RS- Virtual Relationships

Question 1

What are virtual relationships?

Answer 1

Virtual relationships are relationships that are conducted through the internet rather than face to face, for example through social media.

Question 2

What can virtual relationships also be referred as?

Answer 2

Computer Mediated Communication

Question 3

What is the reduced cues theory?

Answer 3

• Sproull and Kessler (1986) suggest that CMC relationships are less effective than face-to-face relationships.
• This is because there is an absence of non-verbal communication cues such as tone of voice, facial expressions and so on.

Question 4

What does the absence of non-verbal cues lead to? (Reduced cue theory)

Answer 4

• It leads to de-individuation, where a person feels a reduced sense of individuality and a lowering of personal standards of behaviour.
• Therefore, CMC relationships are more likely to include impersonal, possibly aggressive communication and reluctance to self-disclose.

Question 5

Evaluate the reduced cues theory.

ADVANTAGES

Answer 5

1) There is a great deal of research evidence support to show that disinhibition and deindividuation occur in real life and this can be applied to real people.
- There has been a great deal of research to show that people go online and “troll” others and send unpleasant messages that they would otherwise not say in real life and face to face. (+)

2) Joinson placed students in same sex pairs and asked to discuss a dilemma that required conversation. Results found that there was significantly more self-disclosure using the computer chat program than face to face.

Question 6

Evaluate the reduced cues theory. (DISADVANTAGES)

Answer 6

1) Reduced cues theory may be inaccurate, as it has been argued that there are different types of cues in CMC, rather than an absence of them.
- These include style and timing of messages, use of exclamation marks and capital letters, emojis and so on.
- Online communication has clearly been successful, which reduced cues theory would find difficult to explain.

Question 7

What is absence of gating in virtual relationships?

Answer 7

• A ‘gate’ is an obstacle to the formation and development of a relationship.
• For example, physical unattractiveness, shyness or anxiety.
• McKenna and Bargh (1999) suggest that such gates are absence in CMC relationships, so it becomes easier for relationships to begin and quickly become intimate.
• The focus is on what the person is saying, for example through self-disclosure, rather than what they look like.
• Absence of gating also means that people are free to create online ‘personas’ quite different from their real lives.

Question 8

Evaluate absence of gating. (ADVANTAGES)

Answer 8

1) Mckenna and Bargh conducted research where first ppts first interacted with a partner in person for 20 minutes or via internet chat rooms first before meeting face to face.
- It was found that partners clearly liked each other more when they met via the internet and communication was seen more intimate.
- The absence of gating means a relationship can develop as self-disclosure becomes more frequent and deeper.