The effect of gender on trust perception and performance in computer‐mediated virtual environments

Abstract

An important area in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is how gender affects trustbuilding and performance in virtual settings. This paper empirically investigates gender differences in two media, video and Instant Messaging, while performing negotiation tasks.The primary results indicate that: (1) female pairs perceive higher levels of trust than male pairs when gender information about the partner is either seen via the video channel or mutually revealed via the IM channel, and (2) male/female pairs have better performance outcomes than female pairs. The results imply that having females in the remote working teams may help teams achieve high levels of initial trust leading to cooperation and information sharing in virtual settings. In addition, the results suggest that gender diversity, as represented in male/female pairs, may be important to quality performance outcomes in collaborative work groups.

Gender Talk: Differences in Interaction Style in CMC

“…The qualitative analysis provides more detailed data to explain the results from our previous quantitative analyses, especially with respect to trust [4]. The higher levels of trust perceived by FF pairs in the VC and IM channels may be partly due to the conversational styles they used.…”

“…In a previous paper [4], we reported the results of the quantitative analyses of trust and performance. First, we found that female pairs perceived higher levels of trust than male pairs when gender information was passively seen via the VC channel.…”

“…Our work on CMC and gender (summarized in Section 3) has shown that gender differences affect trust and performance in computer-mediated tasks [4]. However, there has been little qualitative research on the nature of the interactions of different gender groups that helps explain these results.…”

A gender-based investigation of the determinants for information sharing in an open learner model environment

“…Females are more significantly affected by trust than males. Sun et al (2007), for example, point out that females achieve high levels of initial trust and perform better as well as willing to share information in computer-mediated virtual environments. Chan (2015) indicates that females' trust on social media platforms has a stronger effect in predicting online information sharing compared to males.…”

The effect of task roles on the perceived usability of management tools

“…The use of IM tools in various contexts has been studied extensively as well, e.g., in learning contexts (Wijekumar et al, 2005), in gaming environments, such as MMORPGs (Christopherson, 2010), and in virtual shared workspaces (Saparova et al, 2011). Prior studies have also looked at different variables that affect users' IM experiences, e.g., the effects of gender on trust perception and performance in CMC (Sun et al, 2007). In the past, the perceived usability of IM tools has been measured without differentiating between different communicators' task roles.…”