Adam S . Kahn

Awe is a widely researched, self-transcendent emotion with a robust ability to prompt prosocial behavior. Within the communication and media disciplines, however, the effects of awe have received only limited empirical attention. Moreover, extant research has ignored the role that media affordances may play in engendering awe and prosocial outcomes. This article presents two studies that explore the prosocial consequences of awe, as mediated by presence and when engendered by immersive features of various media, including virtual reality (VR). Study 1 (N = 154) found that awe content presented in highly immersive VR induced awe via an effect entirely mediated by presence, though impacts on subsequent prosocial outcomes were inconsistent. Study 2 (N = 188) attempted to replicate and clarify the prosociality results from Study 1, as well as contextualize them with respect to eudaimonic appreciation and hedonic enjoyment. Results demonstrated awe effects across all three measures of pr...

This study applies theories of computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction to the study of transactive memory systems (TMS; how small groups coordinate expertise, for which communication is the central mechanism) in video game teams. A large-scale survey (N = 18,627) of players from the small group video game League of Legends (LoL) combined with server-side data provided by Riot Games (the creators of LoL) was conducted to look at the relationship between TMS and win/loss outcome as well as the role of team size and past team member acquaintanceship on the formation of TMS, using social presence as a mediator. Results found that TMS was highly predictive of the likelihood of a team winning a game, and that while past team member acquaintanceship predicted TMS, team size did not. Furthermore, only two dimensions of social presence, copresence and perceived comprehension, were related to TMS. These two dimensioThis study applies theories of computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction to the study of transactive memory systems (TMS; how small groups coordinate expertise, for which communication is the central mechanism) in video game teams. A large-scale survey (N = 18,627) of players from the small group video game League of Legends (LoL) combined with server-side data provided by Riot Games (the creators of LoL) was conducted to look at the relationship between TMS and win/loss outcome as well as the role of team size and past team member acquaintanceship on the formation of TMS, using social presence as a mediator. Results found that TMS was highly predictive of the likelihood of a team winning a game, and that while past team member acquaintanceship predicted TMS, team size did not. Furthermore, only two dimensions of social presence, copresence and perceived comprehension, were related to TMS. These two dimensions fully mediated the relationship between past team member acquaintanceship and TMS.ns fully mediated the relationship between past team member acquaintanceship and TMS.

Using Cognitive Dissonance and Balance Theory, this study investigates factors that predict how and why MMO players inaccurately report their game playing time. It was hypothesized that players belonging to categories other than the stereotypical game player (e.g. younger, less educated, male) would be likely to underreport playing time. It was also hypothesized that those players who held less positive attitudes toward the game would bemore likely to underreport their playing time. Comparing people’s self-reported weekly usage of an MMO, EverQuest II, with their actual average weekly usage of the game, data showed that age, education, lack of enjoyment playing the game, and lack of an online sense of community predicted greater levels of underreporting.

This dissertation examines transactive memory systems (TMS) in video game teams. Study 1 is a field study of 16,499 players of the video game League of Legends and uses survey and server data to explore the relationship between group composition (member self-selection and team size) and TMS. It also explores the mediating role of social presence. Study 2 is a League of Legends lab experiment comparing the effects of communication channel (text-chat vs. voice-chat) on the development of TMS and social presence in teams. Study 3, conducted concurrently with Study 2, tests Social Information Processing theory in the context of video game teams and examined the role of relational communication in the development of TMS.

This article presents the results of two experimental laboratory studies that establish relationships between displays and people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors toward self, others, and social situations. Experiment I investigates how participants (N = 40) engaging in a trivia game respond when their answers and performance feedback evaluations are made public via either a large shared display or each person’s laptop display. Using a 2 (answer display: shared vs. personal) × 2 (feedback display: shared vs. personal) between-participants, nested design, we find that participants exhibit differential levels of social anxiety, enjoyment, willingness to change answers, and attributions of coparticipant competence. Participants whose answers are shown on the shared display exhibit greater social anxiety but are attributed with greater competence by their peers. Viewing information on the shared display induces a greater degree of change in answers. Precisely because all information is public throughout the experiment, we are able to isolate the effects of sharing screens as opposed to sharing information. Experiment II (N = 40) builds from Experiment I by employing similar display configurations within an explicitly persuasive context. In a 2 (display: shared vs. personal) × 2 (context: common vs. personal) × 2 (content presentation style: common vs. interpersonal), mixed experimental design we produce systematic differences in the persuasiveness of information, people’s engagement with content, and sense of social distance from each other. Through both experiments strong consistency effects are evident: enjoyment, engagement, and persuasiveness are all diminished where incongruencies are part of the experimental conditions. So too these mismatches increase the sense of social distance from others in the setting. We discuss the implications for future research and design of display ecologies and situated media.