From a distance: Impression formation and impression accuracy among geographically distributed coworkers

One critical and to date understudied social psychological construct with significant implications for technology-mediated distributed work is impression formation. Forming useful impressions of each other is crucial for coworkers to avoidmistrust, misattribution, and conflict, and thereby, work effectively and productively. In this theoretical review paper I systematically outline how elements of distributed and virtual work – geographic dispersion, electronic dependence, heterogeneity, and dynamic structures – shape coworkers’ impression of each other by influencing information and motivation, the main moderators of impression formation. I develop a model of how the impression formation process acts in technology-mediated distributed work settings, draw propositions, and identify ways to mitigate the breakdown in impression formation among distributed coworkers. Finally, I conceptualize impression accuracy in terms of descriptive, predictive, and explanatory knowledge about others and discuss how it can be increased with positive outcomes for trust, attribution, knowledge sharing, and conflict resolution. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.