Online Chronemics Convey Social Information

Chronemic research explores the involvement of time-related messages in communication, and has shown that time is an important component of the message in both traditional and online communication. Social information processing (SIP) theory posits that online communicators exchange social information through chronemic cues. This study points to a gap in SIP theory research, and suggests that it is also necessary to examine chronemics as the dependent variable in the process of online exchange of social information and to demonstrate that changes in important social attributes are reflected in measurable chronemic changes. A two-person social dilemma online game is used to demonstrate that changes in a simple chronemic variable reflect differences in two major components of the players’ personalities (extraversion and agreeableness), as well as differences in dyadic trust within the team. These findings support SIP theory by showing how chronemics provide reliable cues to important personal and situational information.