Active social network sites use and loneliness during COVID-19 : the mediation role of social support and the moderation role of self-disclosure /

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Student Theses

2022

Wong, Ka Hei

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

Under COVID 19, people tended to maintain existing relationships and expand their social circle via social networking sites. There was much research assessing the effect of networking sites use (SNS) on loneliness. However, the results remained inconclusive. The type of SNS use should be specified and the mechanism underlying the relationship between specific SNS use and loneliness should be investigated. To fill this gap, current research investigated the mediating effect of social support and the moderating effect of self-disclosure (i.e., depth or intimacy, accuracy, amount, valence, and intentionality) between active SNS use and loneliness. A sample of 110 undergraduate students (mean age=20.8 years, SD=1.53) who had at least one SNS profile in Hong Kong completed the online survey. PROCESS macro model 1 and 4 found out that : (a) active SNS use was negatively associated with loneliness; (b) social support was a significant mediator between active SNS use and loneliness; (c) Only depth and accuracy of self-disclosure significantly moderated the relationship between active SNS use and loneliness. When the degree of active SNS use increased, higher levels of the depth and accuracy of self-disclosure predicted lower levels of loneliness. These findings aided our knowledge of how social support explained the link between active SNS use and loneliness and which types of people might more benefit from active SNS use

LG51.H43 BSS(Psy) 2022eb Wongkh

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/WoNSMUfA