Affinity-Seeking, Social Loneliness, and Social Avoidance among Facebook Users

This study explored the relations between use of the social networking site Facebook and scores on affinity-seeking, social loneliness, and social avoidance by 313 college students. Social loneliness and social avoidance, but not affinity-seeking, were positively and statistically significantly rela...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological reports 2013-04, Vol.112 (2), p.545-552
Main Authors: Lemieux, Robert, Lajoie, Sean, Trainor, Nathan E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female
Friends - psychology
Gender Identity
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Loneliness - psychology
Male
Self Disclosure
Social Behavior
Social Distance
Social Identification
Social Media
Students - psychology
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Summary:This study explored the relations between use of the social networking site Facebook and scores on affinity-seeking, social loneliness, and social avoidance by 313 college students. Social loneliness and social avoidance, but not affinity-seeking, were positively and statistically significantly related to time spent using Facebook. The number of close Facebook friends was negatively and statistically significantly related to social loneliness and social avoidance. Women perceived Facebook as a more integral part of daily interactions than did men. 38% of the 283 Facebook members indicated their accounts contained information and/or a picture that could embarrass them, with men having significantly more embarrassing content than women. The findings are discussed within the context of social compensation.
ISSN:0033-2941
1558-691X
DOI:10.2466/07.PR0.112.2.545-552