Communicating Authentically Through Technology
Recently there has been a shift towards virtual work especially since the pandemic. Employees are using various forms of communication now including video conferencing, email, and instant messaging. However, these modes of communication can come across as inauthentic and insincere.
Many occupations require employees to show emotion in their roles. For example, customer service representatives are expected to appear happy, doctors are expected to display sadness and empathy, and managers are expected to show pride towards their employees. Because of this, many employees have to engage in “surface acting”—or “faking” emotions. However, surface acting can often come across as inauthentic.
Research in the Journal of Applied Psychology examined how mode of communication relates to perceived authenticity. In the first study, 519 employees were assigned to six conditions. In each, participants were in negotiation simulations in which they were tasked with selling a car to an interested buyer. The emotions of the potential buyer were manipulated by the experimenter. The potential buyer displayed either actual anger, surface acting anger, or a neutral emotion. Participants received the offer from the potential buyer either via video or audio. This was intended to mimic a face-to-face or telephone interaction. After participants had the interaction with the simulated buyer, they were asked about the authenticity of the buyer. The results revealed that those who viewed the surface acting anger video found the potential buyer to be more inauthentic in contrast to those who viewed the actual anger video. The relationship did not exist for the audio condition, suggesting that face-to-face surface acting is more harmful.
The second study examined which mode of communication (i.e., face-to-face, email, or phone) is perceived as most inauthentic. During the experiment, participants played the role of a recently-promoted manager. Participants read a prompt—a congratulatory letter from an older colleague. The prompt was delivered through three different conditions—face-to-face, via email, or via telephone. The results revealed that email was the least authentic mode of communication, then telephone. Face-to-face was viewed as most authentic.
The final study surveyed 73 matched pairs of teachers and parents in a more natural setting. The results revealed that when teachers used “high surface acting” via telephone, they were viewed as more authentic versus emails or face-to-face interactions. This suggests that telephone was preferable when engaging in high surface acting.
Brodsky, A. (2020). Virtual surface acting in workplace interactions: Choosing the best technology to fit the task. Journal of Applied Psychology, advance online publication.
