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Mediating effects of self-concept clarity on the relationship between passive social network sites use and subjective well-being

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Abstract

The current study examined the relationship between passive social network sites use and subjective well-being (i.e., cognitive and affective evaluations of lives), as well as the mediating role of self-concept clarity underlying this relationship. A convenience sample of Chinese speaking adults volunteered to take part in this study (the valid sample size was 328). Participants completed an online survey that comprised the Passive Social Network Sites Use Questionnaire, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Frequency of Experienced Emotions Scale. Structural equation modeling with latent variables revealed that the passive social network sites use was negatively associated with subjective well-being, which was fully mediated by self-concept clarity. Limitations and practical implications of the study are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The first author would like to appreciate the encouragement from Mr. Jiazhen Lin and Mrs. Daimei Li. And this study benefited a lot from the comments and suggestions from Dr. Feng Kong and the two anonymous reviewers.

Funding

This work was supported by the “S-Tech academic support program – Internet psychology project” of S-tech studio of Tencent Research Institute awarded to Shanyan Lin with no Grant number; and Innovation Funds of Graduate Programs of Shaanxi Normal University under Grant [number 2017CBY007].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience of Shaanxi Provence & School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062, China

    Shanyan Lin, Danni Liu, Wei Liu, Qi Hui & Xuqun You

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Kai S. Cortina

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  1. Shanyan Lin
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Correspondence to Xuqun You.

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Lin, S., Liu, D., Liu, W. et al. Mediating effects of self-concept clarity on the relationship between passive social network sites use and subjective well-being. Curr Psychol 40, 1348–1355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0066-6

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