College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/8
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Internet communication among college students: its role and perceived effects on interaction and the self(2008) bern, thomas james; Dance, Lory; Milkie, Melissa; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study is a qualitative investigation into the effect of internet technologies on the social lives of college students who frequently employ them. Three research questions are addressed. First, how do college students understand the various roles or functions of the Internet in terms of their social ties with others? Second, what problems related to interaction occur through the use of these communication technologies? Finally, what problems or effects related to the notion of "the self" occur when maintaining social ties via Internet communication technologies? Focus groups with college students indicated that they could not possibly imagine maintaining their social lives without them. Among the limitations and problems frequently indicated were a difficulty in using these communication options to discuss important, sensitive, or emotional issues with significant others. Finally, these college students appear to be more authentic online and less-fragmented by this form of communication than previous literature would suggest.Item Virtually a Leader: Mitigating Process Losses through Shared Team States(2009) Aiken, Juliet Renee; Hanges, Paul J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research on virtual teams reveals that virtual teams do not operate in the same way as non-virtual teams. Despite increasing interest in this field, virtuality's impact on teams through an integrated IPO framework has yet to be assessed. The current study addresses this limitation by examining how virtuality impacts shared team states, and, subsequently, how shared team states impact communication, and how communication impacts outcomes. Further, this study investigated the role leadership plays in reducing process losses encountered by virtual teams. Results indicate that virtuality impacts the formation of shared team states, and leadership moderates this relationship, but in an unexpected direction. Shared team states were not found to contribute to communication, and communication did not predict outcomes. However, virtuality was found to directly affect communication, and the interaction between virtuality and leadership affected outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.