To Be Extraverted or Introverted Extravert on Internet Community?

Transcription

1 To Be Extraverted or Introverted Extravert on Internet Community? A Moderating Role of Using Real-Life Portrait as Facial Picture Ang Li, Tingshao Zhu* {Institute of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences} Chinese Academy of Sciences tszhu@psych.ac.cn Abstract. As to the relationship between extraverted disposition and preference for social communication on Internet community, there have been two hypotheses: Social Enhancement ( Rich Get Richer ) and Social Compensation ( Poor Get Richer ). In this paper, we examined the role of using real-life portrait as facial picture in determining whether an extraverted user would be sociable on Internet community. 203 Chinese Social Networking Site (SNS) users were administrated with Big Five Inventory (BFI) to collect their scores on extraversion, and their web use behaviors were downloaded via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Results showed that, the factor of using reallife portrait as facial picture played a moderating role in the relationship between scores on extraversion and number of online friends (β = 0.33, p < 0.05). For people using real-life portrait as facial picture, increased scores on extraversion were associated with increased number of online friends (β = 0.33, p < 0.001); conversely, for people using none real-life portrait, there were no significant relationship between scores on extraversion and number of online friends (β = -0.04, p = 0.85). Keywords: extraversion, social communication, Internet community, real-life portrait, facial picture 1 Introduction The emergence of Internet has profoundly changed the way people interact with each other. In cyber world, interpersonal contact would be accomplished through computer-mediated communication rather than face-to-face communication. As a kind of web-based social media, Social Networking Site and Micro-Blogging facilitate to build connection among web users with common interests. In recent years, Social Networking Site (SNS) has become increasingly popular in developed countries [1-2]. Meanwhile, a similar trend is also emerging in developing countries. In China, the number of SNS users has risen to 275 million, accounting for nearly half of Chinese Internet users (48.8%) [3]. Because of its richness and availability, SNS is regarded as a virtual laboratory for conducting social science research [4-6]. adfa, p. 1, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

2 In order to deeply understand what types of web users on web-based social media, psychologists are interested in the relationship between psychological features and preference SNS. Previous studies suggested that web user s personality could be a major influencing variable toward web behaviors, including online social communication [7-9]. In these studies, Five-Factor Personality has been commonly used as a theoretical framework to examine the influence of user s personality on web behaviors. The Five-Factor Personality classifies the variation of individual personality into five dimensions, namely extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness [10-11]. Extraversion represents a tendency to be sociable. Extravert tends to have extensive social communications with others in real life [12-14]. This motivates us to investigate whether extraverted web user would have close and extensive social connection with others on Internet community as well. Until now, researchers have proposed two hypotheses, Social Enhancement ( Rich Get Richer ) [15] and Social Compensation ( Poor Get Richer ) [16-17]. Social Enhancement implies that extraverted people tends to be sociable and would get more social benefit through the Internet-mediated communication. By contrast, Social Compensation assumes that people with social deficits (introverted people) would be expected to meet one s own social needs via the Internet-mediated communication. Due to the existing of two competing hypotheses, results of related works also seem to be conflicting. Based on Social Enhancement hypothesis, Kraut et al suggested that, compared with introvert, extravert was more likely to use the Internet to keep up or build connections with others [15]; Correa et al found that, web user s scores on extraversion were positively related to the frequency of using social media (e.g., SNS) [9]; Gosling et al demonstrated that, compared with introverted web user, extraverted web user showed higher level of social interactions, which could be manifested on online behavior records (e.g., number of online friends) on SNS [18]. According to Social Compensation, Amichai-Hamburger and Ben-Artzi proved that web users scores on extraversion were negatively related to the frequency of using social services [7]; Maldonado et al indicated that introverted web user could send web-based messages with an extraverted pattern [19]; Amiel and Sargent stated that, extravert didn t feel like communicating with others via the Internet [20]. Recently, in order to moderate conflictions in related works, a few studies have begun to advocate an integration of Social Enhancement and Social Compensation hypothesis, which suggested that there might be no main effect between extraversion and preference for social communication on Internet community [21-22]. Thus, moderating or mediating variables need to be detected. Because of the anonymity on Internet community, facial picture in one s profile has been regarded as a means of self-presentation [23]. Web user s perception and behavior could be influenced by the appearance of his/her facial picture [24]. A few studies have examined the effect of using real-life portrait as facial picture on one s web behaviors. For one thing, using real-life portrait as facial picture might be associated with increased social communication on Internet community. As an increasing similarity between one s virtual and real appearance, web user would strengthen the self-

3 aware on the Internet, which implied a tendency to locate one s true self on the Internet [25]. If people located one s own true self on the Internet, his/her passion for participating in online activities [26] and building web-based social connection [17], [27] would be improved. Besides, web user with a preference for self-disclosure (e.g., disclosing personal and contact information on the Internet) was more likely to build close and extensive relationship with others online [28-29]. While, for another thing, using real-life portrait as facial picture might be associated with decreased social communication on Internet community, especially for introverted user. The anonymity of Internet has been regarded as a desirable feature for improving introverted user to compensate his/her social needs on the Internet [27]. Using real-life portrait as facial picture had a risk of decreasing anonymity, which would prevent introverted user from communicating with others online. Thus, for users using real-life portrait as facial picture, in line with Social Enhancement hypothesis, extraverted user would be expected to be more sociable than introverted ones. Conversely, when it comes to use none real-life portrait as facial picture, for both extraverted and introverted user, one s intention for communicating with others should be decreased. However, because of an increase in anonymity, based on Social Compensation hypothesis, introverted user would experience an increase in social motivation as well. This situation might result in a weak or even opposite relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication on Internet community. To integrate Social Enhancement and Social Compensation hypothesis, this paper aimed to examine the moderating effect of using real-life portrait as facial picture on the relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication. It is hypothesized that, (1) for people using real-life portrait as facial picture, there might be a positive relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication; (2) for people using none real-life portrait as facial picture, there might be a weak relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication. 2 Method 2.1 Participants and Procedure A notification was released on RenRen to recruit volunteers for this study. RenRen is one of the most popular SNS in China. Potential participants were clearly informed about the purpose and procedures. In this study, participants were instructed to complete online questionnaires, and authorize us to download their digital behavior records on RenRen. The authorization would be expired one month later. To protect privacy, we only downloaded relevant information no more than what a regular visitor could see. A total of 209 Chinese individuals took part in the study voluntarily. Data from 6 persons were excluded because they did not provide valid answers. This yielded 203 completed assessments (131 men and 72 women), and years (S.D. = 3.26) old on average.

4 2.2 Measures Using Real-Life Portrait as Facial Picture. Participants were instructed to reply one question with binary value, indicating whether or not participants have used their reallife portrait as facial picture on RenRen. Preference for Web-Based Social Communication. In this study, one s preference for web-based social communication was estimated by the number of online friends on RenRen. With an increasing number of online friends, one s preference for webbased social communication would be expected to be increased as well. In order to acquire accurate data, the number of one s online friends was downloaded via the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of RenRen. RenRen has deployed various APIs for third-party developers. For this study, an online experiment platform Xin- Dao ( was developed to access RenRen. When people log on RenRen through XinDao, they also authorize XinDao to acquire their digital behavior records on RenRen. Extraversion. 8 items derived from John s 44-item Big Five Inventory (BFI) [30-31] were used to collect web users scores on extraversion. BFI is one of the most widely used brief measures of the Five-Factor Personality [32]. The items consist of short and easy-to-understand phrases to assess the prototypical traits defining extraversion. An example item is I am someone who is talkative. Participants rated themselves on each item with a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1, disagree strongly, through 3, neither agree nor disagree, to 5, agree strongly. The Chinese version of BFI is available at John s personal web page ( In this study, the Cronbach s alpha for the extraversion subscale was0.78. Demographics. Demographic information (including gender and age) was acquired through user s registration information on RenRen. 3 Results There were no significant differences in gender (χ 2 = 0.90, df = 1, p = 0.34) and scores on extraversion (t = 1.69, df = 201, p = 0.09) between participants using real-life portrait as facial picture and using none real-life portrait as facial picture. Besides, there was no significant differences in scores on extraversion (t = -1.71, df = 201, p = 0.09) between male and female participants. Moreover, the distribution of participants scores on extraversion (x = 3.00, S.D. = 0.65) was proved to follow a normal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z = 1.10, p = 0.18). It implied that, with regard to scores on extraversion, the sampling was unbiased in this study. Pearson correlation coefficient between scores on extraversion and the number of online friends was 0.25 (p < 0.01). After controlling demographic information (gend-

5 er), a hierarchical linear regression analysis was administrated to confirm the moderating effect of using real-life portrait as facial picture on the relationship between scores on extraversion and the number of online friends (β = 0.33, p < 0.05) (see Table 1). Specifically, for those using real-life portrait as facial picture, the number of online friends was positively predicted by scores on extraversion (β = 0.33, p < 0.001); while, for those using none real-life portrait as facial picture, the number of online friends was negatively predicted by scores on extraversion with no statistical significance (β = -0.04, p = 0.85). Table 1. Moderating Effect of Using Real-Life Portrait as Facial Picture on the Relationship Between Extraversion and the Number of Online Friends 1 Gender (Control Variable) Model 1 Model 2 Model * Extraversion 0.25*** Using Real-Life Portrait as Facial Picture Extraversion Using Real-Life Portrait as Facial Picture 0.33* R R * 0.06** 0.02* 4 Discussion and Conclusion In this paper, we tested the moderating effect of using real-life portrait as facial picture on the relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication. Results (see Table 1) demonstrated two research hypotheses. It suggested that, for people using real-life portrait as facial picture, Social Enhancement hypothesis would account for the positive relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication; while, for people using none real-life portrait as facial picture, Social Compensation hypothesis would account for the weak relationship between extraversion and the preference for web-based social communication. This situation implied the integration of Social Enhancement and Social Compensation hypothesis. In field of cyberpsychology, researchers have been discussing the consistency between one s online- and offline- personality without an agreement, especially for extraversion [18], [33]. Because of its genetic basis [34-35], extraversion trait should be insensitive to the variation of social settings. It means that, compared with real-life 1 n = 203.*p <0.05; **p <0.01; ***p <0.001.

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