Character-Based Team Identification and Referent Informational Influence in Computer-Mediated Communication

Abstract

This experiment investigated the effects of arbitrary visual representation on team identification and informational influence in anonymous computer-mediated communication (CMC). In a 2 (participant's gender: male vs. female) × 2 (partner's character: male vs. female) between-subjects experiment (N = 193), participants played a trivia game with an ostensible partner via computer. Results showed that the participants exhibited stronger team affiliation with the partner when their character and the partner's represented the same gender, even though their own character mismatched their physical sex. Furthermore, team identification enhanced perceived competence of the partner and increased the private acceptance of the partner's opinions. Implications for the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) and the referent informational influence theory are discussed.