High-Speed Internet Access to the Other: The Influence of Cultural Orientations on Self-Disclosures in Offline and Online Relationships

Abstract

The global village metaphor, originally popularized by Marshall McLuhan, suggests that individuals connected to information and communication technologies become more involved with others from around the world. The speed at which messages are communicated is one factor why Internet-supported technologies create a sense of community. The diffusion of Internet networks to areas around the world naturally increases the potential for intercultural communication. Considering the cultural differences of the communicators and diminished social cues of the environment, the opportunity for misunderstandings may be elevated in intercultural Internet-based communication. The present investigation explores how two important components of culture—individualism and collectivism—influence communication behaviors in face-to-face and computer-mediated relationships. Self-disclosures, which are fundamental to relationship development, are specifically studied. The findings reveal that collectivism is associated with fewer self-disclosures in computer-mediated relationships than in comparable face-to-face relationships. The difference between self-disclosure behaviors in face-to-face and computer-mediated relationships is more pronounced among individuals high in collectivism than those high in individualism. Implications to social information processing theory and future directions for intercultural Internet-based communication research are considered.

Keywords:

• Culture
• Individualism
• Collectivism
• Internet
• Computer-Mediated Communication
• Face-to-Face Communication
• Self-Disclosure

Notes

1. The operationalization of self-construals is analogous to the methodological technique adopted in this project for measuring individualism and collectivism on the individual level. Although the validity of individualism-collectivism scales has not been questioned to the extent of self-construal scales, similar problems are inherent to both traditions of measurement (for review, see Levine et al., 2003).