Attitude Change in Computer-Mediated Communication: Effects of Anonymity and Category Norms

The current research compared the effect of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and direct communication on attitude change. The social identity model of deindividuadon effects (Spears & Lea, 1994) predicts that CMC results in behavior that is more in line with the salient level of self-categorization (compared to non-anonymous communication): in CMC salient social identity should lead to conformity to group norms whereas salient personal identity was expected to result in behavior that fits individual goals. Two experiments showed that when personal identity was salient and when social identity was salient and a category norm was explicitly given, CMC led to the predicted effects, whereas the lack of a social category norm led to lower attitude change in CMC compared to direct communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accession Number: 11398724; Sassenberg, Kai 1; Email Address: kai.sassenberg@uni-jena.de; Boos, Margarete 2; Affiliations: 1: Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena; 2: Georg-August University of Göttingen; Issue Info: Oct2003, Vol. 6 Issue 4, p405; Thesaurus Term: Interpersonal communication; Subject Term: Telematics; Subject Term: Attitude change (Psychology); Subject Term: Group identity; Subject Term: Attitude (Psychology); Subject Term: Change (Psychology); Author-Supplied Keyword: anonymity; Author-Supplied Keyword: computer-mediated communication; Author-Supplied Keyword: group norms; Author-Supplied Keyword: social influence; Number of Pages: 18p; Document Type: Article