Vazire, S., & Gosling, S. D. (2004). e-Perceptions: Personality impressions based on personal websites. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 123-132.
Vazire and Gosling propose to evaluate personality impressions through an ecological study of personal websites which eliminate behavioral residue and isolate identity claims. The authors question whether these identity claims present a clear and consistent message by determining observer consensus; whether these identity claims are accurate, especially for the “Openness to Experience” trait; and whether these identity claims are overly positive.
The sample population of website evaluators was confined to Midwestern college students, a population which may not be generalizable. The websites were selected randomly, and the website authors were asked to complete self-ratings. Each self-rating was correlated to ratings by two informants familiar with the website author, and the identity claims were controlled by saving the content prior to contacting the website authors.
The sample population showed significant correlation with the author/informant ratings, although ratings varied across traits (Openness and Extraversion showed the strongest consensus), indicating that these identity claims are clear and consistent. The sample population also showed significant correlation with the author/informant traits, although accuracy again varied across traits (Openness showed the most accuracy), suggesting that these identity claims are accurate. Further testing confirmed that informants obtained their information from other sources (such as behavioral observation) rather than the websites, establishing the independence of the sample population ratings via website exposure alone. Finally, by comparing the correlation between author ideal-self ratings and actual ratings with the correlation between accuracy and actual ratings, Vazire and Gosling argue that personal website do not convey overly positive identity claims, although this argument seems questionable when Extraversion and Agreeableness, “showed strong evidence of impression management” (p. 128).
The data presented was compelling but hampered by the overly broad personality categories. An interesting extension which the authors suggest for future research is the manipulation of content characteristics to isolate the contribution of specific clues on impression formation. The correspondence in observation of physical and virtual spaces is unsurprising, and a larger effect would be demonstrating consistency between observation of identity spaces (physical or virtual) and actual behavior in more narrow personality traits.
At the same time, the claim that “observers can learn at least as much about someone by viewing their website as they can from the person’s bedroom, office, or a thin slice of behavior” (p. 129) holds import for both identity management and identity evaluation in the Web 2.0 age. While this study is not as “interesting” ((Davis, 1971) as previous experiments reviewed, Vazire and Gosling build a solid foundation on which to base future research in online identity evaluation by establishing the clarity and accuracy of personal websites as identity claim repositories.
Jus Sayin 