On the bias: Self-esteem biases across communication channels during romantic couple conflict

Lauren Scissors, Darren Gergle

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Are one's individual biases stronger when mediated communication is used This paper examines the role of self-esteem-related biases and communication channel during romantic couple conflict. Romantic couples communicated about a conflict either face-to-face (FtF) or via instant messenger (IM). Results revealed that for people with lower levels of self-esteem, their negative biases were triggered when they communicated with their partners via IM; people with lower levels of self-esteem had more negative assessments of the conflict discussion and of the impact of the discussion on the relationship when communicating via IM than when communicating FtF. At a theoretical level, this work deepens our understanding of how individual difference variables like self-esteem impact how individuals process information and communicate via technology. At a practical level, findings suggest that the use of mediated communication during conflict is more harmful to certain individuals than to others.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, CSCW 2016
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages383-393
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781450335928
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 27 2016
Event19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, CSCW 2016 - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Feb 27 2016Mar 2 2016

Publication series

NameProceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, CSCW
Volume27

Other

Other19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, CSCW 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period2/27/163/2/16

Keywords

  • Computer-mediated communication
  • Conflict
  • Romantic relationships
  • Self-esteem

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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