Stockholm university

Serena Coppolino PerfumiPhD Student

About me

Since August 2017, I am a PhD Student at the Department of Sociology, Stockholm University.

Before, I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Social Psychology at University of Florence, Italy.

Research

My research interests regard social dynamics in online environments, in particular, I have been working on social influence, conformity, group pressure and polarization and how these phenomena are affected by computer-mediated-communication and anonymity.

The aim of my current research project is to analyze how information is processed by users, in particular how news and sources can be evaluated as fake or credible on the Internet, with particular attention to the social dynamics that underlie these processes, and that can be activated in particular settings such as social networks. 

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Deindividuation effects on normative and informational social influence within computer-mediated-communication

    2019. Serena Coppolino Perfumi (et al.). Computers in human behavior 92, 230-237

    Article

    Research on social influence shows that different patterns take place when this phenomenon happens within computer-mediated-communication (CMC), if compared to face-to-face interaction. Informational social influence can still easily take place also by means of CMC, however normative influence seems to be more affected by the environmental characteristics. Different authors have theorized that deindividuation nullifies the effects of normative influence, but the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects theorizes that users will conform even when deindividuated, but only if social identity is made salient. The two typologies of social influence have never been studied in comparison, therefore in our work, we decided to create an online experiment to observe how the same variables affect them, and in particular how deindividuation works in both cases. The 181 experimental subjects that took part, performed 3 tasks: one aiming to elicit normative influence, and two semantic tasks created to test informational influence. Entropy has been used as a mathematical assessment of information availability. Our results show that normative influence becomes almost ineffective within CMC (1.4% of conformity) when subjects are deindividuated. Informational influence is generally more effective than normative influence within CMC (15-29% of conformity), but similarly to normative influence, it is inhibited by deindividuation.

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  • Combating misinformation online

    2020. Eleni A. Kyza (et al.). Internet Policy Review 9 (4)

    Article

    Social media have created communication channels between citizens and policymakers but are also susceptible to rampant misinformation. This new context demands new social media policies that can aid policymakers in making evidence-based decisions for combating misinformation online. This paper reports on data collected from policymakers in Austria, Greece, and Sweden, using focus groups and in-depth interviews. Analyses provide insights into challenges and identify four important themes for supporting policy-making for combating misinformation: a) creating a trusted network of experts and collaborators, b) facilitating the validation of online information, c) providing access to visualisations of data at different levels of granularity, and d) increasing the transparency and explainability of flagged misinformative content. These recommendations have implications for rethinking how revised social media policies can contribute to evidence-based decision-making.

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  • Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects and Media Use

    2020. Serena Coppolino Perfumi. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology

    Chapter

    The social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE model) provides an important lens through which Internet researchers can study computer‐mediated interactions. The theoretical model aims at bringing further the discussion around the construct of deindividuation, by proving under which conditions it can actually lead to group conformity, and it does so by testing and contextualizing it in online environments, where different degrees of anonymity, one of the conditions that can induce deindividuation, are present. The SIDE model contrasts with previously developed models on deindividuation by declaring that this state can actually enhance the tendency to categorize oneself in terms of the group, rather than at the individual level, and, therefore, by making the social norms more salient, it can trigger conformity responses. This model is particularly important in explaining the dynamics that can take place when individuals communicate via computer or, for example, utilize social media platforms.

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  • Reviewing Stranger on the Internet

    2021. Mirko Duradoni (et al.). Future Internet 13 (5)

    Article

    The stranger on the Internet effect has been studied in relation to self-disclosure. Nonetheless, quantitative evidence about how people mentally represent and perceive strangers online is still missing. Given the dynamic development of web technologies, quantifying how much strangers can be considered suitable for pro-social acts such as self-disclosure appears fundamental for a whole series of phenomena ranging from privacy protection to fake news spreading. Using a modified and online version of the Ultimatum Game (UG), we quantified the mental representation of the stranger on the Internet effect and tested if people modify their behaviors according to the interactors' identifiability (i.e., reputation). A total of 444 adolescents took part in a 2 x 2 design experiment where reputation was set active or not for the two traditional UG tasks. We discovered that, when matched with strangers, people donate the same amount of money as if the other has a good reputation. Moreover, reputation significantly affected the donation size, the acceptance rate and the feedback decision making as well.

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Show all publications by Serena Coppolino Perfumi at Stockholm University