Disembodiment in online social interaction: impact of online chat on social support and psychosocial well-being.

This study investigates how disembodiment--that is, transcendence of body constraints in cyberspace--in online chat affects social psychological well-being. The results demonstrate that disembodiment is a strong predictor of increased loneliness and depression, and decreased social support. However, the amount of chat use is a positive contributor to decreased offline estrangement and depression, and increased happiness. These contrasting results suggest that online chat use is a technology for social connection used for offline connectivity, but the disembodiment motive is associated with declines in social support and psychosocial well-being. The investigation of specified motives for online interaction, personal competency, or advanced technological alternatives in interaction is suggested for future research on the effects of online interaction on offline outcomes.     

Personal homepage construction as an expression of social development

In 2 studies, the authors explored preadolescent and adolescent use of personal homepages in relation to mastery and identity formation. In Study 1, the authors attempted to determine the prevalence of personal homepage and online journal (blog) construction among a random sample (N=500) of preadolescents and adolescents. Adolescents were more likely to create personal homepages or blogs than preadolescents. Creation was related to feelings of mastery, expressions of identity, and a means to socialize. In Study 2, the authors explored the relationship of homepages to mastery and identity formation by content analysis of a random sample of homepages. Results suggest children use personal homepages to express and explore their forming identities.     

Trait empathy as a predictor of individual differences in perceived loneliness

Loneliness has been shown to be inversely correlated with empathy in younger adults. The present study extends previous research by investigating the association between empathy and loneliness across the adult lifespan and examining the role of relevant demographic and personality factors. 110 community-dwelling adults (18 to 81 years old) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Empathy Quotient. Empathy scores were inversely associated with rated loneliness and predicted 8.7% of variance in loneliness scores after accounting for sex, age, relationship status, education, and neuroticism. The Social Skills factor of the Empathy Quotient was the strongest predictor of the association between perceived empathy and loneliness. Previous research is extended by the finding that rated loneliness was inversely associated with empathy scores across the adult lifespan. Underlying this relationship may be negative perceptions of personal social proclivity as a function of difficulty in understanding the mental states of others and high trait neuroticism.     

In-person contact begets calling and texting: interpersonal motives for cell phone use, face-to-face interaction, and loneliness

This study examined how cell-phone use is related to interpersonal motives for using cell phones, face-to-face communication, and loneliness. A survey of 232 college students who owned a cell phone revealed that affection and inclusion were relatively strong motivations for using voice calls and text messaging, and that interpersonal motives were positively related to the amount of cell-phone use, including calling and texting. The amount of face-to-face interaction was positively associated with the participants' cell-phone use and their interpersonal motives for using cell phones: the more the participants engaged in face-to-face interaction with other people, the higher their motives were and the more frequent cell-phone use was. Loneliness did not have a direct relation to cell-phone use. Instead, the participants with higher levels of loneliness were less likely to engage in face-to-face social interaction, which led them to use cell phones less and to be less motivated to use cell phones for interpersonal purposes.     

Social implications of smartphone use: korean college students' smartphone use and psychological well-being

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between motives of smartphone use, social relation, and psychological well-being. The correlation analysis shows that the motives of smartphone use were positively related to bonding relations but negatively related to bridging relations. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis finds the associations among motives of smartphone use, social relations, perceived social support, and variables of psychological well-being. The results demonstrate that needs for caring for others were negatively related to loneliness and depression and positively related to self-esteem. However, the communication motives are not a significant predictor to determine self-esteem, loneliness, and depression. In addition, bonding and bridging social relations and social support significantly increase self-esteem and decrease loneliness and depression.     

In their words: Connecting on‐line weblogs to developmental processes

This paper seeks to connect adolescents' communication within on‐line weblogs or blogs to developmental processes. A total of 195 English language blogs written by self‐identified 14‐ to 18‐year‐olds were selected; three entries from each blog were analysed, resulting in a sample of 585 entries. Blogger demographics, self‐presentation, and blog entries (format, style, content, and tone) were coded. The blog authors in our sample were overwhelmingly female and lived within the US; the majority were between 15‐ and 16‐years of age. Bloggers utilized usernames and userpictures for self‐presentation and in addition to gender, frequently presented information about their age and location. The majority of the entries used text, were narrative and reflective in style, and contained themes related to their authors' peers and everyday life. Emotional tone was present and entries with romantic, identity, and future‐related themes often contained emotional tone. Blog authors seemed to be using blogs to create narratives and to reflect about the people and events in their lives. Our results show that adolescent bloggers project off‐line themes to their blogs, suggesting that their on‐line and off‐line contexts are psychologically connected.     

Approach and avoidance sexual motives: Implications for personal and interpersonal well‐being

This research provides the first empirical investigation of how approach and avoidance motives for engaging in sex in intimate relationships are associated with personal well‐being and relationship quality. A 2‐week daily experience study of college student dating couples tested specific predictions from the theoretical model and included both longitudinal and dyadic components. Whereas approach sex motives were positively associated with personal and interpersonal well‐being, avoidance sex motives were negatively associated with well‐being. Engaging in sex for avoidance motives was particularly detrimental to the maintenance of relationships over time. Perceptions of a partner's motives for sex were also associated with well‐being. Implications for the conceptualization of sexuality in relationships along these two dimensions are discussed.     

Approach and avoidance social motives and goals

ABSTRACT It was predicted that approach social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of positive social features, and avoidance social motives and goals would be linked to outcomes characterized by the presence of negative social features and that the link between approach motives and outcomes would be mediated by different processes than the link between avoidance motives and outcomes. These hypotheses were examined in three studies (two of them longitudinal) that measured participants' dispositional social motives, short-term social goals, and social outcomes (e.g., loneliness). Approach motives and goals were reliably associated with less loneliness and more satisfaction with social bonds, whereas avoidance motives and goals were reliably associated with more loneliness, negative social attitudes, and relationship insecurity. Results also suggested that these associations were mediated by different processes. Implications for the conceptualization of close relationships along these two dimensions are discussed.     

Modeling of variables related to problematic social media usage: Social desirability tendency example

Social media usage has been popular for the last decade. Individuals use their social media environments for various reasons such as to socialize, play games, have fun and share posts. Overuse of these environments may lead to negative psychological and behavioral consequences for individuals. Additionally, it increases the worries about potential addicted/problematic use of social media. In this study, it is aimed to determine the level of problematic social media usage of participants who are active social media users and to analyze the relationships between problematic social media usage and various personal characteristics and social variables. Study in relational screening model is carried out with the participation of 580 volunteers. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data obtained through various scale according to the research model. The structural equation modeling analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between problematic social media usage and the daily time of social media usage, the use of frequency of social media for recognition, publicity, communication/interaction and education, loneliness, and social anxiety. The variable which shows higher correlation between problematic social media usage is social anxiety.     

童年中晚期孤独感的发展轨迹：一项潜变量增长模型分析

使用问卷法和同伴提名法对884名小学二年级学生进行历时三年的四次追踪测试, 采用潜变量增长模型建模, 检验小学2~5年级学生孤独感的变化趋势, 并考察不同性别儿童孤独感变化的差异性以及同伴接纳对孤独感变化的影响。结果发现：(1) 2~5年级小学生孤独感呈曲线递减趋势, 递减速度逐渐减缓, 起始水平及发展速度均存在显著的个体差异; (2)女孩起始的孤独感水平显著低于男孩, 而发展速度、加速度则不存在显著的性别差异; (3)较高的同伴接纳对当时儿童孤独感的降低具有显著的促进作用。研究采用孤独感发展的情境观, 并结合儿童认知、自我发展的特点对结果进行了分析。     

Credibility in the blogosphere: A study of measurement and influence of wine blogs as an information source

Uncovering what drives the consumer to action is of interest to academia and industry alike, and the advent of social media has added a confounding layer to the consumer decision process. In some ways, it has changed nothing, and in other ways, it has changed everything. Information is at the heart of decision making, and blogs offer a plethora. A positive evaluation of credibility (believability) will ultimately determine its usability for decision making. Using centered resonance analysis of wine blog writers and readers focus group data, this study attempts to address the full range of blog characteristics (subsequent scale items) that can be evaluated for credibility, anchoring them to the relevant research streams of media, website, and word of mouth. Structural equation modeling of viral blog and Twitter survey data is used to test the hypothesized scale with three dimensions—site, message, and source—for validity and also evaluate the credibility influence on behavioral intentions as mediated by trust. Evidence suggests that the author (source) is central to credibility evaluation. The data also support the influence of wine blog credibility perceptions on trust, which leads to following wine blog recommendations and continuing to participate with the wine blog. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LONELINESS,PARASOCIAL INTERACTION,AND LOCAL TELEVISION NEWS VIEWING

A conceptual model was developed predicting parasocial interaction from both a social interaction need due to loneliness and instrumental television news use. Questionnaires were completed by 329 persons. Pearson and partial correlations supported hypotheses linking loneliness with less interpersonal communication and both loneliness and parasocial interaction with more television reliance. Loneliness and parasocial interaction were not correlated. Canonical correlation analysis supported expectations that instrumental news viewing for information was related to more parasocial interaction and perceived news realism; viewing news for exciting entertainment, news affinity, and news viewing levels correlated positively with this pattern. Ritualized news viewing for time consumption was related to more television viewing, but to less news viewing, duration, and affinity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified news affinity, perceived news realism, and information news viewing motives as salient predictors of parasocial interaction with a favorite local television news personality. Implications of results were discussed in light of uses and gratifications research and communication interaction.     

Sport Participation and Loneliness in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Competence

Young people perceive loneliness as a distressing emotional experience associated with sadness and boredom. Also, feelings of loneliness may be associated with psychosocial and emotional problems during adolescence. The aim of this study was to investigate whether perceived social competence mediated the cross-sectional relationship between sport participation and loneliness in young people when controlling for age, sex, shyness, and non-organized physical activity. This cross-sectional study consisted of 2,055 pupils (995 boys and 1,060 girls) from 38 schools in Norway, with a mean age of 15.3 years. In addition to normal theory regression procedures, bootstrapping techniques were used to test the hypothesized indirect effect. Findings revealed that sport participation was inversely associated with loneliness mediated by perceived social competence. This indirect effect was evident when controlling for age, sex, non-organized physical activity and shyness. Findings suggest that sport participation during adolescence is indirectly associated with lower level of loneliness through higher level of perceived social competence. One may argue that sport participation during adolescence can contain important social components that help meet young peoples’ social needs and expectations, which in turn may prevent feelings of loneliness.     

A review of online social networking profiles by adolescents: implications for future research and intervention

This study explored content posted and interactions taking place on adolescent online social networking profiles. Although "blogging" continues to soar in popularity, with over half of teenagers online participating in some form, little research has comprehensively explored blog communication within the context of adolescent development. Content was qualitatively coded from 100 randomly selected profiles authored by adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18. Rich thematic elements were identified including family and social issues, risk behaviors, disclosure of personally identifiable information, and frequent peer interaction. Results indicate adolescent blogs frequently contain appropriate images, positive comments about parents and peers, athletics, a variety of risk behaviors, and sexual and profane language. In addition, school type was examined (public versus private, religious) as a potential factor in understanding the differences in content posted by adolescents; however, no significant differences were found. Implications for parental monitoring and intervention are discussed as well as direction for future research. Adolescents' online profiles contain a wealth of intimate, candid, and publicly available information on a wide range of social issues pertinent to adolescence that contribute to the understanding of adolescent development and well-being.     

Effect of Depressive Symptoms and Sex on the Relationship Between Loneliness and Cigarette Dependence: A Moderated Mediation

Loneliness is a subjective and emotionally unpleasant experience of perceiving insufficient social relationships. Previous research has revealed that loneliness constitutes a psychosocial risk factor for depression, and is also related to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking. This study aims to examine the relation between loneliness, depression, and cigarette dependence, and to explore the role of sex in this relationship. A total sample of 275 adult treatment-seeking daily smokers (Mage = 45.3; 61.5% females) was used. Our results showed a significant correlation between higher scores of loneliness, depressive symptoms, and cigarette dependence. In addition, mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of loneliness on cigarette dependence, via depressive symptoms. Regarding the effect of sex, we found that this variable significantly moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette dependence. Results of this study extend previous literature by showing that, in treatment seeking smokers, loneliness is a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, and through this relation, it predicts cigarette dependence. Additionally, sex was a significant moderator of this relation. These findings have several clinical implications, and also contribute to the understanding of cigarette dependence, which is a well-known barrier for smoking cessation.     

Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Prediction from Clique Isolation,Loneliness, and Perceived Social Acceptance

This study examined whether clique isolation predicted an increase in depressive symptoms and whether this association was mediated by loneliness and perceived social acceptance in 310 children followed from age 11–14 years. Clique isolation was identified through social network analysis, whereas depressive symptoms, loneliness, and perceived social acceptance were assessed using self ratings. While accounting for initial levels of depressive symptoms, peer rejection, and friendlessness at age 11 years, a high probability of being isolated from cliques from age 11 to 13 years predicted depressive symptoms at age 14 years. The link between clique isolation and depressive symptoms was mediated by loneliness, but not by perceived social acceptance. No sex differences were found in the associations between clique isolation and depressive symptoms. These results suggest that clique isolation is a social risk factor for the escalation of depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.     

社会支持与成年早期孤独感：有调节的中介模型

为探讨社会支持与成年早期孤独的关系,调查了556名大学生,运用SEM法、Bootstrap法、多组分析法考察社交自我效能与负性情绪在其中的影响机制及留守经历的调节。结果表明：社交自我效能、负性情绪在社会支持和孤独感之间的中介效应显著;社交自我效能和负性情绪在社会支持对孤独感的影响中起链式中介作用;留守经历对社会支持和孤独感关系存在调节作用。研究结果证实了社会支持影响孤独感及社交自我效能和负性情绪在其中的内在机制。     

职场孤独感的前因与后果

职场孤独感是个体在工作场所中体验到的孤独感,包括情感和社交两个维度。在介绍其定义、结构和测量后,根据现有研究总结出职场孤独感的前因与后果。在群体层面上,职场孤独感的前因变量包括组织规模、地位和气氛;结果变量包括团队绩效、领导成员交换和团队成员交换。在个体层面上,职场孤独感的前因变量包括人格特征、职场排斥、工作倦怠、工作过载、经济地位和教育水平等;结果变量包括工作绩效、工作压力感、工作满意度、离职倾向和组织承诺等。     

互联网使用动机、行为与其社会-心理健康的模型构建

以581名大学生为被试,采用结构方程模型技术构建了互联网使用动机、病理性互联网使用行为与其相关社会-心理健康的关系模型。其中,互联网使用动机包括信息获取性动机和人际情感性动机两种模式;病理性互联网使用行为包括上网冲动性、分离/逃避和网上优越感三个初级因素;互联网相关社会-心理健康包括孤独感、社会参与度、一般抑郁、生活幸福感和生活满意度五个初级因素,并进一步概括为社会健康和心理健康两个维度。研究结果表明,基于信息获取性动机而使用互联网有助于相关社会-心理健康水平的提高;基于人际情感性动机而使用互联网更容易导致病理性互联网使用行为,并由此对使用者的社会-心理健康产生负面影响;大学生使用互联网的积极效应大于消极效应,且信息获取性动机对社会健康具有更大的积极效应,而人际情感性动机对对心理健康具有更大的消极效应     

Creation and validation of the personal blogging style scale

A review of blog literature suggests that blogs may have many social and emotional benefits. In particular, there is the suggestion that blogging may have benefits in the forms of coping, insight and growth, catharsis, as a free space to communicate, through feedback, through recognition, and in social support. However, while there have been numerous studies on the potential motivations for and effects of blogging, little quantitative research has been conducted on defining the manner in which one experiences blogging. Thus rather than focusing on motivation for blogging, the present study examined the way in which bloggers perceived and experienced their activity, that is, their blogging style. A 16-item Personal Blogging Style Scale (PBSS) was created after a factor analysis of 25 sample items. Participants were 182 experienced bloggers. The PBSS classifies user experiences by four independent and unique subscales: Therapeutic Blogging, Self-Censoring Blogging, Connected Blogging, and Substitution Blogging. Reliability and validity evidence were presented for the subscales of the measure.