The interactions and relationships we have with other people form an essential social network that supports us and adds meaning to our lives. This well-known fact is illustrated by the massive success of communication media such as e-mail, mobile telephony, and text messaging and the massive adoption of social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter.
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Acknowledgments
The development of the ABC-Q has been supported by the European Commission through the FP5 FET ASTRA Assessment Project (IST-2001-39270), and the FP6 FET ASTRA STREP (IST-2004-29266). The initial development of the ABC-Q has been previously presented at the 6th Annual International Workshop on Presence (PRESENCE 2003; van Baren et al., 2003) and at the 3rd Workshop on Social Intelligence Design (SID 2004; van Baren et al., 2004).
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Appendix: The ABC-Questionnaire
Appendix: The ABC-Questionnaire
1.1 Introductory Instructions
On the following pages you will be asked questions about you experiences regarding communication with your [target group, e.g., family members] using [medium, e.g., mobile phone].
There are no right or wrong answers; we are interested in your personal opinions and experiences. Do not think about questions for a long time, but try to rely on your first reaction.
Some questions ask you about the experiences of your [target group]. We are interested in your view on their feelings and experiences, so it is no problem if you are not sure about this. Just try to give the answer that you think is most suitable.
1.2 The Questionnaire
The ABC items are presented below in mixed order. Agreement with the statements presented should be scored on a Likert scale, e.g., from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree).
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1.
I feel obliged to contact the other.
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2.
After a contact the other keeps thinking about me for a long time.
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3.
I find it difficult to infer from a contact how the other is doing.
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4.
I feel that the contacts with the other take a lot of time.
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5.
The contacts keep the other informed about important events in my life.
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6.
The other feels part of a group because of the contacts.
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7.
The other finds it difficult to stay in touch with me through this medium.
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8.
I try to make a contact feel special for the other.
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9.
If I contact the other, I expect him/her to respond.
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10.
The other experiences the contacts as an invasion of his/her privacy.
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11.
The other knows what I feel during a contact.
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12.
The other can easily avoid a contact if s/he wants to.
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13.
The contacts keep me informed about important events in the other’s life.
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14.
I find it easy to keep to myself those things that I don’t want to share.
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15.
I expect the other to contact me regularly.
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16.
The other hardly invests energy in the contacts.
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17.
During the day I regularly think back to a contact with the other.
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18.
The contacts make me feel involved in what is happening in our group.
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19.
The other finds it important that a contact feels valuable for me.
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20.
This medium helps me to keep contact with the other.
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21.
The other is disappointed if I don’t contact him/her for a long time.
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22.
I find it difficult to share experiences with the other through this medium.
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23.
The contacts make the other feel a sense of unity in our group.
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24.
Through our contacts, the other learns more about me than I would like him/her to know.
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25.
The other puts effort into making a contact nice for me.
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26.
The contacts make me feel involved in the other’s life.
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27.
The other could do some more effort to contact me.
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28.
Because of the contacts the other can identify with me.
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29.
If the other contacts me, I feel that I should respond.
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30.
Aside from our contacts, the other hardly thinks about me.
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31.
I feel part of a group because of the contacts.
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32.
The other expects me to contact him/her regularly.
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33.
I put effort into making a contact nice for the other.
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34.
Aside from our contacts, I hardly think about the other
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35.
The other finds it easy to keep to him/herself those things that s/he doesn’t want to share.
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36.
I know what the other feels during a contact.
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37.
Because of the contacts the other knows how I am doing.
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38.
I hardly invest energy in the contacts.
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39.
The contacts make the other feel involved in my life.
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40.
The other feels obliged to contact me.
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41.
I am disappointed if the other doesn’t contact me for a long time.
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42.
The other tries to make a contact feel special for me.
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43.
The other finds it difficult to share experiences with me through this medium.
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44.
The contacts make me feel a sense of unity in our group.
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45.
After a contact I keep thinking about the other for a long time.
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46.
The other feels that the contacts with me take a lot of time.
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47.
I find it difficult to stay in touch with the other through this medium.
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48.
Through our contacts, I learn more about the other than s/he would like me to know.
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49.
Because of the contacts I can identify with the other.
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50.
If I contact the other, s/he feels that s/he should respond.
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51.
If the other contacts me, s/he expects me to respond.
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52.
The contacts make the other person feel involved in what is happening in our group.
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53.
I experience the contacts as an invasion of my privacy.
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54.
The other finds it difficult to infer from a contact how I am doing.
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55.
I find it important that a contact feels valuable for the other.
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56.
During the day the other regularly thinks back to a contact with me.
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57.
I could do some more effort to contact the other.
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58.
I can easily avoid a contact if I want to.
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59.
Because of the contacts I know how the other is doing.
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60.
This medium helps the other to keep contact with me.
1.3 Scoring Instructions
The ABC-Q (Affective Benefits and Costs in Communication – Questionnaire) consists of 10 scales, which can be grouped into two main dimensions: Benefits of Communication and Costs of Communication. Each scale includes six items, three of which address the respondent’s own feelings, and three of which address the respondent’s perception of the feelings of his/her communication partner(s).
Total scores for each scale can be calculated by adding the responses of the six items in that scale. Therefore, each scale has a maximum value of 42 and a minimum value of 6.
It is also possible to calculate subscales for the respondent’s own feelings and the respondent’s perception of the feelings of his/her communication partner(s), if this is meaningful in the context of the study.
Most scales contain both indicative and contra-indicative items. Therefore, the following items should be recoded: 3, 7, 12, 14, 16, 22, 27, 30, 34, 35, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 58.
Recoding means that the responses to an item should be ‘mirrored,’ which can be done by replacing response 1 with response 7, 2 with 6, 3 with 5, 5 with 3, 6 with 2, and 7 with 1.
Below, an overview is given of the dimensions, scales, and subscales of the ABC-Q.
1.3.1 Benefits of Communication
Personal Effort
 Respondent’s own feelings: 8, 33, 55
 Perception of other’s feelings: 19, 25, 42
Thinking about each other
 Respondent’s own feelings: 17, 34, 45
 Perception of other’s feelings: 2, 30, 56
Sharing Experiences
 Respondent’s own feelings: 13, 22, 59
 Perception of other’s feelings: 5, 37, 43
Staying in Touch
 Respondent’s own feelings: 20, 26, 47
 Perception of other’s feelings: 7, 39, 60
Recognition
 Respondent’s own feelings: 3, 36, 49
 Perception of other’s feelings: 11, 28, 54
Group Attraction
 Respondent’s own feelings: 18, 31, 44
 Perception of other’s feelings: 6, 23, 52
1.3.2 Cost of Communication
Obligations
 Respondent’s own feelings: 1, 29, 58
 Perception of other’s feelings: 12, 40, 50
Expectations
 Respondent’s own feelings: 9, 15, 41
 Perception of other’s feelings: 21, 32, 51
Invasion of Privacy
 Respondent’s own feelings: 14, 24, 53
 Perception of other’s feelings: 10, 35, 48
Process Effort
 Respondent’s own feelings: 4, 38, 57
 Perception of other’s feelings: 16, 27, 46
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IJsselsteijn, W., van Baren, J., Markopoulos, P., Romero, N., de Ruyter, B. (2009). Measuring Affective Benefits and Costs of Mediated Awareness: Development and Validation of the ABC-Questionnaire. In: Markopoulos, P., De Ruyter, B., Mackay, W. (eds) Awareness Systems. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-477-5_20
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