Online Disinhibition and Its Influence on Cyber Incivility Alexander Francis Moore Clemson University, [email protected]
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2019 Online Disinhibition and Its Influence on Cyber Incivility Alexander Francis Moore Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Recommended Citation Moore, Alexander Francis, "Online Disinhibition and Its Influence on Cyber Incivility" (2019). All Theses. 3170. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/3170 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ONLINE DISINHIBITION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CYBER INCIVILITY A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Applied Psychology by Alexander Moore August 2019 Accepted by: Dr. Fred Switzer, Committee Chair Dr. Patrick Rosopa Dr. Robin Kowalski ABSTRACT The proliferation of telecommunication technology over the past three decades has redefined the nature of work for many. Today, employees may use such tools to work remotely, fulfilling some or all of their duties away from an office and their colleagues. Organizational researchers generally view remote work favorably, as it is tied to improvements in job satisfaction and performance. However, some behavioral researchers have identified online communication attitudes that are related to counternormative online behavior. Known as Online Disinhibition, these attitudes propagate low intensity interpersonal deviances that are analogous to what organizational researchers call Cyber-Incivility. Despite its relevance to deviance and remote work literature, no study has investigated Online Disinhibition in an organizational context. Accordingly, this study seeks to establish Online Disinhibition’s relevance to remote work by demonstrating its relation to cyber incivility through a survey study of remote workers via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Results from a pilot study (n=51) found that roughly three-fifths of the sampling population reported some occurrence of instigated uncivil behaviors. Additionally, Online Disinhibition appears to be positively related to uncivil behaviors among these respondents. These results were replicated in a full survey study (n = 257), however, results for both hypotheses appeared to differ when Victimized Cyber Incivility was removed as a control. The interpretation of these findings, along with their limitations and implications for future research and applications are discussed. ii DEDICATION I dedicate my thesis to my Family: Denise, Daren, Nick, Carolyn, and Morgan. My achievements thus far would not have been possible without their continued support. Additionally, I dedicate my thesis to my advisor, Fred, as well as the rest of the faculty in Clemson’s Psychology program. I am forever grateful for the people that afforded me the opportunity to embark on this academic odyssey. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. ONLINE DISINHIBITION AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS ................... 1 Online Disinhibition................................................................................. 4 Antecedents of Online Disinhibition ....................................................... 5 Cyber Incivility ...................................................................................... 11 Interpersonal Deviance .......................................................................... 13 Emotional Intelligence ........................................................................... 14 Self-Efficacy .......................................................................................... 16 II. PRESENT STUDY ...................................................................................... 17 Online Disinhibition and Cyber Incivility ............................................. 17 Anonymity ............................................................................................. 18 Online Social Cue Perceptions ............................................................... 19 Asynchronicity and Cyber Incivility ...................................................... 23 III. METHOD .................................................................................................... 24 Pilot Study .............................................................................................. 24 Determining Sample Size ...................................................................... 35 Scale Construction ................................................................................. 26 Participants and Procedures ................................................................... 27 iv Table of Contents (Continued) Page Materials ................................................................................................ 28 Analyses ................................................................................................. 39 IV. Results .......................................................................................................... 40 Pilot Results ........................................................................................... 40 Pilot Summary ....................................................................................... 48 Full Study Results .................................................................................. 49 Regression Assumptions ........................................................................ 57 Hypothesis 1 Results .............................................................................. 60 Hypotheses 2a-2e Results ...................................................................... 62 Hypothesis 1 – Victimized Cyber Incivility Excluded .......................... 64 Hypotheses 2a-2e – Victimized Cyber Incivility Excluded ................... 65 Hypotheses 2g-2k – Structural Regression Model ................................. 66 Contextual Differences .......................................................................... 68 V. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 72 Overview of Results ............................................................................... 72 Limitations ............................................................................................. 76 Implications for Future Research ........................................................... 79 Considerations for the OSCP Measure .................................................. 81 Considerations for Remote Work .......................................................... 83 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 84 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 87 A: Tables ........................................................................................................... 87 B: Figures.......................................................................................................... 98 C: Full Study Survey ...................................................................................... 102 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 145 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Corrected Item-Total Correlation of OSCP Scale Items .............................. 41 2.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis of OSCP Scale ............................................... 44 3.1 Correlations with 95% Confidence Intervals ............................................... 46 4.1 Descriptive Statistics and Reliabilities of Measures Used ........................... 51 5.1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations with a 95% CI .................... 54 6.1 ICI Regressed on Online Disinhibition, Remote Frequency, and CMC Fidelity, with VCI Included ....................... 61 7.1 Instigated Cyber Incivility Regressed on OSCP, Remote Frequency, and Emotional Self-Efficacy ....................................... 63 8.1 Instigated Cyber Incivility Regressed on OSCP, Remote Frequency, and Emotional Self-Efficacy, with VCI Removed ...... 67 9.1 Face-to-Face Incivility Regressed on Online Disinhibition and Remote Frequency, with VCI removed ................................................ 71 10.1 Face-to-Face Incivility Regressed on OSCP, Remote Frequency and CMC Fidelity, with VCI Removed ........................ 72 11.1 Results of All Hypothesized Coefficients Across All Prediction Models ... 74 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Structural Model of Hypothesized Relationship between OSCP and ICI ... 23 2.1 Distribution of Age, by Gender in the Full Study Sample ........................... 50 3.1 Boxplot of Incivility Measures ...................................................................