The effect of communication medium and interlocutor personality on communicative success and mutual understanding.

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2022-08-30

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en

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Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of video technology accelerated and there has been a shift in the way individuals communicate. Previous research suggested that the course and outcome of a conversation greatly depends on the medium of a conversation. Moreover, different personality traits could lead to different communication styles, which in turn could lead to more or less communicative success and understanding. In an experiment, the effect of communication medium (face-to-face or online) and interlocutor personality was tested with regard to perceived mutual understanding and communicative success. A total of 40 participants performed a task in the form of riddles. In pairs, 20 participants took part in the face-to-face condition and the other 20 in the online condition. The present study found that the medium of communication does not influence perceived mutual understanding and communicative success. Moreover, personality does not influence the relation between the medium of communication and perceived mutual understanding and communicative success. However, participants high in Agreeableness perceived communicative success as higher in a conversation than participants low in Agreeableness, regardless of the communication medium. Implications for the current work field are discussed from a practical point of view, along with possible explanations and limitations.

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