Facebook and its Effects on Users' Empathic Social Skills and Life Satisfaction: A Double-Edged Sword Effect
Publication: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Volume 17, Issue Number 5
Abstract
This study examines how Facebook usage affects individual's empathic social skills and life satisfaction. Following the self-presentational theory, the study explores a key component of the Internet paradox—whether Facebook suppresses or enhances users' interpersonal competence (specifically empathic social skills), given their respective personality makeup. Going further, the study assesses these events' subsequent impacts on users' psychological well-being. Analogous to a double-edged sword, Facebook activities are hypothesized to suppress the positive effect of a user's extraversion orientation on empathic social skills but lessen the negative effect of neuroticism on these skills. The study examines a sample of college-aged Facebook users (n=515), who responded to a large-scale online survey. The findings from a structural equation modeling analysis indicate that while empathic social skills are positively associated with life satisfaction, Facebook activities mainly exert suppression effects. Only upon low usage can Facebook activities lessen the negative effect of neuroticism on empathic social skills, suggesting that Facebook may appear as a less threatening platform for social interactions among neurotics. Yet, results in general suggest that undesirable effects may occur at high levels of Facebook usage whereby both extroverted and neurotic users displace real world social ties to online ones. The findings point to the complex ways in which social media usage may impact the livelihood of users.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Volume 17 • Issue Number 5 • May 2014
Pages: 276 - 280
PubMed: 24606026
Copyright
Copyright 2014, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
History
Published online: 6 May 2014
Published in print: May 2014
Published ahead of print: 7 March 2014
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Authors
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No competing financial interests exist.
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