“The more that
communication was exchanged via the 
asynchronous,minimal-cue medium, the more favorable the partners’ perceptions of each other, their communication, and their affection."
(Walther 1996)
GENDER ROLES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES
“The more that
communication was exchanged via the
asynchronous,minimal-cue medium, the more favorable the
partners’ perceptions of each other, their communication, and their affection."
(Walther 1996)
There are three basic types of computer-mediated communication: impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal (Walther 1996). Impersonal expresses the need to demonstrate strictly task-oriented behavior. Interpersonal stresses the desire to develop social relationships. Finally, hyperpersonal describes the parallel behavior of impersonal and interpersonal communication, blending task completion with virtual comradery (Walther 1996). The Internet, in relation to marital use, is an excellent illustration of hyperpersonal communication.
It has been argued that communication is better preserved in a well thought out manner. According to Greene and Lindsey (1989), “communicators facing multiple conversational goals were more fluent in better preserving the ‘face needs’ of communication partners when they could plan, rehearse, and then speak compared to those who had to construct and produce such messages immediately (Walther 1996).” Therefore, perhaps spontaneity ranks second to rehearsal when it comes to revealing thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
A study was conducted in cases when geographic distance was placed in the equation of a marriage, judging the level of satisfaction experienced through FtF, telephone, and letter writing. The results concluded that FtF had a negative effect relating to degrees of marital adjustment, communication, and idealization. However, when aspects of letter writing were analyzed, the percentage of communication involving the use of the written word proved to have positive correlations with adjustment, communication, and idealization. Thus, the written word expressed love more succinctly than that of verbal conversation and interaction, producing an outcome of closeness, affection, and attachment among married couples. Though electronic communication was not used in the study, the relation to letter writing is completely valid (Walther 1996).
| Gender Roles in Cyberspace | How Does Cyberspace Affect Gender Roles in the American Family? |
| Who's Using the Internet? | Do You Speak my Language? |
| Gender Specific Communication | References |
From the
Flinstones to the Jetsons:
How Technology is Sprocketing the American Family
into the New Millennium
| PROJECT HOME PAGE | Child-Parent Dynamics in the CyberAge by Michael Johnson |
| The Cyber-Struggle Between Parents and Children by Julie Carvey | Computer and Internet
Demographics by Jason Stewart |
This project was produced for Psy 380, Social Psychology of Cyberspace, Spring 1999, at Miami University. All graphics in these pages are used with permission or under fair use guidelines, are in the public domain, or were created by the authors. Last revised: . This document has been accessed times since 1 May 1999. Comments & Questions to R. Sherman