The role of emotion in computer-mediated communication: A review (original) (raw)

An Investigation of the Computer-mediated Communication of Emotions

J. of Applied Sciences Research, 2007

Corresponding Author: Ranida B. Harris, School of Business, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line, Road, New Albany, IN 47150. Tel: (812) 941-2324 Fax: (812) 941-2672 Email: rbharris@ius.edu 2081 ... An Investigation of the Computer-mediated Communication of ...

Communicating Emotions through the Internet

Toward Effectively Applying Technology

The role of the Internet in communicating cannot be over-emphasized. Many types of communication including emotional communication take place on the Internet. This chapter attempts to demonstrate how emotions can be communicated through the Internet. It examines the concepts of the Internet, emotions, and communication, and describes the tools for communicating emotions through the Internet. It also discusses the factors associated with emotional communication and some of its criticisms. The chapter concludes that the Internet is an effective medium of communicating emotions.

A Comparison of the Task-Oriented Model and the Social-Emotion-Oriented Model in Computer-Mediated Communication

Compared with other media, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is a relatively new mode of communication that has emerged in the past two decades. In the past decade, there has been a growing body of research on CMC. There are two dominant models of CMC: the task-oriented and the social-emotion-oriented. This review discusses, compares, and contrasts several major aspects of these two models. Results indicate that both models share similarities in three areas: research methods, participants' characteristics, and task characteristics. However, the models have differences in three other areas: theoretical foundations, technology and experimental duration in research methodology, and major findings. Suggestions for future CMC research are proposed in order to more clearly identify the nature of CMC environments. (Contains 93 references.) (Author/MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Models of CMC I Running head: MODELS OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC)

Emotion Expression on Social Networking Sites

2015

The healthy dosage of emotion expression through the proper channel is important for well-being. With the growing use of social networking sites (SNS), many may choose to express emotions online. The present study explores the pattern of emotion expression on SNS among young persons in the United Kingdom. One hundred participants aged between 18-28 were invited to a survey study, investigating the influence of personality, offline emotion expression, and interpersonal relationship on one’s emotion expression on Facebook and Tweeter. Results revealed that most participants chose to interact with friends or family members in real world to disclose their emotions but not to use SNS, especially when negative emotions were concerned. Participants also reported little benefit to express negative emotions on SNS in comparison to speaking to friends or family members. Moreover, people also posted significantly more positive than negative information on SNS. Among all psychological variables...

Internet and Emotions: New Trends in an Emerging Field of Research

Emotions have become increasingly important in our time, in all realms of social reality. This revaluation of the affective dimension of the person is revealed in its common presence as subject of research in many fields of knowledge. Also in Media and Communications studies, and specifically in relation to the use of digital technology, there is an academic interest in emotions. This paper maps the field of study where emotions and digital technology converge, specifically in the use of the Internet. There appears a vibrant, wide and complex field of study in which come together approaches of different types, both on the theoretical plane and on the methodological one. The article provides an overview of research carried out in this subject, which includes the study of social media as spaces of interaction where emotions are displayed, the massive-scale emotional contagion or the sentiment analysis in the digital platforms, among other topics. We conclude that the Net not only arouses emotions in users and serves as a channel for the expression of affection, but also influences the way in which this affection is modulated and displayed, as well as the configuration of the personal identity of the users of the Internet.

Online versus face-to-face conversation: An examination of relational and discourse variables

Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2003

Sixty-four undergraduate students who did not previously know each other were placed in 32 pairs and randomly assigned to a conversation with a partner in either a face-to-face setting or an Internet chat program. Emotional understanding, self-disclosure, closeness, and depth of processing were measured. The findings indicate that the face-to-face group felt more satisfied with the experience and experienced a higher degree of closeness and self-disclosure with their partner. There were no significant differences between groups in regard to the level of emotional understanding of their partner, although the face-to-face group reported higher levels of positive and negative affect. No significant differences were found in depth of processing during the follow-up phone call. The implications for online counseling are discussed. Online counseling over the Internet as a viable means of therapy is beginning to be acknowledged by psychological organizations and professional therapists. A recent panel of 67 psychotherapy experts predicted that Internet therapy services would be the second fastest increasing service area in the next 10 years (Norcross, Hedges, & Prochaska, 2002). Researchers can no longer discuss online counseling as an intervention method that will take shape in the future-the future is now. The time has come for research to be compiled on the new phenomena of Internet counseling, and numerous calls for research have been made regarding the practice of Internet-based counseling methods (

Communicating emotions online. The function of anonymity and gender

The electronic media directly or indirectly encourage their users to take an active role online. This, among others, finds its reflection on the users' expression of opinions in public about various issues. The degree of freedom of expression and sharing the users' opinions and emotions with others will depend on a number of factors, the major one, as is assumed here, being the users' degree of anonymity. An important role, as some previous studies have shown, is also to be assigned to the gender of the post authors. The following study will therefore attempt to investigate the issue of the frequency and the character of emotions expressed in the posts written in English, excerpted from three types of media: anonymous, represented by the International Movie Data Base; semi-anonymous, where both real names and invented ones may appear (film fan pages available on Facebook); to opinions expressed by Facebook friends in a more private online interaction. The objective will be to establish both the character and the rate of expressed emotions (positive or negative ones) and the degree of the users' openness about their feelings, depending on the medium of expression and their gender, where disclosed. Introduction Today's world has affected our communication with other people in a significant way. What used to be reserved for family and a handful of friends still a couple of decades ago can now be voiced virtually without limitations to the rest of the world, as today the public has an opportunity to use a variety of the media, particularly the electronic ones, in multiple ways, not infrequently also shaping their content (cf. Irwin 2011) [1]. The modern means of communication allow us to share both our views and our emotions about anything with others in innumerable ways: via email, text message, personal blogs, the social networking platform, discussion forum, through posts under newspaper articles, on professionally oriented websites, etc. What all the users of the Internet have no doubt observed is, for instance, an incredible amount of hate speech which can be found on a variety of platforms, unmatched in its power and unlimited outreach by anything that existed ever before. There is a freedom of expression which has developed on an unprecedented scale. The question, however, arises as to how the users approach the different media available at their disposal and whether they feel equally bold end encouraged to express their feelings openly and without limitations in each case. The assumption which is going to be the subject of analysis in the following paper is that despite the relative freedom of expression users of online media diversify their degree of disclosure and openness depending on how safe they can feel when sharing their feelings – in other words, how they evaluate their and their recipients' power towards each other and the sense of solidarity with other participants of a given platform of communication. An additional variable which, as it is assumed here, may have a considerable influence on the degree and character of emotions that one decides to share with others is also the person's

Emotion expression under stress in instant messaging

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2012

In spite of rapid growth of text-based instant messaging (IM) in very diverse settings, emotion expression in IM has received limited empirical scrutiny, especially outside of casual settings. The main focus of this study is how stress and personality traits affect verbal and nonverbal cues used in IM to express emotions during a simulated team decision-making task. This exploratory study analyzed a preexisting set of 168 chat logs from an experiment on team decision making under stress. Results of the analysis revealed significant differences in the frequency of several verbal and nonverbal cues as a result of manipulations of mood (happy and sad) and stress (time pressure). In addition, several correlations were found between cue types and three personality traits: extraversion, openness to experience, and locus of control. Understanding how users express emotions in IM helps researchers and designers to support the user's emotional needs, resulting in the improvement of emotional communication strategies in IM.

Effects of emotional cues transmitted in e-mail communication on the emotions experienced by senders and receivers

Computers in Human Behavior, 2007

This paper focuses on communication by e-mail. An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence the degree of emotional cues transmitted during e-mail communication has on the emotions experienced by the senders and receivers. Twenty-two participants of this experiment were divided into two groups based on the degrees of emotional cues transmitted: a High group and a Low group. The emotions experienced in the e-mail communication by the High group were then compared to that of the Low group. The results of this experiment showed a tendency for unpleasant emotions such as anger and anxiety to increase when emotional cues transmitted are low (i.e., the Low group). The findings suggest that low degrees of emotional cues transmitted between senders and receivers in e-mail communication tend to cause some misunderstanding.