Abstract
Research suggests that Facebooking can be both beneficial and detrimental for users’ psychological well-being. The current study attempts to reconcile these seemingly mixed and inconsistent findings by unpacking the specific effects of Facebooking on users’ online–offline social relationship satisfaction and psychological well-being. Using structural equation modeling, pathways were examined between Facebook intensity, online–offline social relationship satisfaction, perceived social support, social interaction anxiety, and psychological well-being. Personality differences on each of those paths were also assessed. Employing a sample of 342 American university students, results indicated that intensive Facebooking was positively associated with users’ psychological well-being through online social relationship satisfaction, and simultaneously negatively linked to users’ psychological well-being through offline social relationship satisfaction. Multiple group analyses revealed that the linkage between perceived social support and psychological well-being was stronger for introverts than for extraverts. Our findings indicate that the benefits or detriments of Facebooking are contingent upon both personality characteristics and online–offline social contexts.
Highlights
Facebook PsychologyFacebook is currently the largest online social network in the world and plays an active role in connecting people from distinct geographical regions and with diverse cultural backgrounds
Our findings indicate that Facebooking can be both beneficial and detrimental for users’ psychological wellbeing through online or offline social relationship satisfaction
The link between perceived social support and psychological well-being appears to be stronger for introverts than for extraverts
Summary
Facebook PsychologyFacebook is currently the largest online social network in the world and plays an active role in connecting people from distinct geographical regions and with diverse cultural backgrounds. Facebook research to date has mainly examined five topics: descriptions of Facebook users, motivations for using Facebook, identity presentation, the effects of Facebook use on social interaction, and privacy concerns/information disclosure (Wilson et al, 2012). Psychological theories such as the dual factor model have been proposed to explain the primary drivers of Facebook use: belongingness and self-presentation (Nadkarni and Hofmann, 2012). Studies seem to indicate that Facebooking can provide social psychological benefits for users’ social relationships and psychological well-being
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