The Mediating Role of Positive Orientation and Hope of Success in the Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Facebook Intrusion

Abstract

The social aspect of human functioning seems to play a considerable role in the explanation of the Facebook intrusion phenomenon. The present article examines the relation between social support and Facebook intrusion, with hope of success and positive orientation controlled for. We administered the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Positive Orientation Scale, and the Hope of Success Questionnaire. The participants in the online study were 611 Polish Facebook users, whose mean age was 20.79 years ( SD = 2.38). The results show that there is no direct relationship between social support and Facebook intrusion, but there is an indirect one, with hope of success and positive orientation as mediators. We have found that social support weakens Facebook intrusion via positive orientation in both genders and via hope of success in men. Moreover, a low level of personal resources contributes to problematic Facebook use. The study has also revealed that individuals who use social media in a problematic way focus on the present rather than on the future.