Social Influence in Computer-Mediated Communication: The Effects of Anonymity on Group Behavior

Tom Postmes · Russell Spears · Khaled Sakhel · Daphne de Groot

489 citations0/0 files storedPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Social and Intergroup Psychology Team Dynamics and Performance Psychology of Social Influence

Abstract

Two studies examined hypotheses derived from a Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) as applied to social influence in computer-mediated communication (CMC) in groups. This model predicts that anonymity can increase social influence if a common group identity is salient. In a first study, group members were primed with a certain type of social behavior (efficiency vs. prosocial norms). Consistent with the model, anonymous groups displayed prime-consistent behavior in their task solutions, whereas identifiable groups did not. This suggests that the primed norm took root in anonymous groups to a greater extent than in identifiable groups. A second study replicated this effect and showed that nonprimed group members conformed to the behavior of primed members, but only when anonymous, suggesting that the primed norm was socially transmitted within the group. Implications for social influence in small groups are discussed.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 489 citations exist upstream.

References

1969The Handbook of Social Psychology 1984Research in Organizational Behavior 1987Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self‐Categorization Theory 1989Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory.1955A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment.1986The Bases of Social Power 1981The psychology of social impact.1996Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action.

Cited by

2005Social influence in small groups: An interactive model of social identity formation 2005A social identity approach to trust: interpersonal perception, group membership and trusting behaviour 2016Tweetment Effects on the Tweeted: Experimentally Reducing Racist Harassment 2020Contemporary Social Psychological Theories 2009Aligning Identities, Emotions, and Beliefs to Create Commitment to Sustainable Social and Political Action 2005

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.