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How user personality and social value orientation influence avatar mediated friendship

Chesney, Thomas; Chuah, Swee-Hoon; Hoffmann, Robert; Hui, Wendy; Larner, Jeremy

Authors

Swee-Hoon Chuah

Robert Hoffmann

Wendy Hui



Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of user personality and vlaues on the number of connections users make, the number of requests for connections that users give out, and the number of connections invitations users receive.
Design/methodology/approach: This is a field study of 179 participants interacting in a novel virtual world. The world’s server logs are used to capture sociometrics about the users and their interaction.
Findings: Findings suggest that personality and values influence the number of friends users make and the number of friendship requests users give out, but not the number of friendship invitations users receive. Only one personality trait – conscientiousness – exhibits homophily.
Originality/value: Perosnality and social value orientation have rarely been studied together in information systems (IS) research, despite research showing the two have an impact on IS relevant constructs. The use of server logs for data capture is novel. Avatar friendship is an under-researched concept in IS.

Citation

Chesney, T., Chuah, S.-H., Hoffmann, R., Hui, W., & Larner, J. (2016). How user personality and social value orientation influence avatar mediated friendship. Information Technology and People, 29(4), 688-716. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-10-2014-0242

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 17, 2015
Online Publication Date Oct 12, 2016
Publication Date Oct 12, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 21, 2018
Print ISSN 0959-3845
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 4
Pages 688-716
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-10-2014-0242
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1105807
Publisher URL https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/ITP-10-2014-0242