Online/offline self‐disclosure to offline friends and relational outcomes in a diary study: The moderating role of self‐esteem and relational closeness

Previous work suggests that the experiences of online and offline self‐disclosure are heterogeneous among individuals. Yet little work has been done to identify the moderating role of individual characteristics and pre‐existing relationship characteristics on the diverse relational outcomes. The pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of psychology 2021-02, Vol.56 (1), p.129-137
Main Authors: Li, Liman Man Wai, Chen, Qilin, Gao, Haojie, Li, Wen‐Qiao, Ito, Kenichi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Closeness
Female
Friends
Friendship
Humans
Internet
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Offline self‐disclosure
Online self‐disclosure
Personal characteristics
Relational closeness
Relational outcomes
Self Concept
Self Disclosure
Self esteem
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous work suggests that the experiences of online and offline self‐disclosure are heterogeneous among individuals. Yet little work has been done to identify the moderating role of individual characteristics and pre‐existing relationship characteristics on the diverse relational outcomes. The present study using a 7‐day diary design examined whether individuals' self‐esteem level and relational closeness would moderate the relationships between online and offline self‐disclosure to offline friends and two relational outcomes, that is, relationship satisfaction and trust in friendships. The analyses on 686 diary responses from 98 participants revealed that offline self‐disclosure generally predicted greater relationship satisfaction and trust in friendships, whereas the role of online self‐disclosure was not statistically significant. More importantly, self‐esteem moderated the pattern associated with offline self‐disclosure but not that with online self‐disclosure. Specifically, offline self‐disclosure predicted greater benefits to people with lower self‐esteem relative to people with higher self‐esteem. Moreover, pre‐existing relational closeness moderated the relationship between offline self‐disclosure and trust in friendships such that casual friendships benefited more from offline self‐disclosure than close friendships did. The present study highlights the importance of personal characteristics and relationship characteristics in understanding the heterogeneous relational influence of different communication modes.
ISSN:0020-7594
1464-066X
DOI:10.1002/ijop.12684