Page 139 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

Another key finding in this dissertation is the validation that face-to-face interaction with the host-country network is important in sojourners’ adjustment (Adelman, 1988; Hechanova-Alampay et al., 2002; Smith & Khawaja, 2011; Ward et al., 2001). The findings suggest that face-to-face interaction with the host-country network had an immediate impact on sojourners’ perceived social support. This, in turn, increased psychological adjustment. It is important to note that there was no long-term effect. Thus, one of the most important takeaway points from this dissertation is that regular, face-to-face interactions with the host-country network are important in sojourners’ sense of social support. The results underscored the importance of building host-country network during sojourn.
This dissertation was able to provide a more nuanced examination as to which communication medium (face-to-face or SNS), as well as with whom (host- or home-country network), SNS interaction could be relevant in sojourners’ adjustment. This was made possible with the adoption of a concurrent communication model in the application of the general framework of sojourners’ adjustment. This advances the pioneering works of Berry (2003) and Ward et al. (2001) by incorporating current scholarship in media and communication studies (Dienlin et al., 2017; Rui & Wang, 2015). The use of a concurrent communication model explicates the conceptualization of social interactions with the assumption that sojourners use various communication channels (face-to-face and SNS) concomitantly to interact with the host- and the home-country networks. Thus, in contrast to earlier investigations that treated communication channels separately (e.g., Adelman, 1988; Cemalcilar, 2008), this dissertation was able to show the relative importance of the various communication channels, as well as compare the roles of the host- and the home-country networks.
Couple members and social network members. In the context of romantic relationships, SNS could play a role in relationship-relevant maintenance processes in: (a) relationship maintenance behaviors, partner surveillance, and experiences of jealousy with their romantic partner (Chapter 4); as well as in (b) relationship support from a couple’s shared social network to facilitate relational adjustment (Chapter 5). The use of SNS for relationship maintenance and relational adjustment (i.e., relationship quality) was significantly higher for those in LDRR. The results of the studies in Chapters 4 and 5 revealed that SNS is used purposively for relational adjustment in situations where face-to-face social interactions with the romantic partner, and the couples’ shared social network, were limited, such as in LDRR.
General Discussion 137