1-2 slide ana : Social information processing theory, also known as SIP, is an
interpersonal communication theory and media studies theory developed in 1992 by Joseph Walther.
Social information processing theory explains online interpersonal communication without nonverbal
cues and how people develop and manage relationships in a computer-mediated environment. Social
information processing theory argues that online interpersonal relationships may demonstrate the same
relational dimensions and qualities as FtF relationships. These online relationships may help facilitate
interactions that would not have occurred face-to-face due to factors such as geography and intergroup
anxiety.
Origins
Beginning in the 1990s, after the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, interest grew
in studying how the Internet impacted the ways people communicate with each other.
3 slide Joseph Walther, a communication and media theorist, said that computer-mediated
communication (CMC) users can adapt to this restricted medium and use it effectively to
develop close relationships. Walther understood that to describe the new nature of online
communication required a new theory
4 slide Forms of Self
One of the most important aspects of online interaction is the presentation of Self. Tory Higgins (1987)
described three main forms of self: actual self, ideal self, and ought self. Actual self is the set of qualities
and characteristics that person actually possesses, the ideal self contains the attributes that a person
hopes to someday achieve, and the ought self contains the attributes that a person believes he/she
should possess.
Carl Rogers (1951) posited that there was another form of self, one that is not concerned with the future
like the ideal and ought self. He called it the true self: a present form of self that exists psychologically
and is not always fully expressed within social settings like the actual self.
Bargh, McKenna, and Fitzsimons (2002) conducted an experiment to test how the actual self and true
self are expressed by people in face-to-face and computer-mediated interactions, and found that the
actual self was more accessible following an initial face-to-face interaction, while the true self was more
accessible following an initial interaction online. From the results of their study, the researchers
concluded that people tend to like each other better when they meet online instead of meeting face-to-
face.
5 slide : Guga Assumptions
Social information processing researchers like Joseph Walther are intrigued by how identities are
managed online and how relationships are able to move from one of superficiality to one of intimacy.
Three assumptions related to the SIP theory are listed below:
Computer-mediated communication provides unique opportunities to connect with people.
The first assumption rests on the premise that computer-mediated communication is a unique
opportunity to build interpersonal relationships with others. The CMC systems are vast and almost
always text based. It has been identified as "an organic setting" and it can be both synchronous and
asynchronous. CMC is clearly different than face-to-face communication, but it offers an unparalleled
opportunity to meet someone whom you would never meet FtF. Moreover, relationships established via
CMC systems also prompt emotions and feelings we find in all relationships. Finally, since CMC systems
are available around the globe, the uniqueness of being able to cultivate online relationships with
someone who is very far away cannot be ignored.
Online communicators are motivated to form (favorable) impressions of themselves to others.
The second assumption alludes that impression management is essential in online relationships and
participants undertake efforts to ensure particular impressions. Researchers have found that social
networking sites (SNS) like Facebook are filled with people who wish to provide a number of different
self-presentations to others. Thus, how others present and manage themselves online remains
important on various SNS and on numerous CMC system platforms.
Online interpersonal relationships require extended time and more accumulated messages to develop
equivalent levels of intimacy seen in FtF interpersonal relationships.
The third assumption of SIP states that different rates of information exchange and information accrual
affect relationship development. Social information processing theory is suggesting that although the
messages are verbal, communicators "adapt" to the restrictions of online medium, look for cues in the
messages from others, and modify their language to the extent that the words compensate for the lack
of nonverbal cues.This third assumption reflects Walther's contention that given sufficient time and
accrual of messages, online relationships have the same capacity to become intimate as those that are
established face to face. In addition, online comments are usually delivered rather quickly and
efficiently. Further, these messages "build up" over time and provide online participants sufficient
information from which to begin and develop interpersonal relationships.
6 slide : Research and applications
Social information processing theory has been used to study online relationships in a variety of
contexts. Since the late 1990s, the Internet has increased the amount of totally-mediated
interactions making the possibility of developing and sustaining an entire relationships online
more possible.
Application in online dating
In relation to romantic relationships, several studiesand subsequent theories have stemmed
from SIP, combining it with theories such as Social Penetration Theory (SPT) or Relational
Dialectics to further examine how modern day relationships are formed and sustained.
Scholars James Farrer and Jeff Gavin from Sophia University in Japan examined the online
dating process and dating relationship development to test the SIP theory. This study examines
the experiences of past and present members of a popular Japanese online dating site in order
to explore the extent to which Western-based theories of computer-mediated communication
and the development of online relationships are relevant to the Japanese online dating
experience. Thirty-six current members and 27 former members of Match.com Japan
completed an online survey. Using issue-based procedures for grounded theory analysis, they
found strong support for SIP. Japanese online daters adapt their efforts to present and acquire
social information using the cues that the online dating platform provides, although many of
these cues are specific to Japanese social context.[29]
Application in online marketing
In business contexts, social information processing has been used to study virtual teams[4][31]
as well as the ways viral marketers influence the adoption of products and services through the
Internet.[32]
Mani R. Subramani and Balaji Rajagopalan pay special attention to the SIP applied to real-world
online marketing and promotion activities. The background which stimulate their academic
interests is that online social networks are increasingly being recognized as an important source
of information influencing the adoption and use of products and services.
Application in online education
SIP has also been used to study learning in entirely online classes examining the ways that
students develop relationships with the instructor and with each other.
Fully online courses are becoming progressively more popular because of their "anytime
anywhere" learning flexibility. One of the ways students interact with each other and with the
instructors within fully online learning environments is via asynchronous discussion forums.
However, student engagement in online discussion forums does not always take place
automatically and there is a lack of clarity about the ideal role of the instructors in them. In
their research, Dip Nandi and his colleges report on their research on the quality of discussion
in fully online courses through analysis of discussion forum communication. They have
conducted the research on two large fully online subjects for computing students over two
consecutive semesters and used a grounded theoretic approach for data analysis. The results
reveal what students and instructors consider as quality interaction in fully online courses. The
researchers also propose two frameworks based on our findings that can be used to ensure
effective online interaction.
Application in child development
Social information processing theory has also been used to examine the development of
aggressive behavior in children in recent years.
Kenneth A. Dodge and Nicki R. Crick from Vanderbilt University did research on the social
information bases of aggressive behavior in children. In their study, the ways that basic theories
and findings in cognitive and social psychology (including attribution, decision-making, and
information-processing theories) have been applied to the study of aggressive behavior
problems in children are described. Following an overview of each of these theories, a social
information-processing model of children's aggressive behavior is outlined. According to this
model, a child's behavioral response to a problematic social stimulus is a function of five: steps
of processing: encoding of social cues, interpretation of social cues, response search, response
evaluation, and enactment. Skillful processing at each step is hypothesized to lead to
competent performance within a situation, whereas biased or deficient processing is
hypothesized to lead to deviant social behavior Empirical studies are described in which
children's patterns of processing have been found to predict individual differences in their
aggressive behavior The implications of this body of work for empirically based interventions
aimed at reducing children's aggressive behavior are discussed.
7 slide : ana differences
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10 slide : references
