The effect of uniform virtual appearance on conformity intention: Social identity model of deindividuation effects and optimal distinctiveness theory

Authors:
Junghyun Kim;Hee Sun Park
Affiliations:
School of Communication Studies, Kent State University, PO Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242, United States;Department of Communication, 481 Communication Arts & Sciences Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2011

Citing 4
Cited 4

Computer-mediated communication, de-individuation and group decision-making

International Journal of Man-Machine Studies - Computer-supported cooperative work and groupware. Part 1
Lessons from a dozen years of group support systems research: a discussion of lab and field findings

Journal of Management Information Systems - Special issue: Information technology and its organizational impact
The equalization phenomenon: status effects in computer-mediated and face-to-face decision-making groups

Human-Computer Interaction
"I want to be different from others in cyberspace" The role of visual similarity in virtual group identity

Computers in Human Behavior

Conformity on the Internet - The role of task difficulty and gender differences

Computers in Human Behavior
A private versus a public space: Anonymity and buying decorative symbolic goods for avatars in a virtual world

Computers in Human Behavior
Playing well with virtual classmates: relating avatar design to group satisfaction

Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing
An epidemiological assessment of online groups and a test of a typology: What are the (dis)similarities of the online group types?

Computers in Human Behavior

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This study integrates social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) and optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) in investigating the effect of uniform virtual appearance on individuals' willingness to conform to a majority opinion in computer-mediated groups. SIDE posits that sharing the same visual cue can promote group identification process and eventually induce stronger conformity. Meanwhile, ODT indicates that too much visual similarity rather concerns individuals about their deprived uniqueness, so they would be reluctant to conform to a majority opinion as a way to restore their uniqueness. This study concurs with previous research based on SIDE by showing that group identification induced by uniform appearance increases conformity intention. It also showed that perceived deindividuation, another variable that is induced by a high level of visual similarity relative to others, decreases conformity intention. As a result, the current study shows that the effect of virtual uniform appearance on conformity intention is inconsistently mediated by group identification and perceived deindividuation.