Page 26 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

Many studies investigated either the relationship between social interactions and social support, or that between social support and psychological adjustment (Trepte & Scharkow, 2016). In Chapter 2 of this dissertation, I investigate in one model the mediated effects of social interactions on adjustment via perceived social support (as shown in Figure 2).
Defining Homesickness
Homesickness is a negative psychological state primarily due to separation from significant others and familiar surroundings (Archer, Ireland, Amos, Broad, & Currid, 1998; Stroebe et al., 2015b). Homesickness includes negative emotions and constant thoughts about home, or ruminations about wanting to go home. It may even include somatic symptoms (Van Tilburg, 2005). It can manifest in different levels for different individuals. For some, it can be mild; while for others, it can be severe and debilitating (Furnham, 2005; Stroebe et al., 2015b; Thurber & Walton, 2012).
Social Interactions Predicting Homesickness. Social interactions may have a direct effect on one’s experience of homesickness (Berry, 2006; English et al., 2017; Van Vliet, 2001). Although, in a few cases, face-to-face interactions with the host-country network may intensify longing for home among international students (Hannigan, 2005), so far there is a stronger support for the prediction that face-to-face interactions with significant others in the host country is negatively associated with homesickness (Hendrickson, Rosen, & Aune, 2011; Pedersen, Neighbors, Larimer, & Lee, 2011; Thurber & Walton, 2012; Ward et al., 2001).
Research on the association of SNS interactions and homesickness is still lacking (Stroebe et al., 2015a). Turning to previous studies on SNS use and similar psychological states, such as loneliness and (dis)connectedness, again the findings yielded inconsistent results (Verduyn, Ybarra, Résibois, Jonides, & Kross, 2017). On the one hand, SNS use was associated with increased sense of connection and bonding social capital, and lowered loneliness (Burke & Kraut, 2016; Verduyn et al, 2017). On the other hand, Facebook use was associated with decreased wellbeing (Kross et al., 2013; Shakya & Christakis, 2016). A study on friendsickness (homesickness experienced specifically for friends) and SNS use showed that increased friendsickness is associated with greater SNS use (Klingensmith, 2010).
The differential impacts of home and host-country network social interactions on homesickness have not also been explored in previous research. According to English et al. (2017), differentiating various types of social interactions with the
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