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. Download full text This ... Continue Reading
Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE)
SIDE-VIEW: A social identity account of computer-supported collaborative learning
Rogers, P., & Lea, M. (2011). SIDE-VIEW: A social identity account of computer-supported collaborative learning. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 5 (2), article 1.
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 from laboratory and field studies, key concepts such as cohesion, participation, accountability and group norms ... Continue Reading
Computer-mediated communication as a channel for social resistance: The strategic side of SIDE
Spears, R., Lea, M., Corneliussen, R. A., Postmes, T., & Ter Haar, W. (2002). Computer-mediated communication as a channel for social resistance: The strategic side of SIDE. Small Group Research 33, (5), 55-574. (Special Issue on European views of computer-mediated communication).
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 identities: a cogntive effect. The present research builds on the strategic component of the SIDE model ... Continue Reading
Panacea or panopticon? The hidden power in computer-mediated communication
Spears, R. & Lea, M. (1994). Panacea or panopticon? The hidden power in computer-mediated communication. Communication Research, 21, 427-459.
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 democratize decision-making, and thus empower and liberate the individual user. This ... Continue Reading
Social influence and the influence of the social in computer-mediated communication
Spears, R. & Lea, M. (1992). Social influence and the influence of the ‘social’ in computer-mediated communication. In M. Lea (Ed.) Contexts of Computer-Mediated Communication. (pp. 30–65). London: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
In this chapter we explore the social psychological dimensions of computer-mediated communication (CMC). We shall not be directly concerned here with the processes by which people choose CMC in preference to other communications media (see e.g., Fulk & Boyd, 1991, for a recent review), although it will become obvious that our argument has implications for media choice models. Rather we are interested here in the social psychological factors operating once "inside" CMC and particularly the ... Continue Reading
Power and gender in computer-mediated communication: A SIDE look
Spears, R., Lea, M., Postmes, T., & Wolbert, A. (2014) "A SIDE look at computer-mediated communication: Power and the gender divide". In Zachary Birchmeier, Beth Dietz-Uhler, and Garold Stasser (Eds.). Strategic uses of social technology: An interactive perspective of social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The new communications technologies are developing at such a fast pace that it is difficult for research and theorizing to keep up. Although exploring the range of applications and instantiations of the latest forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC), texting, and video-based phone systems provides many useful insights, research and theorizing that lags behind the technological developments will run the risk of being phenomenon- and even technology-driven, making it difficult to anticipate ... Continue Reading
A SIDE view of social influence
Spears, R., Postmes, T., Lea, M., & Watt, S. E. (2001). . In J. P. Forgas & K. D. Williams (Eds.). Social influence: Direct and indirect processes (pp. 331-350). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Researchers from the field of intergroup relations, and notably self-categorization theorists, have investigated how our group memberships impinge on the social influence process. Much progress has been made in showing how ingroup and outgroup information is processed differently and can have different impacts. Within this tradition, the way in which we categorize the source is more than an input, but may actually change the way we see the same message, and even whether we process it ... Continue Reading
Computer-mediated communication and social identity
Spears, R. Lea, M. & Postmes, T. (2007). CMC and social identity. In A. Joinson, K. McKenna, T. Postmes, & U Reips (Eds.) Oxford handbook of Internet psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (pp. 253-272).
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 is that this is difficult to avoid to some extent. When we started working in this area in the mid-80s there was very little research on the role of social identities in CMC, and what ... Continue Reading