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When Silence Speaks Louder Than Words: Computer-Mediated

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When Silence Speaks Louder Than Words: Computer-Mediated WHEN SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS: COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATIONS AND PERCIEVED OSTRACISM By GREGORY MICHAEL SCHECHTMAN A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY College of Business AUGUST 2008 © Copyright by GREGORY MICHAEL SCHECHTMAN, 2008 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by GREGORY MICHAEL SCHECHTMAN, 2008 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the committee appointed to examine the dissertation of GREGORY MICHAEL SCHECHTMAN find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. ___________________________________ Co-Chair ___________________________________ Co-Chair ___________________________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank God for giving me wisdom and guidance throughout my life and especially during my sojourn at Washington State. Though times were not always easy and His pupil all too wayward (whew!) … in the end, He again proved that indeed, God is “bigger than the boogie man”. Go JC, you rock! I must acknowledge the herculean effort of my great dissertation committee, Mark Fuller, Joe Valacich, and Craig Parks. Mark who from the first day took an interest in me, mentored me, and saw past the fact that I wasn’t a typical graduate student. Not a day goes by that I don’t count my blessings that you were my advisor. I have learned tremendously from you and only a small portion of it had anything to do with this document. Without your help, this officer would not be a doctor… thank you. Joe, you were the reason I came to Washington State. At times, my trek through ostracism has been like swimming in quicksand, yet you kept the faith. I offer you my heartfelt thanks for your vision. Craig, you not only filled my analytic tool chest, but also gave my heart the empathy it needed to understand ostracism and how it hurts. Your advice and keen understanding of both my topic and the methods needed to research it will be with me forever as I travel down this long lonely road of social exclusion. Next time though … could we maybe work on something a little more upbeat? Lastly I want to thank my brother and sister in crime, Ron Pike and Anna McNab (one ‘b’ please!). Ron, you were the friend that I needed, a fellow Christ-follower and father to share this fascinating period of my life. I thank you for the great conversations, the wonderful camaraderie, and your uncanny ability to show me how to make my lemons into lemonade. I think if you and I had a whiteboard, and that last year together, we could have even solved world hunger. You made my rough times bearable, the classes understandable, and comps iii comprehensible. I keenly look forward to working with you in the future. Anna, the CG, you gave me new perspectives, from Paris to Pullman. I will genuinely miss spending time in your company. While we are very different, I thank you for your very special influence on my time as WSU. You are the smartest of us, the statistical goddess that I was not, and a very big part of my experiences here, thanks … and of course…Go Cougs! iv WHEN SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS: COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATIONS AND PERCIEVED OSTRACISM ABSTRACT by Gregory Michael Schechtman, Ph.D. Washington State University August 2008 Co-Chairs: Mark A. Fuller and Joseph S. Valacich This dissertation addresses a need for theoretical insight into virtual teams and individual reactions to online silence. Integrating psychology’s social ostracism theory and IS’ Media Synchronicity Theory, it offers a new theoretical framework for understanding what happens when members of virtual teams encounter silence in an online environment. This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay develops a framework called the Cyberostracism Effects Theory (CET), which identifies four dimensions of technology-mediated interactions that affect perceptions of ostracism in virtual teams; message characteristics, interpersonal characteristics, individual characteristics, and media characteristics. The second essay provides a psychometric analysis of the Williams’ Need-Threat model instrumentation used in a virtual ball toss simulation and a chat room. The third essay utilizes a laboratory experiment to manipulate ostracism and evaluative tone to understand their impact on ostracism perceptions and important downstream organizational outcomes. This research provides implications for information systems practice and theory in the area of interface design and virtual team leadership. v Key Words: Cyberostracism Effects Theory, Virtual Teams, Computer-Mediated Communication, Ostracism, Silence, Group HCI, Cyberball, Media Synchronicity Theory (MST), Perceived rejection vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………….………….iii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...iv LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………….………xi LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………….……………………xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: ESSAY--CYBEROSTRACISM EFFECTS THEORY ........................................... 5 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 5 THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................... 9 Person-Situation Interaction ......................................................................................... 9 Silence and Ostracism ................................................................................................ 11 Technology-Mediated Environments ......................................................................... 19 The Cyberostracism Effects Theory Framework ....................................................... 22 JUSTIFICATION FOR PROPOSITIONS .......................................................................... 24 Media Characteristics and Ostracism ......................................................................... 24 Message Characteristics and Ostracism ..................................................................... 27 Individual Characteristics and Ostracism ................................................................... 28 Interpersonal Characteristics and Ostracism .............................................................. 28 Ostracism Impacts ...................................................................................................... 30 DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 31 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER 3: ESSAY--CYBERBALL INSTRUMENTATION ANALYSIS ............................ 35 vii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 35 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT ............................... 37 Types of Ostracism .................................................................................................... 37 Ostracism Models ....................................................................................................... 38 STUDY ONE ....................................................................................................................... 43 Overview and Methodology ....................................................................................... 43 Results of Cyberball Replication ............................................................................... 47 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 55 STUDY TWO ...................................................................................................................... 56 Overview .................................................................................................................... 56 Results ........................................................................................................................ 59 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 64 GENERAL DISCUSSION .................................................................................................. 66 Limitations ................................................................................................................. 69 Future research ........................................................................................................... 69 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 4: ESSAY--OSTRACISM’S ROLE IN VIRUTAL DECISIONS ............................ 72 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 72 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT ............................... 75 Virtual Teams ............................................................................................................. 75 Obstacles for Virtual Team ........................................................................................ 77 Perceived Ostracism and Affect ................................................................................. 80 Satisfaction ................................................................................................................
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