Affect and Dyads: Conflict Across Different Technological Media

Abstract

Communication is as, or more, important under conditions of conflict or disagreement as when agreement prevails. An experiment looked at couples engaged in discussing a topic that they disagreed about, either face-to-face, over the phone, or via instant messaging. At least one member of a couple was more likely to suffer an above-median decline in mood in the mediated condition as compared to the face-to-face condition. Couples in the face-to-face condition used the most words, while those in the instant messaging used the least. Couples in the phone condition nearly covered the spectrum. Current indications suggest that while the answer to the question, “Does arguing via mediated means have worse effects than all the other things in relationships, known and unknown, that contribute to the outcome of an argument?” is “No,” the answer to the question, “Does arguing via mediated means have bad effects compared to arguing face-to-face?” is “Quite likely.” At the minimum, the course of the argument and the facial expressions differ from medium to medium.