Page 161 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

concurrent communication model extends the general framework of sojourner’s adjustment by accounting for the assumption that sojourners use various communication channels (e.g., face-to-face and SNS) concomitantly to interact with significant others in the home- and the host-country (Dienlin, Masur, & Trepte, 2017; Rui & Wang, 2015). These concurrent social interactions are predicted to influence subjective outcomes, which, in turn, impact adjustment. Using a 3-wave longitudinal panel model study design, studies in Chapters 2 and 3 were able to 1) account for the possible reciprocal effects of social interactions and subjective outcome, as well as subjective outcome and adjustment, and; 2) assess long-term and short-term effects among these predicted relations.
The focus of Chapter 2 was to investigate the role of SNSs in sojourners’ psychological adjustment via perceived social support. Results showed that in the long-term, SNS interaction with the host-country network was detrimental to sojourners’ psychological adjustment (i.e., increased depressive symptoms). SNS interaction with the host-country network undermined perceived social support, which, in turn, exacerbated depressive symptoms in the short- and the long- term. On the other hand, regular face-to-face interactions with the host-country network sustained perceived social support, contributing to better psychological adjustment (i.e., lowered depressive symptoms). Moreover, better psychological adjustment increased perceived social support in the short-term. In turn, perceived social support increased SNS interaction with the host-country network, both in the short- and the long-term.
In Chapter 3, the aim was to specifically examine the role of SNSs in sojourners’ socio-cultural adjustment via homesickness. The study showed evidence that in the long- and the short-term, SNS interaction with the host- country network alleviated homesickness; which, in turn, contributed to better sociocultural adjustment. Additionally, in the short-term, homesickness increased SNS interaction with the host-country network.
Together, Chapters 2 and 3 demonstrated that SNS interactions, particularly with the host-country network, could be a double-edged sword for sojourners’ adjustment. It could be both problematic and beneficial in terms of impact on subjective outcomes: On the one hand, increased SNS interaction with the host- country network lowered perceived social support over time, which, in turn, decreased psychological adjustment. On the other hand, increased SNS interaction with the host-country network decreased sojourners’ homesickness both in the short- and the long-term, which, in turn, facilitated sociocultural adjustment.
Summary 159