Virtual Relationships Flashcards
HOW IMPORTANT IS ‘PARALANGUAGE’?
When we speak face to face with someone, it is not just our words which communicate our meaning.
Non-verbal paralanguage may be more important than the words themselves for example body posture, eye gaze may express liking even if the verbal communication does not.
On the phone, there are still paralanguage signals such as pauses and tone of voice which can communicate intention.
However, all non-verbal communication is lost on the internet; meaning is dependent only upon words and nothing else.
SELF-DISCLOSURE IN VIRTUAL RELATIONSHIPS
Psychologists have long known that self-disclosure is an important feature of Face to Face (FtF) relationships in the offline world.
In recent years psychologists have turned their attention to its role in relationships rooted in social media.
How does self-disclosure feature in Computed Mediated Communication (CMC) relationships?
There are two major and contrasting theories;
Reduced Cues Theory
The Hyperpersonal Model
REDUCED CUES THEORY
CMC (Computed Mediated Communication) relationships are less effective than FtF ones because they lack many of the cues we normally depend on in FtF interactions.
These include non-verbal cues such as our physical appearance. CMC particularly lack cues to our emotional state, such as our facial expressions and tone of voice.
Without some of these cues this can lead to deindividuation because it reduces people’s sense of individual identity, which in turn then encourages disinhibition in relating to others.
REDUCED CUES THEORY (2):
Virtual relationships are therefore more likely to involve blunt and even
aggressive communication.
The upshot of this is a reluctance to disclose and reveal any meaning
information about yourself.
You are unlikely to want to initiate a relationship with someone who is so
impersonal, or revel your innermost feelings to them.
THE HYPERPERSONAL MODEL
Online relationships can be more personal and involve greater disclosure that FtF ones.
This is because on CMC relationships can develop quickly as disclosure happens earlier, and once established they are more intense and intimate.
In addition to this it also means that they can end more quickly because of the high excitement level of interactions is not matched by the level of trust between the relationship partners.
THE HYPERPERSONAL MODEL (2):
Cooper and Sportolari (1997) called this the boom and bust phenomenon.
According to the hyperpersonal model, a key feature of self-disclosure in virtual relationships is that the sender of a message has more time to manipulate their online image than they would in an FtF situation.
Walther calls this selective self-presentation.
People online have more control over what they disclose and what cues to send. This means it’s much easier to manipulate self-disclosure to promote intimacy in CMC relationships, by self-presenting in a positive and idealised way.
THE HYPERPERSONAL MODEL (3):
Another aspect of CMC that promotes self-disclosure and makes relationships hyperpersonal is anonymity.
Bargh (2002) points out that of this is rather like the strangers on the train effect in FtF relationships.
When you’re 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.
ABSENCE OF GATING IN VIRTUAL
RELATIONSHIPS
A Gate in this context, is any obstacle to the formation of a relationship.
FtF interaction is said to be gated because it involves many features that can interfere with the early development of a relationship.
Examples of these gates can include physical unattractiveness, a stammer,
social anxiety.
ABSENCE OF GATING IN VIRTUAL
RELATIONSHIPS (2):
McKenna and Bargh (1999)
The huge advantage of CMC is the absence of gating.
This means that the relationship can develop to a point where self-disclosure
becomes more frequent and deeper.
This absence of gating allows an online relationship to ‘get off the ground’ in a way
that is less likely to happen in an FtF situation.
Absence of gating works by refocussing attention on self-disclosure and away from
one might be considered superficial and distracting features.
In others words, online I am more interested in what you tell me rather than what you look and sound like.
ABSENCE OF GATING IN VIRTUAL
RELATIONSHIPS (3):
A concern though, absence of gating also means that people are free to create
online identities that they could never manage FtF.
A man can become a woman, an introvert can become an extrovert.
Perhaps the ultimate expression of this ungated existence is Second Life, where
anyone can create any kind of avatar to represent themselves in a virtual reality.
Evaluation
Postives:
Research support
Strangers on a train
People with internet access at home more likely to be in a relationship (72% vs 36%)
Negatives:
Reductionist
Relationships are multimodal – relationships exist both fTf and CMC and have implications in both
Evaluation (2):
Low Temporal Validity
Nomothetic – does not account for personality differences
Non-verbal communication can be found online
