People are suffering from “Zoom fatigue” for some very specific reasons, according to a recently published study.
In the post-pandemic world, the increasing reliance on virtual meetings has led to the identification of a new phenomenon among people who are apparently fed up with talking to colleagues on computer screens.
This phenomenon has “significant” implications for workplace productivity and individual well-being, scientists say, as news agency SWNS reported.
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The new study has found that “facial appearance dissatisfaction” is a key trigger of meeting fatigue.
Chaeyun Lim of the University of Michigan and her colleagues investigated impression management features – tools that allow users to adjust their self-video to manage their appearance.
A new study included professional, technical and scientific workers who were on the job remotely at least part of the time – and who participated in regular virtual meetings with their colleagues. (iStock)
The research team recruited 2,448 U.S.-based workers to participate in a short survey.
The sample included professional, technical and scientific workers who were on the job remotely at least part of the time – and who participated in regular virtual meetings with their teams.
The survey assessed the participants’ negative perceptions of their facial appearance, as well as “impression management” methods such as the use of “touch-up” enhancements and the use of video filters or avatars, SWNS noted.
“The solution isn’t more professional cameras or makeup – it’s learning to accept yourself the way you are.”
Published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, the study showed that workers who report increased facial appearance dissatisfaction also experience more virtual meeting fatigue – which then leads to even more use of the impression management features.
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Said Lim, a doctoral student at Michigan State University, said, “Fatigue induced by facial dissatisfaction is associated with users perceiving virtual meetings as less useful.”
This “ultimately affects their intention to adopt virtual platforms in workplace meetings.”
“Our new way of doing meetings and connecting virtually is part of the problem.” (iStock)
She said that “taken together, the findings advance [an] understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying virtual meeting fatigue and its influence on technology adoption,” SWNS reported.
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Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News’ senior medical analyst and a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, told Fox News Digital that “multiple studies have shown that we are in a period of post-pandemic loneliness and anxiety, with a continuing sense of disconnection to others.”
“Our society fosters competition and division — and virtual meetings may contribute to that, even if the meetings are themselves pleasant or productive.”
He said that “our new way of doing meetings and connecting virtually is part of the problem.”
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Siegel added, “As someone who appears regularly on camera, I can say that proper makeup and lighting and a professional camera are very helpful in putting your best ‘face’ forward, whereas virtual meetings generally rely on poor lighting and even unflattering views” for most people.
“The solution isn’t more professional cameras or makeup – it’s learning to accept yourself the way you are.” (iStock)
“No wonder,” he said, that “so many people want to turn their cameras off and rely on audio only.”
He noted that “the solution isn’t more professional cameras or makeup – it’s learning to accept yourself the way you are.”
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Siegel added, “Our society fosters competition and division – and virtual meetings may contribute to that, even if the meetings are themselves pleasant or productive.”
Future studies, said researcher Lim, should recruit participants from a variety of cultural contexts.
There is a “need to address worker well-being in virtual communication environments,” said researchers connected to a new study. (iStock)
They should also delve deeper, she said, into how current virtual meeting features facilitate workplace communication in ways that support workers’ mental health.
Lim added, “Our study highlights that dissatisfaction with facial appearance contributes to Zoom fatigue, leading to reduced adoption of virtual meeting technologies.”
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“This dissatisfaction also drives the use of impression management features – emphasizing the need to address worker well-being in virtual communication environments.”
