Page 147 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

psychological and sociocultural). With the assumption of reciprocal effects, this dissertation was able to validate the two-process view on SNS use by Sheldon et al. (2011) by demonstrating a possible mechanism for the co-occurrence of two opposing effects in relation to SNS use (Chapter 3). Additionally, the application of the general framework of sojourners’ adjustment was extended to romantic relationship contexts, LDRR and GCRR. This advances theorizing by showing that the relevance of SNSs in sojourners’ adjustment goes beyond the personal level (i.e., perceived social support), and that SNSs also play a facilitative role at the relational level (i.e., relationship support); consistent with a social network perspective on romantic relationships (Felmlee, 2001). Moreover, the findings of this dissertation show that the use of SNSs is important in the maintenance of sojourners’ LDRR, which could be crucial for their return to their home-country. These findings could inform theorizing in sojourner’s adjustment by incorporating the prospects of reintegration and the roles of SNSs in the process (Sussman, 2002).
Ward et al.’s (2001) conceptual differentiation of the two types of adjustments (i.e., psychological and sociocultural adjustment domains) was helpful in providing the theoretical foundations of and directions for the studies in this dissertation. In the original conceptualization of Ward and colleagues (2001), the two adjustment domains are conceptually distinct but interrelated, and predicted by different types of variables. Psychological adjustment is predicted by factors such as personality, life changes, and social support whereas sociocultural adjustment is affected by factors such as the amount of interactions with host nationals, acculturation strategies, and length of residence in the host culture (Ward et al., 2001). However, findings from previous studies offered mixed-evidence, demonstrating that a number of factors predicted both adjustment domains. In this dissertation, the selection of the predictors for each of the two domains (e.g., social interactions, positive versus negative subjective outcomes) was not as clear-cut as the conceptualization of Ward et al. (2001). The empirical investigations of these two domains in this dissertation were based on Ward et al.’s (2001) conceptualization in relation to other relevant models. For example, for psychological adjustment, the prediction that social interactions predict psychological adjustment via perceived social support was guided by the models proposed by Adelman (1998) and Berry (2003, 2006). On the other hand, for sociocultural adjustment, the prediction that social interactions predict sociocultural adjustment via homesickness was informed by the models of Stroebe et al., (2015b) and Van Vliet (2001). Our findings are consistent with the growing empirical evidence of the possible overlaps and
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