Psychological distance in mobile telepresence

Abstract

We compared psychological distance in a mock job interview that was conducted either in-person or via mobile telepresence. In the mobile telepresence setting, the interviewers communicated through a telepresence robot. In one of the first explorations of how mobile telepresence affected psychological distance, we analyzed use of pronouns that suggested distance or closeness, and we also analyzed interviewer behavior (backchanneling) across the conditions. In addition, we analyzed stories told as part of the interview. We looked at elements of the stories as well as how interviewees interacted with physical objects on a table in front of them. We found that mobile telepresence disrupts conversational processes and content and amplifies psychological distance. There were fewer backchannels in the mobile telepresence setting and changed story elements. Interviewees also made use of objects differently in the mobile telepresence setting. Pronoun use went against our hypotheses, but can be interpreted as a response to psychological distance. Taken together, the evidence suggests that in-person interviews are more grounded and interactive than interviews via mobile telepresence robots.