Abstract

This study examined how perceivers with initial negative expectations about a chat partner developed their final expectations in text versus avatar-based settings, and which computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments exhibited higher attributional confidence in these impressions. Experimental conditions indicated that when participants attributed the person’s negative behaviors to the situational contexts, they perceived the person’s reactions to strangers less negatively, as opposed to those who attributed to the person’s negative actions to the person’s dispositions, regardless of the degree of cognitive busyness. On the other hand, participants formed negative impressions regarding the person’s reactions to new relationship, regardless of what information they had and how distracted they were. No significant difference in attributional confidence existed as a function of cognitive busyness conditions within different CMC situations. Interestingly, participants who received the graphic-based identity cues were more likely to identify say that the female's situation changed her attitudes toward strangers than those who received the text-based cues. In person perception through online communication environment, avatar messages could provide more personal and positive information to explain a person’s unexpected, negative behaviors. 
 
Key words: Impression, confirmation bias, cognitive busyness, avatar, attribution.