What Motivates People to Support?: Impacts of Message Valence and Self-Efficacy on Linguistic Features of Response.

Yining Malloch,Bo Feng

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.798205

Abstract

This study investigates factors that motivate users of social network sites (SNS) to write responses to support-seeking posts on SNS. In particular, support-seeking message valence and support providers’ efficacy perceptions were examined. An online experiment with 209 participants revealed that participants reported lower support provision efficacy and impression management efficacy when responding to a negative post than a positive post. Message valence and efficacy perceptions impacted word count and emotion words in their responses. Theoretical and pragmatic implications for supportive communication and computer-mediated communication were discussed.

Highlights

Substantial research has demonstrated that receiving social support can facilitate individuals’ coping with stress and contribute to physical and psychological wellbeing
H1 predicted that efficacy perceptions would differ by message valence
Results showed that support providers showed higher support provision and impression management efficacy perceptions when responding to a positive post than to a negative post, supporting H1

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Substantial research has demonstrated that receiving social support can facilitate individuals’ coping with stress and contribute to physical and psychological wellbeing (for a review, see MacGeorge et al, 2011; Pan et al, 2019). Supporting an individual is not an easy task and quality support messages often need to address several issues such as tailoring to the recipient (MacGeorge et al, 2011), analyzing the situation (Feng, 2009), and validating the recipient’s feelings (Burleson, 2008), offering suggestions on coping or solving a problematic situation especially when the recipient is experiencing a negative situation. Given that efficacy perceptions determine motivations and perseverance (Bandura, 1989), and that word count indicates behavioral and cognitive effort support providers spend (Tausczik and Pennebaker, 2010), support provision and impression management efficacy will be positively related to word count. When individuals have lower support provision and impression management efficacy levels, they are likely experiencing negative emotions (Bandura, 1982), thereby writing more negative emotion words, and less positive emotion words (Chung and Pennebaker, 2007). H6: Impression management efficacy will be (a) positively related to response positive emotion words and (b) negatively related to negative emotion words

Design

Procedure

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

ETHICS STATEMENT