Visibility and anonymity effects on attraction and group cohesiveness

This study investigated attraction and group cohesiveness under different visibility and anonymity conditions for social categories that differed in their capacity to be visually cued. Using computer-mediated communication in 36 mixed gender (visually cued category) and nationality (non-visually cued category) groups, we manipulated social category salience (via discussion topic), and anonymity vs. visibility (via live … Read more

SIDE-VIEW: A social identity account of computer-supported collaborative learning

Much is written about the benefits of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) but many accounts report problematic interactions and less than desirable outcomes for attempts at CSCL. A theoretical approach is presented that is grounded in a social identity perspective of groups and seeks to promote and support successful collaborations. Using this approach, along with examples … Read more

Social presence in distributed group environments: The role of social identity

This paper argues that to achieve social presence in a distributed environment, it is not necessary to emulate face-to-face conditions of increased cues to the interpersonal. Rather, it is argued, that a sense of belongingness to the group, or perceptual immersion in the group, can be realised through the creation of a shared social identity … Read more

Computer-mediated communication as a channel for social resistance: The strategic side of SIDE

In two studies, the authors tested predictions derived from the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) concerning the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to serve as a means to resist powerful out-groups. Earlier research using the SIDE model indicates that the anonymity of virtual groups can accentuate the lower differentials associated with salient social … Read more

Social identity, group norms, and deindividuation: Lessons from computer-mediated communication for social influence in the group

This chapter reviews a program of research that has developed around the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE; Lea & Spears, 1991; Postmes & Spears, 1998; Postmes, Spears, & Lea, 1998; Reicher, Spears, & Postmes, 1995; Spears & Lea, 1992; 1994). In particular, we review intra-group processes in private and public settings in order to advance our understanding of normative influence in groups.

When are net effects gross products? The power of influence and the influence of power in computer-mediated communication

The rush to judgment about the social effects of the new communications media has branded them as positive and negative in equal measure. Alienation from “real world’ relationships coupled with a lack of social regulation within the medium is balanced by liberation from the influences, inequalities, and identities to which people are subjected in face-to-face … Read more

Intergroup differentiation in computer-mediated communication: Effects of depersonalization

Two studies examined intergroup discussions via computer-mediated communication systems. It was hypothesized that depersonalization, in comparison with individuated interaction, would increase the tendency for intergroup differentiation in attitudes and stereotypes. In Study 1, 24 groups communicated internationally over the Internet in a longitudinal design. Interacting groups, based in 2 different countries, were individuated versus partially … Read more

SIDE-VIEW: Evaluation of a prototype system to develop team players and improve productivity in Internet collaborative learning groups

This paper briefly summarizes the initial development of a computer-supported collaborative learning environment and evaluates its effects in relation to the productivity of CSCL groups. The design of the SIDE-VIEW system is driven by the social identity approach to understanding group behaviour and is premised upon the need to establish congruity between the self-definition of … Read more

Knowing me, knowing you: Anonymity effects on social identity processes within groups

The Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) proposes that depersonalization of self and others is responsible for the effects of visual anonymity on group behavior. The authors investigated these mediating processes by assessing the effects of group-based self-categorization and stereotyping of others on group attraction within visually anonymous or video-identifiable groups communicating via computer. … Read more

The formation of group norms in computer-mediated communication

The formation of group norms in computer-mediated communication (CMC) was examined among students who used email as part of a course. A network analysis of group structures revealed that (a) content and form of communication is normative, group norms defining communication patterns within groups, (b) conformity to group norms increases over time, (c) communication outside … Read more

SIDE-VIEW: An interactive web environment to support group collaborative learning

The aims and objectives of this project are: (1) To provide a specification for the design of an interactive web environment to support group collaboration among geographically dispersed higher education students, based on recent social psychological theorizing about computer-mediated group interaction and ethnographic study of the problem domain of peer-learning and collaboration. (2) To iteratively … Read more

Breaching or building social barriers? SIDE effects of computer-mediated communication

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is sometimes heralded for its power to break down social boundaries and to liberate individuals from social influence, group pressure, and status and power differentials that characterize much face-to-face interaction. This paper reviews research conducted within the framework of the social identity model of deindividuation effects demonstrating that this is not always … Read more

Panacea or panopticon? The hidden power in computer-mediated communication

This article examines how interaction by means of computer-mediated communication (CMC) affects the operation of both status differentials and power relations, and attempts to identify the social psychological processes mediating the social and behavioral effects of these factors. The dominant assessment, particularly within social psychological analyses, is that CMC tends to equalize status, decentralize and … Read more

Paralanguage and social perception in computer-mediated communication

It is widely held that computer-mediated communication (CMC) filters out many of the social and affective cues associated with human interaction with consequent effects on communication outcomes and the medium’s suitability for interpersonal tasks. The relationship between paralanguage and social perception in CMC in different social contexts in investigated in two experiments. In Study 1 … Read more

Computer-mediated communication, deindividuation, and group decision-making

This paper discusses social psychological processes in computer-mediated communication and group decision-making in relation to findings that groups communicating via computer produce more polarized decisions than face-to-face groups. A wide range of possible explanations for such differences have been advanced, in which a lack of social cues, disinhibition, ‘deindividuation’ and a consequent tendency to antinormative … Read more

Rationalist assumptions in cross-media comparisons of computer-mediated communication

Users’ comparisons between computer-mediated communication (CMC) and other forms of communication are of theoretical interest and have important implications for system design and implementation. This paper outlines the prevalent systems rationalist perspective on CMC, which sees the medium primarily as an efficient channel for information transfer in specific organizational tasks, and critically reviews the evidence … Read more

Deindividuation and group polarization in computer-mediated communication

A computer-mediated communication system (CMCS) was used to explore the effects of de-individuation on group polarization. Reicher (1984) argued that de-individuating members of a group should increase the salience of group identity and hence normative behaviour, while de-individuating subjects treated as individuals should have the reverse effect. We extended this idea to the group-polarization paradigm … Read more

Investigating personal constructs of emotions

Forty-two first-year psychology students took part in an exploratory study of conceptions of emotions using Kelly’s (1955) Repertory Grid technique. Each participant generated eight different personal constructs for comparing and contrasting eight different emotional states then rated these emotions on the basis of their own constructs. Analysis of the group data revealed five significant principal … Read more

Computer-mediated communication and social identity

The reader is asked to tolerate a degree of egocentrism if this chapter appears to be written from an “ingroup” point of view, particularly with an emphasis on our own theoretical slant, and to some extent research. This is after all meant to be a general overview chapter on social identity and CMC. Our excuse … Read more