The Impact of Communication Media and Anonymity on Individual's Feelings and Behavior in Group Interaction

• Main Authors: Tsai, Cheng Lun, 蔡丞倫
• Other Authors: Hsu, Yu Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/92648924749750683058

碩士 === 國立清華大學 === 學習科學研究所 === 104 === Virtual World is a communication media which is similar to the real world. It contains not only the interaction method in real life but also the characteristics of computer mediated communication. The anonymity is a kind of characteristic status which cannot be identified by people. It includes anonymity and visual anonymity depending on the difference of hidden information. The research mainly observes that whether the group influence is changed by the difference of communication media or anonymity, and makes the individual have different feeling and behavior. A 2*2*2 experimental design was conducted. The three independent variables were “communication media (virtual world vs. real world),” anonymity (yes vs. no) and visual anonymity (yes vs. no). The dependent variables contain the individual’s feelings, including the emotion, social presence and fear of isolation; and the individual’s behavior, including uninhibited behavior and conformity. The researcher arranges three disguised participants to discuss with the real participants, and hold the opposite points of view against the real participants to observe the feelings and behavior of the real participants in the group. The results demonstrate that the feelings and behavior become obviously different when the real participants have group interaction via different communication media, the individual is comparatively not accessible to be influenced and changed in the group of virtual world. The anonymity has different level of influence comparing with the visual anonymity: the individual feels happiness and is willing to share his point of view while discussing with others when he/she possesses the anonymity; and the individual has low social presence and is apt to have uninhibited behavior when he/she possesses the visual anonymity. The research shows that the communication media, anonymity and visual anonymity interact with each other when they are in group interaction process. The researcher deems that the group of virtual world-anonymity-visual anonymity is better in group discussion, because it has more frequent interaction and discussion of participants, the individual has happier feelings, and it urges the most points of view and ideas in the group.