To inspire the most trust in those you interact with during video meetings, ensure you have plants or books strategically positioned behind you. That\u2019s according to new research, which looks at how people\u2019s choice of Zoom background could be helping or hindering them. <\/p>\n
Researchers from the United Kingdom\u2019s Durham University set out to see how the way we interact online impacts first impressions and the judgments we form. Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Plos One. <\/p>\n
The team used 72 photos of 36 adults from a photo database \u2013 each one was pictured with both a happy and a neutral expression. These were then superimposed on various virtual backgrounds and framed with a Zoom border \u201cto simulate the experience of a video conference call.\u201d <\/p>\n
The six backgrounds selected for the study were categorized as: home (living room), blurred home, bookcase, plants, blank wall and novelty \u2013 in this case a walrus in front of an iceberg. <\/p>\n
A cohort of 167 participants, aged between 19 and 68, were then asked to complete an online questionnaire about how trustworthy and how competent the people in each image appeared to be. <\/p>\n
\u201cFaces presented on the plants and bookcase background were consistently rated as the most trustworthy and most competent, contrasting the home and novelty backgrounds which received lower trustworthiness and competence ratings,\u201d the authors of the study said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe tested over 160 people and we found that the background of plants and bookcases led to higher trust and competency responses. And we found that the living room and novelty backgrounds were the worst,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Analyzing the findings, he said: \u201cI think people know that\u2019s how other people work. Not everyone has a home office but yet there\u2019s something that still seems a little unserious [about a home or novelty background]. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like you haven\u2019t put any thought into how you are presenting yourself and so this seems less competent than someone\u2026 who seems able to keep plants alive, or someone with a bookcase who looks like they are trying to better themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ross said that a carefully selected video call background \u201cseems to be the new business suit.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas for a job interview you used to have to think about what you were wearing and how you would look,\u201d he said, adding that the focus is now on the environment of your backdrop. <\/p>\n
Another important factor, however, was the person\u2019s demeanor in each shot. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that generally smiling makes you look more trustworthy and competent, no matter what the background,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Overall, women inspired more trust, the study found. <\/p>\n
\u201cFemale faces were also rated as more trustworthy and more competent, regardless of the background they were using,\u201d the researchers wrote. <\/p>\n
The team now plans to carry out further research using actual simulated video calls, rather than still images. <\/p>\n
Ross added: \u201cWe are creating actual recorded Zoom videos of people at the start of a job interview and what we\u2019re planning to do is change the background and ask people not just about first impressions, but bigger decisions too. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf it makes a difference to people\u2019s hiring decisions then we could really help people to give themselves the best chance of getting a job.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
To inspire the most trust in those you interact with during video meetings, ensure you have plants or books strategically positioned behind you. That\u2019s according to new research, which looks at how people\u2019s choice of Zoom background could be helping or hindering them. Researchers from the United Kingdom\u2019s Durham University set out to see how <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}