Lonely people are no longer lonely on social networking sites: the mediating role of self-disclosure and social support
Lee, Noh, Koo (2013) Lonely people are no longer lonely on social networking sites: the mediating role of self-disclosure and social support Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw (IF: 4) 16(6) 413-8Abstract
Most previous studies assert the negative effect of loneliness on social life and an individual's well-being when individuals use the Internet. To expand this previous research tradition, the current study proposes a model to test whether loneliness has a direct or indirect effect on well-being when mediated by self-disclosure and social support. The results show that loneliness has a direct negative impact on well-being but a positive effect on self-disclosure. While self-disclosure positively influences social support, self-disclosure has no impact on well-being, and social support positively influences well-being. The results also show a full mediation effect of social support in the self-disclosure to well-being link. The results imply that even if lonely people's well-being is poor, their well-being can be enhanced through the use of SNSs, including self-presentation and social support from their friends.
Links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23621716http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0553
