Psychological Aspects of Face-To-Face Versus Computer-Mediated Interpersonal Communication: An Integrative Review

Computer mediated (CM) communication has become pervasive in everyday lives of people in many societies, especially during and after the COVID pandemics, which has had profound effects on different aspects of human activity, including communication itself. As a response to this, empirical research comparing CM and face-to-face (FtF) communication has been steadily growing. To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the major trends in this body of literature, it is crucial to identify the main research topics emerging in this domain, and explore theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches employed in the respective studies. In this review, we examine 51 empirical studies conducted between 2010 and early 2023, that compare the effects of FtF and CM formats of communication on its psychological aspects. We identify eight aspects of interpersonal communication, such as Synchronisation, Disclosure, and Interaction satisfaction, that are most often investigated in the existing research, while certain important aspects stay understudied. Four major theoretical frameworks prevail in the studies of these eight aspects: Social information processing theory, Hyperpersonal model of communication, Media richness theory, and Social presence theory. Further, our analysis reveals several methodological challenges, including the varying degree of measurement uniformity between subdomains devoted to different aspects. Paradoxically, we find this degree unrelated to the consistency of the results. Drawing on these findings, we suggest potential avenues for future research that can enhance our understanding of the impact of technology on human communication.