Page 140 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

In Chapter 5, SNS use had opposite impacts on SNS relationship support and relationship quality, both in LDRR and GCRR. SNS use was directly negatively associated with relationship quality (specifically, stability in LDRR and satisfaction in GCRR), but was positively associated with SNS relationship support, which, in turn, was positively associated with relationship quality. The presence of both direct negative effects and the mediated positive effects demonstrated the complex role of SNSs in the maintenance of different types of romantic relationships (LDRR and GCRR). Previous studies have not reached a consensus regarding the association of SNSs use and relationship quality (Clayton, Nagurney, & Smith, 2013; Hand, Buboltz, Deemer, & Buyanjargal, 2013; Kirk, 2013; Muise, Christofides, & Desmarais, 2009; Utz & Beukeboom, 2011). To understand these oppositional results, it is important to look at the way SNS use and SNS relationship-related processes were conceptualized and measured in the study. Previous studies have shown that it is the active and targeted form of communication with significant others on SNS that facilitates adjustment, while the passive use of SNS undermines it (Burke & Kraut, 2016; Verduyn et al., 2017). This could provide insights as to why SNS use, conceptualized and measured in a general way (e.g., overall use with no specified target nor purpose) in Chapter 5, could have a negative direct effect on relationship quality. On the other hand, looking at the mediated path, SNS use was positively associated with SNS relationship support. This finding is consistent with the results in Chapter 4 which established that SNS is (partly) used for romantic relationship-related communication processes. In turn, SNS relationship support – which could be understood as a targeted (i.e., couple’s shared social network) and purposeful (i.e., access relationship support) SNS communication - predicted better relationship quality (Burke & Kraut, 2016; Verduyn et al., 2017).
An alternative way of looking at the oppositional findings is to evaluate the directionality of associations. Sheldon, Abad, and Hinsch (2011) offered a model to understand the simultaneous occurrences’ of positive and negative conditions or effects in relation to SNS use. According to their two-process view of SNS use, the negative condition (e.g., low perceived relationship quality) drives SNS use, and the positive condition (e.g., relationship support, high perceived relationship quality) rewards it. This implies a modification in theorizing and testing, incorporating reciprocal effects in the model to address the questions on directionality. It is recommended for future research to test this proposition using longitudinal designs.
138 Chapter 6