Happiness, Loneliness, and Social Media: Perceived Intimacy Mediates the Emotional Benefits of Platform Use
Keywords:
intimacy, social media, emotions, well-being, benefitsAbstract
The purpose of this study is to explore the how user perceptions of social media might influence effects on psychological well-being. Social Presence Theory was used to examine Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and texting. Undergraduate students (N = 352) were given a survey to assess how frequently they use social media, how intimate they think each platform is, and how lonely and happy they are. Perceived intimacy was found to mediate the ameliorating effects of social media use on loneliness and happiness. Frequency of social media use initially predicted decreased loneliness and increased happiness, but once perceived intimacy was factored in, it was a more significant predictor than frequency of use. The more one uses social media, the more he or she thinks they are a good way to connect with others (perceived intimacy), and the more one is likely to be happy and feel connected with others. Results and implications are discussed.
References
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Pittman, M., & Reich, B. (2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084
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Rokach, A., & Neto, F. (2000). Coping with loneliness in adolescence: A cross-cultural study. Social Behavior and Personality: An …. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/sbp/sbp/2000/00000028/00000004/art00003
Shillair, R., Cotten, S. R., & Tsai, H. S. (2015). Not So Lonely Surfers : Computer Comfort , Internet Use and Life Satisfaction in Older Adults. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(3), 193–206.
Shrout, P., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e930/616bee242ec451b76f9998d81778042ad449.pdf
Solano, C., Batten, P., & Parish, E. (1982). Loneliness and patterns of self-disclosure. Journal of Personality and …. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/43/3/524/
Song, I., LaRose, R., Eastin, M. S., & Lin, C. a. (2004). Internet gratifications and internet addiction: on the uses and abuses of new media. Cyberpsychology & Behavior : The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 7(4), 384–394. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2004.7.384
Tu, C. (2000). On-line learning migration: from social learning theory to social presence theory in a CMC environment. Journal of Network and Computer Applications. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084804599900991
Utz, S., Muscanell, N., & Khalid, C. (2015). Snapchat Elicits More Jealousy than Facebook: A Comparison of Snapchat and Facebook Use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0479
Vitak, J., & Ellison, N. B. (2013). “There”s a network out there you might as well tap’: Exploring the benefits of and barriers to exchanging informational and support-based resources on Facebook. New Media & Society, 15(2), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812451566
Andreassen, C. S., Pallesen, S., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). The relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.006
Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. (2014). Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001
Błachnio, A., Przepiorka, A., Boruch, W., & Bałakier, E. (2016). Self-presentation styles, privacy, and loneliness as predictors of Facebook use in young people. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.12.051
Cacioppo, J. (1998). Autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immune responses to psychological stress: The reactivity hypothesisa. Annals of the New …. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09605.x/full
Cacioppo, J., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=w8pWZ2AGI4MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=cacioppo+and+patrick+2008&ots=lEcI4AqaZY&sig=NuoKcVsqjOzjiZO2cO15vjgKuKo
Caplan, S. E. (2007). Relations among loneliness, social anxiety, and problematic Internet use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior : The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 10(2), 234–42. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9963
Correa, T., Hinsley, A. W., & de Zúñiga, H. G. (2010). Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2), 247–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.09.003
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380. https://doi.org/10.1086/225469
Gunawardena, C. (1995a). Social presence theory and implications for interaction and collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal of Educational. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/index.cfm/files/paper_15156.pdf?fuseaction=Reader.DownloadFullText&paper_id=15156
Gunawardena, C. (1995b). Social presence theory and implications for interaction and collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal of Educational. Retrieved from https://www.editlib.org/index.cfm/files/paper_15156.pdf?fuseaction=Reader.DownloadFullText&paper_id=15156
Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling. White Paper, 1–39. https://doi.org/978-1-60918-230-4
Heinrich, L., & Gullone, E. (2006). The clinical significance of loneliness: A literature review. Clinical Psychology Review. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735806000444
Jones, W., Hobbs, S., & Hockenbury, D. (1982). Loneliness and social skill deficits. Journal of Personality and …. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/42/4/682/
Keating, R. T., Hendy, H. M., & Can, S. H. (2016). Demographic and psychosocial variables associated with good and bad perceptions of social media use. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.002
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., … Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e69841. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069841
Larose, R., Lin, C. A., & Eastin, M. S. (2009). Unregulated Internet Usage : Addiction , Habit , or Deficient Self-Regulation ?, (March 2014), 37–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0503
Ledbetter, A., & Mazer, J. (2010). Attitudes toward online social connection and self-disclosure as predictors of Facebook communication and relational closeness. Communication …. Retrieved from http://crx.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/09/09/0093650210365537.abstract
Ledbetter, A., & Mazer, J. (2013). Do online communication attitudes mitigate the association between Facebook use and relational interdependence? An extension of media multiplexity theory. New Media & Society. Retrieved from http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/03/1461444813495159.abstract
Ma, X., Hancock, J., & Naaman, M. (2016). Anonymity, Intimacy and Self-Disclosure in Social Media. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI ’16 (pp. 3857–3869). New York, New York, USA: ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858414
Olien, J. (2013). Dangers of loneliness: Social isolation is deadlier than obesity. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/08/dangers_of_loneliness_social_isolation_is_deadlier_than_obesity.html
Park, S., Kim, I., Lee, S. W., Yoo, J., Jeong, B., & Cha, M. (2015). Manifestation of Depression and Loneliness on Social Networks. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing - CSCW ’15 (pp. 557–570). New York, New York, USA: ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/2675133.2675139
Peplau, L. (1982). Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research, and therapy. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=peplau+perlman+1982&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C38&as_sdtp=#1
Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. Personal Relationships. Retrieved from http://www.peplaulab.ucla.edu/Peplau_Lab/Publications_files/Perlman %26
Peplau 81.pdf
Pittman, M. (2015). Creating, Consuming, and Connecting: Examining the Relationship Between Social Media Engagement and Loneliness. The Journal of Social Media in Society. Retrieved from http://www.thejsms.org/tsmri/index.php/TSMRI/article/view/92
Pittman, M., & Reich, B. (2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L. yi, Rosen, D., … Miller, E. (2017). Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010
Rokach, A., & Neto, F. (2000). Coping with loneliness in adolescence: A cross-cultural study. Social Behavior and Personality: An …. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/sbp/sbp/2000/00000028/00000004/art00003
Shillair, R., Cotten, S. R., & Tsai, H. S. (2015). Not So Lonely Surfers : Computer Comfort , Internet Use and Life Satisfaction in Older Adults. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(3), 193–206.
Shrout, P., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e930/616bee242ec451b76f9998d81778042ad449.pdf
Solano, C., Batten, P., & Parish, E. (1982). Loneliness and patterns of self-disclosure. Journal of Personality and …. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/43/3/524/
Song, I., LaRose, R., Eastin, M. S., & Lin, C. a. (2004). Internet gratifications and internet addiction: on the uses and abuses of new media. Cyberpsychology & Behavior : The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 7(4), 384–394. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2004.7.384
Tu, C. (2000). On-line learning migration: from social learning theory to social presence theory in a CMC environment. Journal of Network and Computer Applications. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084804599900991
Utz, S., Muscanell, N., & Khalid, C. (2015). Snapchat Elicits More Jealousy than Facebook: A Comparison of Snapchat and Facebook Use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0479
Vitak, J., & Ellison, N. B. (2013). “There”s a network out there you might as well tap’: Exploring the benefits of and barriers to exchanging informational and support-based resources on Facebook. New Media & Society, 15(2), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812451566
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2018-12-31
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