title: What you see is what you get: webcam placement influences perception and social coordination.
abstract: Building on a well-established link between elevation and social power, we demonstrate that-when perceptual information is limited-subtle visual cues can shape people's representations of others and, in turn, alter strategic social behavior. A cue to elevation (unrelated to physical size) provided by the placement of web cameras in a video chat biased individuals' perceptions of a partner's height (Experiment 1) and shaped the extent to which they made decisions in their own self-interest: participants tended to coordinate their behavior in a manner that benefitted the preferences of a partner pictured from a low camera angle during a game of asymmetric coordination (Experiment 2). Our results suggest that people are vulnerable to the influence of a limited viewpoint when forming representations of others in a manner that shapes their strategic choices.
authors: Center for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University Fargo, ND, USA.
authors: Laura E
authors: LE
authors: Thomas
authors: Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science, North Dakota State University Fargo, ND, USA.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Pemstein
keywords: computer-mediated communication; height perception; power; social coordination