THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL AND TASK COHESION IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED AND FACE-TO-FACE TASK GROUPS.

Abstract

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has a significant impact upon organizations by affecting decision-making procedures and communication structures. Early CMC research was guided by the cues filtered out theory, which proposed CMC is inherently constrained in comparison to face-to-face (FtF) interactions due to the limited bandwidth of the medium. A more recent perspective, social information processing theory, proposes that CMC differs from FtF in the rate of information transmission but is capable of transmitting social information. In this study cues filtered out and social information processing theories were tested using a longitudinal design. The current study examined temporal effects on social and task cohesion. A more positive relational tone was expected with message accumulation over time in CMC. As well as inter-media differences, intra-media differences between asynchronous and synchronous CMC were examined. Results supported social information processing theory and ran counter to predictions of the cues filtered out theory. Differences between synchronous CMC and FtF were obtained at time 1, followed by convergence at time 2 and time 3, for both social and task cohesion. Asynchronous CMC groups were significantly less cohesive at all times compared to the synchronous conditions. The media therefore differed along the lines of synchronicity rather than partial (CMC) versus full (FtF) cues, with synchronous CMC being more like FtF than asynchronous CMC. Support was also obtained for the relationship between cohesion and performance being strongest when the level of cohesion corresponds to the dimension of performance.