Computer-Mediated Group Work: The Interaction of Sex and Anonymity

Abstract

This research invokes two theoretical perspectives—the equalization hypothesis and the SIDE model—to examine the impact of individuals' sex on group members' use of anonymous, computer-mediated collaborative technologies. Data from 127 individuals in 22 enduring task groups indicate that the strategies employed differentially by men and women correspond with inferred motivations: men are more likely to seek ways to make computer-mediated interactions more like a face-to-face interaction with women, whereas women are more likely to employ strategies that maintain the reduced social cues of computer-mediated communication and afford them greater potential influence in mixed-sex interactions. The integration of theories previously regarded as oppositional, and the empirical support of hypotheses derived from these perspectives, suggest a richer, more complex view of technological support of group work at a time when collaborative technologies are increasingly important, given shifts toward more dispersed, global, and virtual organizational work groups.