TY - JOUR
T1 - Mutual friends’ social support and self-disclosure in face-to-face and instant messenger communication
AU - Trepte, Sabine
AU - Masur, Philipp K.
AU - Scharkow, Michael
PY - 2018/7/4
Y1 - 2018/7/4
N2 - In the present study, we investigated long-term effects of self-disclosure on social support in face-to-face and instant messenger (IM) communication between mutual friends. Using a representative sample of 583 German IM users, we explored whether self-disclosure and positive experiences with regard to social support would dynamically interact in the form of a reinforcing spiral across three measurement occasions. If mutual friends self-disclose today, will they receive more social support 6 months later? In turn, will this affect their willingness to self-disclose another 6 months later? We further analyzed spill-over effects from face-to-face to IM communication and vice versa. We found that self-disclosure predicted social support and vice versa in IM communication, but not in face-to-face communication. In light of these results, the impact of IM communication on how individuals maneuver friendships through the interplay between self-disclosure and social support are discussed.
AB - In the present study, we investigated long-term effects of self-disclosure on social support in face-to-face and instant messenger (IM) communication between mutual friends. Using a representative sample of 583 German IM users, we explored whether self-disclosure and positive experiences with regard to social support would dynamically interact in the form of a reinforcing spiral across three measurement occasions. If mutual friends self-disclose today, will they receive more social support 6 months later? In turn, will this affect their willingness to self-disclose another 6 months later? We further analyzed spill-over effects from face-to-face to IM communication and vice versa. We found that self-disclosure predicted social support and vice versa in IM communication, but not in face-to-face communication. In light of these results, the impact of IM communication on how individuals maneuver friendships through the interplay between self-disclosure and social support are discussed.
KW - face-to-face conversation
KW - instant messenger
KW - longitudinal survey
KW - self-disclosure
KW - Social support
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85039058219&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00224545.2017.1398707
DO - 10.1080/00224545.2017.1398707
M3 - Article
C2 - 29099670
AN - SCOPUS:85039058219
VL - 158
SP - 430
EP - 445
JO - The Journal of Social Psychology
JF - The Journal of Social Psychology
SN - 0022-4545
IS - 4
ER -