Character-Based Team Identification and Referent Informational Influence in 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 power differentials associated with salient social identities: a cognitive effect. The present research builds on the strategic component of the SIDE model to show that CMC can also provide a channel of social support fostering resistance. In Study 1, students were more likely to express opinions normative for their group but punishable by the out-group (faculty) when CMC was available, independent of mutual anonymity. In Study 2, the authors directly manipulated the proposed mediator, social support within CMC, and showed increased willingness to express normative attitudes against out-group interests as a function of support. These studies reveal the importance of CMC as a medium for communicating and coordinating the social support central to collective action.

In this article, centrality is explored as a measure of computer‐mediated communication (CMC) in networked learning. Centrality measure is quite common in performing social network analysis (SNA) and in analysing social cohesion, strength of ties and influence in CMC, and computer‐supported collaborative learning research. It argues that measuring centrality using SNA is rather misleading, that in fact, it is a relational effect of many things, not just those tied by message threads in online forums. The network data described and analysed were obtained from the students training to be history teachers at the secondary level of schooling in a postgraduate certificate programme in an English university. Blackboard ® (a commercial virtual learning environment) was used in the course. Online postings in 14 separate forums were considered alongside the perceived relational ties of the teacher trainees in six different communication media (i.e. face‐to‐face, discussion board, mobile phone, email, land phone, and online chat). This article elucidates that centrality in networked learning is fluid – actors (i.e. participants in the online forums) and their relational ties cannot be treated as predictable and fixed and central actors cannot be solely inferred from the total number of online postings and their resulting centrality measure in online forums.

Sex role stereotyping is hard to kill: A field experiment measuring social responses to user characteristics and behavior in an online multiplayer first-person shooter game

Guided by the frameworks of the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) and the intergroup sensitivity effect, this experiment examined whether and how group identification manifested in user avatars, along with the supportiveness of others’ comments to a support-seeking post, may affect people’s support provision online. Participants were given the option to reply to a support-seeking post in an interactive forum. Participants’ responses were coded for verbal person-centeredness (VPC) and action-focused supportiveness. The SIDE model received some support. The results suggested that more participants replied to a support-seeking message posted by an in-group than by an out-group. Participants provided higher levels of action-focused supportiveness after viewing supportive comments from in-groups than from out-groups. They also provided messages with lower levels of VPC when exposed to unsupportive comments from in-groups than from out-groups. The intergroup sensitivity effect did not receive strong support. The implications of the study are discussed.

Trusting behaviour involves relinquishing control over outcomes valuable to the self. Previous research suggests that interpersonal perceptions of trustworthiness are closely related to this behaviour. The present research suggests that the more proximal determinant of trusting behaviour is the expectation that the other will reciprocate. Based on the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) model, reciprocity expectations may be created by interpersonal perceptions of trustworthiness or a shared group membership. To investigate this, group membership and individual identifiability were experimentally manipulated (N = 139): When individuals were not identifiable, trusting behaviour was based on expectations of reciprocity inferred from group membership, not on perceived trustworthiness. In contrast, personal identifiability fostered perceptions of trustworthiness for both in- and out-group members. In this case interpersonal trustworthiness enhanced expectations of reciprocity, which in turn increased trusting behaviour. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this chapter, we discuss how culture influences computer mediated communication (CMC). We use an Input-Process-Output (I-P-O) model as a theoretical framework to analyze relationships between culture and CMC. We describe three dimensions of cultural variability—individualism/collectivism, low vs. high context of communication, and task- vs. relationship-orientation—and describe how these dimensions influence people’s reliance on features of CMC. A review of the literature to date suggests that cultural factors do indeed shape how people use CMC. More specifically, auditory and visual cues appear to have more importance for members of collectivistic, high-context, relationship-oriented cultures than they do for members of individualistic, low-context, task-oriented cultures. However, further research is needed to clarify relationships between cultural dimensions and CMC, to understand the role of moderating variables such as gender of participants, task, and group composition, and to provide design guidelines for new tools to support intercultural communication and CMC in developing regions.

Past research has found that sport team identification is positively correlated with social psychological health (Phua, 2012; Wann & Weaver, 2009) including work testing adolescent fans (Wann, Brasher, Thomas, & Scheuchner, in press). The current study was designed to extend previous investigations by examining the relationship between team identification and the establishment and maintenance of social connections. Data from 177 high school students confirmed expectations as identification with a high school football team was positively correlated with both social well-being and social connections. However, social connections were not found to mediate the relationship between identification and well-being, contrary to the team identification – social psychological health model (Wann, 2006b).

This paper proposes a low-cost method for tactical visualization in basketball using video recorded from a single smartphone. While professional teams rely on multi-camera high-speed systems to capture precise player movements, such equipment is impractical for amateur clubs and school teams. To provide an accessible alternative, we develop a lightweight analysis pipeline consisting of player detection, team identification, and geometric transformation. Players are detected using YOLOv5, and their on-court positions are approximated by the center of the bottom edge of their bounding boxes. Team affiliation is determined by a custom bib detection model trained on five dataset variations, with the highest accuracy achieved when using images of players actually wearing bibs. Detected player coordinates are then projected onto a bird’s-eye view court using a perspective transformation implemented with OpenCV.Experimental results show that the system can generate top-down visualization videos from smartphone footage, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for low-cost basketball analysis.

Anonymity analysis of P2P anonymous communication systems

The emerging use of the Internet and Computer Mediated Communication in the buyer-seller interface is an important topic to marketing practitioners and academics. The aim of this manuscript is to propose an exploration of the increasingly complex choice set organizational buyers are faced with when communicating with vendors based on theoretical foundations from communication and management. Information richness theory and the social influence model are utilized to develop a propositional framework for future investigations into this phenomenon.

This article introduces the social relations model (SRM) to unpack medium effects on social psychological processes. Although such effects have been theorized at group, dyadic, and individual levels separately, some of them can be concurrently analyzed as medium moderation on SRM components. Drawing on existing theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC), we map SRM components onto social psychological processes susceptible to medium effects: (a) "group mean" and "consensus" onto group social integration, (b) "uniqueness" and "dyadic reciprocity" onto relationship development, and (c) "assimilation" and relations between ingroup and outgroup SRM components onto social identity processes. We also summarize the SRM analytics and scenarios of medium moderation, and illustrate the key analytical procedures for adopting the SRM for CMC research.

BackgroundEuropean trans-national adolescent smoking prevention interventions based on social influences approaches have had limited success. The attitudes-social influences-efficacy (ASE) model is a social cognition model that states smoking behaviour is determined by smoking intention which, in turn, is predicted by seven ASE determinants; disadvantages, advantages, social acceptance, social norms, modelling, perceived pressure, self-efficacy. Distal factors such as country of residence, age and gender are external to the model. The ASE model is, thus, closely related to the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This study assessed the utility of the ASE model using cross-sectional data from Spanish and UK adolescents.MethodsIn 1997, questionnaires were simultaneously administered to Spanish (n = 3716) and UK adolescents (n = 3715) who were considered at high risk of smoking. Participants' age, gender, smoking intentions and ASE determinant scores were identified and linear regression analysis was used to examine the mediated, moderated and direct effects of country of residence, age and gender on participants' smoking intentions.ResultsAll UK participants were aged 12 or 13 and most Spanish participants were aged between 12 and 14 (range 12–16 years). Amongst 12 and 13 year olds, regular smoking was more common in Spain. Almost half the participants were female (47.2% in Spain; 49.9% in the UK). Gender did not vary significantly according to age.The distribution of ASE determinant scores varied by country and predicted intention. The influence of each ASE determinant on intention was moderated by country. Country had a large direct influence on intention (1.72 points on a 7 point scale) but the effects of age and gender were mediated by the ASE determinants.The findings suggest resisting peer pressure interventions could potentially influence smoking amongst UK adolescents but not Spanish adolescents. Interventions that promote self-efficacy, on the other hand, would possibly have a greater influence on smoking amongst Spanish adolescents.ConclusionThe ASE model may not capture important cultural factors related to adolescent smoking and the relative contribution of particular ASE determinants to adolescent smoking intentions may differ between countries. Future European trans-national adolescent smoking prevention programmes may benefit from greater undestanding of country-level cultural norms.

To understand children’s aggressive behaviors, we need to study their thoughts and actions in situations that actually evoke aggressive behaviors. To this end, we first developed an interactive Virtual Reality classroom in which children engaged in emotionally engaging, realistic interactions with virtual peers and examined this as a new assessment ... read more for children’s social information processing. Second, we proposed a new theoretical social information processing model to better explain how children’s emotions and cognitions contribute to aggressive behaviors. This dissertation showed that children’s social information processing in interactive VR better predicted their aggressive behavior in real life than standard assessment methods. Moreover, we found that children differ in the unique social information processing patterns underlying their aggressive behavior, providing new opportunities to more effectively tailor cognitive-behavioral interventions to individual children. Last, we proposed a new theoretical social information processing model that discerns a reflective, calm processing mode leading up to deliberately selected aggressive behavior from a newly proposed automatic, emotional processing mode contributing to impulsive aggression. show less

Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects

This chapter presents an overview of a recent line of research on how digital self-representations (i.e., avatars) can improve users’ creativity in virtual settings. We will first review research on the Proteus effect and the influence of personal identity cues provided through avatars. Then, we will present results that show the influence of avatars’ appearance on creative performance. These findings will also be discussed in terms of social representations that can guide – in a given population – what a creative avatar should look like. Beyond personal identity, we will also focus on the influence of avatars to embody a shared identity among the members of a virtual team. Thus, in the line of the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects, we will emphasize the importance of social identity and psychosocial processes to foster group cohesiveness, social identification and creative performance in collaborative virtual settings.