Video conferencing has become commonplace in today’s work environment. Video calls are convenient, save money, and provide the psychological benefit of face-to-face communication. They enable the hiring of remote workers and facilitate easy connection with international colleagues. But scientific studies are revealing that engagement over video platforms is not without its disadvantages.

I am a biomedical scientist and author of Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces that Make Us Who We Are, a book that explores hidden forces that influence our behavior. As in the business world, we have seen steep inclines in the use of video conferencing in academia for job interviews, online classes, team meetings, and international symposia. I’ve been monitoring research that exposes the potential downsides of video calls so that we can use this technology more wisely.

How to stop video calls from dampening your creativity

Intuition might have you thinking that face-to-face contact is better at getting the creative juices flowing than a voice-only phone call. A 2022 study led by business professor Melanie Brucks, however, found that videoconferencing was detrimental to creative idea generation because communicators feel obligated to stare at the screen.

The experiment pitted videoconference groups against in-person groups to see which could find more creative uses for different objects. The study involved participants in five different countries, consistently finding that in-person groups came up with more options.

Previous research suggests that a narrow visual focus is associated with a narrow cognitive focus. In other words, in-person groups get more creative because they are more likely to let their eyes wander around the room, which helps the mind wander as well. This idea was confirmed in Brucks’ study by using eye-tracking software to compare how often participants averted their gaze during a video call versus in-person conversations.

Not all aspects of cognitive abilities were diminished when comparing video chats and in-person groups. Decision-making skills, such as selecting the best idea to pursue, did not seem to be impaired in videoconferencing groups.

For brainstorming over a video call, Brucks recommends turning the cameras off after introductions are made. That way, participants are free to gaze off into space or walk around their room, which may offset the stifled creativity her team observed in video conferences.

Technical difficulties jeopardize first impressions

Do people really think less of us if we experience technical difficulties during a video call? The science suggests that we do, so make sure your internet connection and sound quality are top-notch before joining an important call.

A 2025 study by psychology professor Brian Scholl showed that poor sound quality in video calls leads to negative social evaluations of the speaker. Video callers whose voice sounds tinny or hollow tend to be judged lower on intelligence, hireability, credibility, and romantic desirability. The results emphasize the importance of investing in a quality microphone, but also signal that listeners should guard against this unconscious bias.

Brucks conducted another study in 2025 that examined whether glitches, such as screen freezing, during videoconferencing led listeners to form negative judgments about the speaker. Speakers in the experiment whose video feed was purposefully beset with technical problems paid a high price in terms of generating trust and engagement. The results suggest that glitches could diminish job interview success, trustworthiness of medical providers, and the likelihood of being granted parole.

These studies illustrate that the quality of the video call can influence opinions formed about the speaker. The researchers caution users not to discriminate against speakers who do not have access to higher-quality equipment. If you’re the victim of a glitch, the researchers recommend that joking about it might defuse the situation and restore trust.

Which virtual backgrounds win people over?

In addition to broadcasting the natural surroundings, videoconferencing platforms often allow users to blur them or choose a virtual background. Research shows that the background you select can impact the first impression you make.

A 2023 study led by Paddy Ross, a psychology professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom, examined how video backgrounds influenced impressions of trustworthiness and competence. The research team asked 167 participants to judge faces appearing against six different backgrounds featuring a living space, blurred living space, blank wall, bookcase, houseplants, or a novelty image (in this case, a walrus chilling out on an iceberg).

The findings showed that to build trust and communicate competence, users should have a natural background that includes books or plants. Living space or novelty backgrounds performed the worst. It also helps to smile, according to the same study.

A 2022 study, performed by the Canadian health marketing agency Klick Inc., investigated the effects of videoconferencing backgrounds on creativity. In the experiment, 80 subjects were asked to think of new uses for ordinary objects after viewing a background consisting of a nature setting, an urban setting, or a plain grey wall. Consistent with previous research showing that nature enhances cognitive abilities, the findings suggest that viewing a nature-themed background during video calls boosts creativity. A separate study conducted by researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore demonstrated another benefit to backgrounds displaying nature: It reduces videoconference fatigue.

Videoconferencing has taken the world by storm, and a burst of research is studying how to most effectively deploy this technology to enhance creativity and productivity without straining our mental health. Emerging studies suggest that seemingly little factors, such as the background, the sound quality, and whether we smile, can have a larger-than-expected impact on our interactions.