Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan campus have found no advantage to attending an in-person meeting over video conferencing in making a first impression.
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It did find, however, that poor audio and video connections were more likely to result in meeting attendees being left with a negative impression of one another.
The paper, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, also explored how accurately first impressions are formed over video compared to in person.
Dr Lauren Human, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, wanted to test the assumptions that people have made about videoconferencing ever since being forced to integrate it into their business and personal lives: "The pandemic abruptly shifted in-person interactions to videoconferencing for first impressions like meeting classmates, job interviews, and doctor's appointments."
"[With a video conferencing platform such as] Zoom, people might feel they can't quite 'get a read on' new acquaintances and don't feel as connected to them as they might in person."
Is this subjective experience grounded in reality? Or are first impressions through videoconferencing different from in-person?"
Making a Good Impression
UBC researchers undertook three research aims to determine the true effects of video conferencing on impressions compared to in-person.
First, they wanted to see whether people form a positive and accurate view of each other during video calls.
Second, they wanted to see if these impressions resulted in better or worse connections than they would following in-person interactions.
Finally, the team assessed the consequences of poor audio and video quality on the accuracy of people's impressions and whether or not it impacted how positively or negatively they felt about each other.
Human says the results surprised her. People’s first impressions were just as positive no matter whether they were meeting for the first time over video call or in person.
Some inaccuracies were uncovered, however, including people's perceptions of traits like extraversion and neuroticism.
