Jamie Guillory

Upset now?: emotion contagion in distributed groups

The importance of emotion to group outcomes in FtF highlights the need to understand emotion contagion in distributed groups. The present study examines the transfer of negative emotion in online groups. Negative emotion was induced in one of three group members completing a task in CMC. The data suggest that emotion contagion took place at the group level, with partners experiencing more negative emotion, more disagreement, higher verbosity, and use of more complex language in induced groups compared to control groups. Induced groups also performed better on the group task, raising questions about the effects of negative emotion contagion in online groups.

The Effect of Linkedin on Deception in Resumes

This study explores how Linkedin shapes patterns of deception in resumes. The general self-presentation goal to appear favorably to others motivates deception when ones true characteristics are inconsistent with their desired impression. Because Linkedin makes resume claims public, deception patterns should be altered relative to traditional resumes. Participants (n=119) in a between-subjects experiment created resumes in one of three resume settings: a traditional (offline) resume, private Linkedin profiles, or publicly available Linkedin profiles. Findings suggest that the public nature of Linkedin resume claims affected the kinds of deception used to create positive impressions, but did not affect the overall frequency of deception. Compared with traditional resumes, Linkedin resumes were less deceptive about the kinds of information that count most to employers, namely an applicants prior work experience and responsibilities, but more deceptive about interests and hobbies. The results stand in contrast to assumptions that Internet-based communication is more deceptive than traditional formats, and suggests that a framework that considers deception as a resource for self-presentation can account for the findings.

The Unintended Consequences of Disclosure: Effect of Manipulating Sponsor Identification on the Perceived Credibility and Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Advertisements

One reason that tobacco-sponsored smoking cessation ads are less effective than those sponsored by public health agencies may be that the persuasive arguments in tobacco-sponsored ads are inherently weaker than arguments made in public health ads. An alternate explanation is that sponsorship disclosure on the face of the ad activates resistance, partly because of credibility judgments directed toward tobacco companies. The authors test hypotheses in a 3 (sponsor identification) × 2 (ad content) randomized factorial experiment (N = 270). Results indicate that judgments of sponsor credibility play a mediating role in perceptions of ad effectiveness, with identification of a tobacco company as the sponsor of cessation ads undermining perceived credibility compared with the same ads without the tobacco company identified. However, the reduction in credibility resulting from tobacco sponsorship can be partially overcome when the sponsor is placed on more direct ad content (public health ads). The effects of credibility on perceived effectiveness were stronger for more ambiguous ad content and driven by participants with lower levels of involvement (nonsmokers). Credibility judgments are not as important when the ad content is more direct about the health consequences of smoking. Implications of study results for theory and public policy are explored.

Text messaging reduces analgesic requirements during surgery.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine whether communicating via short message service text message during surgery procedures leads to decreased intake of fentanyl for patients receiving regional anesthesia below the waist compared with a distraction condition and no intervention. METHODS Ninety-eight patients receiving regional anesthesia for minor surgeries were recruited from a hospital in Montreal, QC, between January and March 2012. Patients were randomly assigned to text message with a companion, text message with a stranger, play a distracting mobile phone game, or receive standard perioperative management. Participants who were asked to text message or play a game did so before receiving the anesthetic and continued until the end of the procedure. RESULTS The odds of receiving supplemental analgesia during surgery for patients receiving standard perioperative management were 6.77 (P=0.009; N=13/25) times the odds for patients in the text a stranger condition (N=22/25 of patients), 4.39 times the odds for those in the text a companion condition (P=0.03; N=19/23), and 1.96 times the odds for those in the distraction condition (P=0.25; N=17/25). CONCLUSION Text messaging during surgery provides analgesic-sparing benefits that surpass distraction techniques, suggesting that mobile phones provide new opportunities for social support to improve patient comfort and reduce analgesic requirements during minor surgeries and in other clinical settings.

Does Interactivity Serve the Public Interest?: The Role of Political Blogs in Deliberative Democracy

Political blogs are distinguished by their heightened interactivity, allowing users to participate directly in the political process. Does the interactivity afforded by political blogs really serve the public interest by contributing to deliberative democracy? A longitudinal between-subjects experiment was conducted during the week preceding an election to answer this question. Results suggest that there is a trade-off between information provided and interaction offered to blog users, which can impact their engagement in democratic discourse. Registered voters and unregistered users responded in opposite ways, with theoretical implications for the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the psychology of interactivity as well as practical implications for the use of interactivity in promoting deliberative democracy.

6. Effects of Network Connections on Deception and Halo Effects in Linkedin

On social networking websites (SNS) there is a general goal to convey desirable self-presentations, which can be achieved in many ways, from lying about qualifications in one’s Linkedin profile to posting flattering Facebook profile photos. In this chapter we use two experiments to explore the pervasive influence that our social relationships have on how we construct our self-presentations and how others form perceptions of our self-presentations in SNS. In the first experiment, participants’ deception was compared across three self-presentational resume settings: a traditional resume, private Linkedin profile, or publicly available Linkedin profile. Findings suggest that the public nature of Linkedin resume claims affected the kinds of deception used, such that public Linkedin resumes were less deceptive about the kinds of information that count most to employers, namely an applicant’s prior work experience and responsibilities, but were more deceptive about interests and hobbies. In a second experiment, we explore how halo effects, defined as global impressions about an individual formed using a single characteristic (e.g., physical attractiveness), can extend beyond the individual and become “extended halo effects” (EHEs). In SNS, EHE predicts that tie strength and status will affect global impression formation of the individual. Participants in a second study evaluated online Linkedin profiles, which manipulated the strength and status of a tie to a recommender. Impressions were positively biased in the presence of strong, high-status ties, despite actual job experience, supporting EHE. Many of the decisions that we make everyday are driven by the desire to convey positive impressions to others. We carefully consider our wardrobe choices or choose to eat at a trendy restaurant to impress a date. We choose to wear a suit and practice a presentation to appear competent to our supervisor and work colleagues. The desire to convey positive impressions is a major force driving human behavior (Goffman, 1959) and is often referred to as a self-presentational goal. In online contexts, selfpresentational goals range as widely as they do face-to-face, from wanting to appear qualified for a job on Linkedin, to wanting to appear romantically desirable on Match. com, and typically involve the desire to elicit a positive impression (Curtis, 1992; Donath, 1999; Roberts & Parks, 1999). Opportunities for self-presentation online are abundant and understanding impression formation via studies of self-presentation has long been a focus of computer-mediated communication research. In computer-mediated spaces we can share a wide variety of information that reflects who we are to a number of different audiences. In a short period of time personal profiles for SNSs have become common. SNS profiles link individuals’ profiles to the profiles of friends, acquaintances and