , 1988 .

[72]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment , 2002 .

[73]  R. Daft,et al.  Information Richness. A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design , 1983 .

[74]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[75]  The Philosophy of Cognition and Emotion , 2005 .

[76]  Frank J. Bernieri,et al.  Dyad rapport and the accuracy of its judgment across situations: A lens model analysis. , 1996 .

[77]  S. Planalp.  Communicating emotion in everyday life: Cues, channels, and processes , 1996 .

[78]  K. Zellars,et al.  Abusive supervision and subordinates' organizational citizenship behavior. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[79]  J. Walther,et al.  Relational communication in computer-mediated interaction , 1990 .

[80]  K. M. Kacmar,et al.  The effects of impression management on the performance appraisal process , 1991 .

[81]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication , 1986 .

[82]  Janet R. Meyer.  Cognitive Models of Message Production: Unanswered Questions , 2000 .

[83]  Sara Kiesler,et al.  Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication , 1984 .