Why distance matters

This paper was designed to study the effects of perceived distance on collaboration effectiveness. The authors used a participant and a confederate collaborator who professed to either be in the same town or on the other side of the US. This person was in fact in the next room. They also had another condition which was IM vs. video. A number of results were collected including:
a) deception levels were higher for distant pairs
b) persuasion levels were higher for closer pairs
c) Initial cooperation was higher for closer pairs, but changes over time.

"Our findings indicate that the geographical distance of a collaborating partner affects one’s willingness to initially cooperate with, be persuaded by, and deceive that partner. If people believed that their partner was far away in a distant city, they initially cooperated less than if they believed the partner was close. However, cooperation increased with interaction. On the other hand, if one believed their partner to be close, the amount of cooperation did not increase with interaction. In addition, people were less persuaded by a person that they believed to be distant from them, compared to being in the same city. Also, people were more likely to give deceptive (positive) portrayals about themselves to a partner that they believed to be in a distant city, as opposed to the same city."

This has interesting implications for mobile communities. How do you perceive how far away a mobile collaborator is from you? What if they lie? Should you lie to improve collaborative power? ;)

Why Distance Matters: Effects on Cooperation, Persuasion and Deception, 2002, 10 pg.
Erin Bradner and Gloria Mark
[Full-text pdf] (published with permission of author)