The Impact of Video Meeting Systems on Psychological User States: a State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

In today’s work and life, the use of video meeting systems is ubiquitous. As usage continues to rise, the negative effects of video meeting systems on users have become apparent. Consequently, scholars and public media have called for a better comprehension of the impact of video meeting systems on users with respect to psychological user states and ensuing outcomes. However, a synopsis of existing empirically grounded knowledge in this field is non-existent. To fill this gap, we review existing literature with a focus on psychological user states from a cognitive and affective perspective as well as downstream outcomes. Specifically, we review and conceptualize findings from 78 quantitative studies and describe the results in a morphological box. We identified a focus on examining the overall systems’ impact on the user states of attention, awareness, and negative emotions. Moreover, there has been a rise in literature examining recently developed features that concentrate on supporting attention and emotion understanding. Besides, video meeting systems have been predominantly explored in the context of generic conversations in work settings. By providing future research directions, this overview offers scholars the potential to design their studies more effectively and informs designers to facilitate system improvements based on empirical findings.