Connie Yuan
Cornell University, Communication, Faculty Member
- Cornell University, Information Science, Faculty Memberadd
Most previous social network studies have focused on the positive aspects of social relationships. In contrast, this research examined how the negative aspects of social networks in work groups can influence individual performance within... more
Most previous social network studies have focused on the positive aspects of social relationships. In contrast, this research examined how the negative aspects of social networks in work groups can influence individual performance within the group. Accordingly, two studies were conducted to make this assessment. The first study examined the effect of negative relations and frequency of communication on performance among student groups. The second study investigated how the Five Factor Model of personality and position in adversarial networks interacted to influence individuals' performance. Although results of the first study indicated that frequent communication with others could make a person more likeable, consequently helping him or her perform better, the second study showed that those individuals disliked by others were less likely to achieve a good performance rating, despite their conscientiousness, emotional stability, or openness to experiences.
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The changing technological landscape has brought about new forms of groups and grouping that span across computing and communication devices, space, time, institutions, cultures, realities (physical, virtual, and augmented), and... more
The changing technological landscape has brought about new forms of groups and grouping that span across computing and communication devices, space, time, institutions, cultures, realities (physical, virtual, and augmented), and intelligence (natural and artificial intelligence). This chapter utilizes a series of publication and keyword analyses to identify trends in group and technology research in the fields of communication, management, and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) between 2008 and 2019. The results reveal prominent research areas, and recent shifts and emergent questions in the study of groups and technology, highlighting a complex entanglement of technology with collaborative social practices. The chapter concludes with a discussion of novel key areas and trends suggested by the analyses, with the goal of contributing toward a research agenda for future study of groups and technology.
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The chapter provides a brief review of team diversity research from its roots in group composition and workforce demographics through recent trends toward dynamic multilevel models. The divergence from this research area's early... more
The chapter provides a brief review of team diversity research from its roots in group composition and workforce demographics through recent trends toward dynamic multilevel models. The divergence from this research area's early motivations in social justice and inclusion to a primarily economic motivation is highlighted. The chapter also reviews major theories that have been used to explain diversity effects in team interactions and outcomes. The review leads to a discussion of three broad critiques of mainstream diversity research, namely a predominance of US cultural outlook, a narrow disciplinary base in organization sciences and psychology, and inadequate attention and overly simplistic perspective on communication processes. The chapter ends with implications for team diversity research and a discussion of how the suggestions can be applied to emerging dimensions of diversity.
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Research Interests: Attribution and unpacking
This study compares press coverage of climate change in the US, the UK and China from a longitudinal perspective, through a combination of computer-assisted quantitative linguistic analysis and critical discourse analysis. Specifically,... more
This study compares press coverage of climate change in the US, the UK and China from a longitudinal perspective, through a combination of computer-assisted quantitative linguistic analysis and critical discourse analysis. Specifically, we examine the extent to which these three countries portray climate change similarly or differently, and further explore how moral reasoning – a growing area of research in climate change communication – may shape media portrayal of the issue across different cultures. There have been few scholarly inquiries examining how moral reasoning is deployed in media discourse around climate change. This study aims to address this gap with a comparative analysis of moral reasoning in news about climate change in leading national newspapers from three countries over a 6-year period. The findings suggest that while US and UK newspapers tended to frame climate change coverage as a domestic issue, Chinese media tended to frame it as a global issue that the world community needs to tackle. Moreover, US and UK newspapers often adopted the balanced reporting norm in communicating uncertainty and controversy, in contrast to the climate consensus that was firmly embedded in Chinese media discourse. Overall, the findings show mixed support for East and West differences in the moral rhetoric underpinning their climate change press coverage.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Computer Science, Interpersonal Communication, Social Networks, Computer Mediated Communication, and 10 moreDemographics, Diffusion, Diffusion of Innovation, Recommender System, Language Culture and Communication, Online Community, Homophily, Innovation diffusion, Computer, and Social Network
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[Excerpt] In global firms multinational teams (MTs) are a way of life. Increasingly these firms find it essential to assemble just the right mix of talent from around the globe to tackle complex tasks.Typically MTs perform much if not all... more
[Excerpt] In global firms multinational teams (MTs) are a way of life. Increasingly these firms find it essential to assemble just the right mix of talent from around the globe to tackle complex tasks.Typically MTs perform much if not all of their work using a common language which, while necessary, can have its drawbacks. For example, it is unlikely that all team members will be equally proficient in the chosen language. This can cause problems for team members who are less facile with the language and, thus, find it difficult to contribute to the work of their teams in a timely and meaningful way. These personal challenges, in turn, can accrue to the team level. A few recent studies suggest, for example, that asymmetries in language proficiency in MTs undermine trust and confidence among team members and often lead to the formation of cliques and uneven levels of influence that hamper team processes and eventually undermine team performance. Overall, though, little is known about the ways in which language proficiency affects those who work in MTs or the ways in which variations in language proficiency within teams affect their ultimate performance. The present study was designed to shed light on these issues
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Building on Kozlwoski and Klein’s emergence framework, this research developed and tested a set of multilevel hypotheses regarding individual and team transactive memory processes in work teams. Literature from social psychology suggested... more
Building on Kozlwoski and Klein’s emergence framework, this research developed and tested a set of multilevel hypotheses regarding individual and team transactive memory processes in work teams. Literature from social psychology suggested hypotheses on how shared task interdependence influences individual expertise exchange. Social network theory suggested hypotheses that individual expertise exchange is channeled according to communication tie strength. Using data collected from 218 individuals from 18 organizational teams, the proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear modeling techniques. The results showed that at the individual level the relationship between directory development and expertise exchange was mediated by communication tie strength and moderated by shared task interdependence. Team-level variables also were significantly related to individual-level outcomes such that individual expertise exchange happened more frequently in teams with well-developed ...
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Awareness plays multiple, critical roles in the initiation and sustenance of research collaborations. Potential collaborators must first be aware of each other and their respective skills so that they can meet to discuss potential... more
Awareness plays multiple, critical roles in the initiation and sustenance of research collaborations. Potential collaborators must first be aware of each other and their respective skills so that they can meet to discuss potential projects and begin collaborating. This type of awareness is the traditional domain of transactive memory and other theories of knowledge in organizations. Once people begin working together, however, they require awareness at a finer level of detail – who is around and available for interaction and how their shared project is progressing, for example. This has traditionally been the focus of CSCW theories and systems. We argue that these two approaches should be combined for smoother transitions from collaborative project initiation to collaborative work. We present preliminary evidence and discuss our current project exploring these issues. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND As collaboration becomes more dominant in knowledge production [11], virtual organizations...
This article extends our understanding of risk communication related to communal risk and risk information sharing. Building on research from risk communication, organizational behavior, and social psychology, it examines individual-,... more
This article extends our understanding of risk communication related to communal risk and risk information sharing. Building on research from risk communication, organizational behavior, and social psychology, it examines individual-, relation-, and community-level motivations to share information about a devastating plant disease. This disease can bring about substantial economic risk to everyone in a farming community. We tested our hypotheses using a national sample of U.S. tomato and potato growers ( N = 452). Our findings show that growers were motivated to share information about a communal risk based on (a) individual-oriented concerns for economic costs, (b) relation-oriented concerns for reciprocation and the information recipient’s trustworthiness, and (c) community-oriented concerns comprising a sense of shared responsibility and community cohesiveness.
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This study developed a cross-level model to study the effects of contextual factors, including team-level conflict and team-level emotion management (EM), on how individual team members seek information. Cross-level analysis using data... more
This study developed a cross-level model to study the effects of contextual factors, including team-level conflict and team-level emotion management (EM), on how individual team members seek information. Cross-level analysis using data collected from 175 individuals in 30 teams showed that team-level relationship conflict (TRC) had a negative effect on individual information seeking (IS) behavior, whereas team-level task conflict (TTC) did not have a significant effect. EM at both team and individual levels had positive effects on individual IS behavior. The same set of analyses conducted using a subset of 22 of these teams at an earlier time point confirmed the same pattern of relationships. In addition, team-level EM interacted with TRC in influencing individual IS behavior, although the patterns varied for the two time points of data collection. Theoretical implications are discussed.
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Previous studies found that (a) the characteristics (eg, quality and accessibility) and (b) the types of sources (eg, relational and non-relational sources) influenced information source selection. Different from earlier studies which... more
Previous studies found that (a) the characteristics (eg, quality and accessibility) and (b) the types of sources (eg, relational and non-relational sources) influenced information source selection. Different from earlier studies which prioritized one source attribute over ...
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Health information sharing has become especially important during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic because people need to learn about the disease and then act accordingly. This study examines the perceived trust of... more
Health information sharing has become especially important during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic because people need to learn about the disease and then act accordingly. This study examines the perceived trust of different COVID-19 information sources (health professionals, academic institutions, government agencies, news media, social media, family, and friends) and sharing of COVID-19 information in China. Specifically, it investigates how beliefs about sharing and emotions mediate the effects of perceived source trust on source-specific information sharing intentions. Results suggest that health professionals, academic institutions, and government agencies are trusted sources of information and that people share information from these sources because they think doing so will increase disease awareness and promote disease prevention. People may also choose to share COVID-19 information from news media, social media, and family as they cope with anxiety, anger, an...
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Collaboration within multinational teams necessitates the adoption of a common language, typically English, which often leads to significant differences in language proficiency across members. We develop and test a multilevel model of the... more
Collaboration within multinational teams necessitates the adoption of a common language, typically English, which often leads to significant differences in language proficiency across members. We develop and test a multilevel model of the effects of language proficiency within multinational teams. An experimental study of 51 teams (102 American and 102 Chinese participants) revealed that, at the individual level, members with higher levels of language proficiency were more likely to speak up, which led to more positive perceptions of their competence. At the team level, greater dispersion in language proficiency across members was associated with less accurate competence recognition, which, in turn, led to lower overall team performance. Moreover, communication medium moderated these relationships, such that the effects of language proficiency were more potent in face-to-face than in computer-mediated teams. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and for m...
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This study addressed how engaging in different forms of information exchange with a group is related to group members’ willingness to share risk information with outsiders. Drawing from social exchange theories, we focused on three... more
This study addressed how engaging in different forms of information exchange with a group is related to group members’ willingness to share risk information with outsiders. Drawing from social exchange theories, we focused on three unrestricted forms of information exchange: pure-generalized, group-generalized, and productive. We hypothesized that individuals’ intentions to share information with outsiders would be associated positively with engagement in pure- or group-generalized exchange and negatively with productive exchange. The hypotheses were supported with data from a national survey of U.S. growers (_N_ = 452) that examined their information-sharing behaviors with groups inside and outside their local region. The findings have broad implications for understanding information sharing within and across groups.
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Taking a communication approach to expertise, this study examined emergence of expertise through communication accommodation (CA) in 46 four-person face-to-face (FtF) and text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) groups. We found... more
Taking a communication approach to expertise, this study examined emergence of expertise through communication accommodation (CA) in 46 four-person face-to-face (FtF) and text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) groups. We found that FtF members with a lower pre-discussion task confidence accommodated to the linguistic styles of those with a higher pre-discussion task confidence. Meanwhile, CA influenced post-discussion expertise judgment in CMC groups such that members who accommodated to others were judged as having less expertise. CA also influenced post-discussion expertise judgment in FtF groups after taking into account perceived task-oriented communication and perceived influence. The findings emphasize the important roles of CA and of communication channel in expertise emergence.
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For many firms, producing information, knowledge, and enhancing learning capability have become the primary basis of competitive advantage. A review of organizational learning theory identifies two approaches: (1) those that treat... more
For many firms, producing information, knowledge, and enhancing learning capability have become the primary basis of competitive advantage. A review of organizational learning theory identifies two approaches: (1) those that treat symbolic information processing as fundamental to learning, and (2) those that view the situated nature of cognition as fundamental. After noting that the former is inadequate because it focuses primarily on behavioral and cognitive aspects of individual learning, this paper argues the importance of studying learning as interactions among people in the context of their environment. It contributes to organizational learning in three ways. First, it argues that situated learning theory is to be preferred over traditional behavioral and cognitive learning theories, because it treats organizations as complex adaptive systems rather than mere information processors. Second, it adds rate and nonlinear learning effects. Third, following model-centered epistemolog...
Research Interests: Organizational Learning, Situated Learning, Nonlinear Dynamics and Psychology, Multidisciplinary, Information Processing, and 12 moreCompetitive advantage, Learning, Humans, Computer Model, Learning Theory, Learning Effectiveness, Complex Adaptive System, Psychological Theory, Agent Based Model, Psychological Models, Group Learning, and Individual Learning
Page 1. KM via TM 1 Managing Organizational Knowledge via Connective and Communal Transactive Memory Janet Fulk Professor of Communications, Annenberg School for Communication, and Professor of Management ...
ABSTRACT This study expanded transactive memory theory by incorporating affective influences on processes that have been primarily examined through a cognitive lens. Drawing on J. P. Forgas' (1995) affect infusion model, the... more
ABSTRACT This study expanded transactive memory theory by incorporating affective influences on processes that have been primarily examined through a cognitive lens. Drawing on J. P. Forgas' (1995) affect infusion model, the research developed a multilevel model of the role of individual- and group-level state positive affect for individual transactive communication, operationalized as information seeking and sharing. A test of the model using 25 student groups showed that (a) both individual- and group-level positive affect were positively related to individual volume of transactive communication; (b) affective homogeneity among members of a group had a significant relationship to information sharing, but not information seeking; and (c) the interaction between affective homogeneity and group positive affect did not impact either transactive communication process.
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ABSTRACT Expertise recognition is challenging in teamwork, particularly in intercultural collaboration. This research seeks to investigate how cultural differences in communication styles may affect expertise recognition and influence in... more
ABSTRACT Expertise recognition is challenging in teamwork, particularly in intercultural collaboration. This research seeks to investigate how cultural differences in communication styles may affect expertise recognition and influence in face-to-face (FtF) versus text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). Using experimental intercultural groups, we found that in FtF groups East Asian experts had a lower participation rate, and were perceived as less competent, less confident, and less influential than experts from Western culture. No such differences occurred in CMC. The results support mediated moderation effect of perceived confidence on expert influence such that changes in perceptions of Chinese and American experts' confidence accounted for their different levels of influence in CMC versus FtF. No such effect was found with participation rate.
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ABSTRACT Transactive memory theory suggests that general awareness of expertise location in a group is sufficient to predict expertise-seeking. Yet expertise-seeking is, at least in part, a social phenomenon between two individuals... more
ABSTRACT Transactive memory theory suggests that general awareness of expertise location in a group is sufficient to predict expertise-seeking. Yet expertise-seeking is, at least in part, a social phenomenon between two individuals embedded in a network of social relationships. Taking a multilevel, network perspective, we examined the interplay of affective relationships and awareness on expertise-seeking in groups. Hypotheses were tested using network data collected from 693 employees in 53 sales groups. HLM analysis results indicated that awareness of expertise distribution positively influenced the decision to seek expertise at all levels of analysis examined. In addition, both positive and negative affective relationships influenced expertise-seeking, although their pattern of influence differed across different levels of analysis. More specifically, having either a positive or a negative affective relationship with another group member affected the decision to seek expertise from that person. Although having many positive relationships had a positive effect on expertise-seeking, having many negative affective relationships had no effect. Moreover, having both an awareness and a positive affective relationship with another group member amplified their positive effect on expertise-seeking. Lastly, individuals who had more negative affective ties were less likely to leverage the positive impact of each awareness relationship on expertise-seeking.
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Through in-depth interviews of 26 employees, this study examined how social norms and values influence email usage in a nonprofit organization in a low-income urban community. Although adequate technical infrastructure was in place, a... more
Through in-depth interviews of 26 employees, this study examined how social norms and values influence email usage in a nonprofit organization in a low-income urban community. Although adequate technical infrastructure was in place, a shared norm on getting a feel in social interactions reinforced face-to-face communication as the primary mode of communication among members. This norm, coupled with a lack
Research Interests: Sociology, Cognitive Science, Digital Divide, Social Interaction, Computer Literacy, and 10 moreComputer Mediated Communication, Social Influence, Technological change, Communication Technology, Face to Face, Communication and media Studies, Community Organization, Nonprofit Organization, Social Norm, and Low Income
This paper is thesecond in the Metamorphosis Project White Paper series, a series addressed to urban policymakers andpractitioners (see p. 1 in the Appendix for the full series). The larger Metamorphosis Project research design is both... more
This paper is thesecond in the Metamorphosis Project White Paper series, a series addressed to urban policymakers andpractitioners (see p. 1 in the Appendix for the full series). The larger Metamorphosis Project research design is both unusual and complex. Detaileddescriptions of all its features are reserved for presentation in the Metamorphosis Project Technical Report (2000). In the larger study, we employ a combination of many inter-related quantitative and qualitativemethods of inquiry, only some of which are implicated ...
Building on Kozlwoski and Klein's emergence framework, this research developed and tested a set of multilevel hypotheses regarding individual and team transactive memory processes in work teams. Literature from social psychology suggested... more
Building on Kozlwoski and Klein's emergence framework, this research developed and tested a set of multilevel hypotheses regarding individual and team transactive memory processes in work teams. Literature from social psychology suggested hypotheses on how shared task interdependence influences individual expertise exchange. Social network theory suggested hypotheses that individual expertise exchange is channeled according to communication tie strength.