Loneliness, Disclosure, and Facebook Usage

Author(s):  
Fung Yin Lee ◽  
Lynne M. Webb

The authors conducted an online survey of 241 emerging adults in Hong Kong, China to assess potential associations between loneliness, Facebook usage, and self-disclosure on Facebook. Loneliness was not associated with Facebook usage, but rather inversely related with negative disclosure; the lonelier the Facebook user, the less he/she disclosed negative information. The pattern of associations between Facebook usage and self-disclosure indicted that the more time users spent on Facebook, the more they revealed positive disclosures and the less they revealed negative disclosures. The authors argue that these findings may provide evidence of a “remain positive” norm among emerging adult Facebook users in Hong Kong. They note that their findings may be unique to their cultural context.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260613
Author(s):  
Linda Theron ◽  
Diane Levine ◽  
Michael Ungar

There is widespread recognition that stressors related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) jeopardize the development of emerging adults, more particularly those living in disadvantaged communities. What is less well understood is what might support emerging adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors. In response, this article reports a 5-week qualitative study with 24 emerging adults (average age: 20) living in a South African township. Using digital diaries and repeated individual interviews, young people shared their lived experiences of later (i.e., month 4 and 7) lockdown-related challenges (i.e., contagion fears; livelihood threats; lives-on-hold) and how they managed these challenges. An inductive thematic analysis showed that personal and collective compliance, generous ways-of-being, and tolerance-facilitators enabled emerging adult resilience to said challenges. Importantly, these resilience-enablers drew on resources associated with multiple systems and reflected the situational and cultural context of the township in question. In short, supporting emerging adult resilience to COVID-19-related stressors will require contextually aligned, multisystemic responses.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Perla Werner ◽  
Sarang Kim

Background: Despite the increasing amount of research on dementia stigma, there is a dearth of cross-national studies conducted on this subject. This is surprising since the experience of stigma is closely associated to socio-cultural aspects. Objective: The present study intended to expand knowledge about the impact of culture on dementia stigma by comparing the level and correlates of stigmatic beliefs about dementia among the general public in Israel and Australia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted with two age-matched samples: 447 adults in Israel and 290 adults in Australia. Results: Overall, dementia stigma was moderate in both countries. However, the level of dementia stigma was significantly higher in Australia than in Israel. Lower levels of subjective knowledge and higher levels of ageism were associated with increased levels of stigmatic beliefs in both countries. Gender was a significant correlate of dementia stigma, with male participants reporting higher levels of public stigma than women, although this gender difference was mainly driven by the Australian sample. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that providing knowledge and decreasing ageist attitudes should be key considerations in dementia awareness and stigma reduction campaigns despite the cultural context. In addition, developing gender-specific messages should be considered as a way of improving the effects of such campaigns.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199795
Author(s):  
Mary Moussa Rogers ◽  
Erica Szkody ◽  
Cliff McKinney

Childhood maltreatment is related to a host of outcomes, many of which may be partially explained by the transdiagnostic factor of impulsivity. The research linking maltreatment to impulsivity is well supported. However, research differentiating between emotional and physical maltreatment and impulsivity is lacking, particularly with regard to facets of trait impulsivity. Thus, the current study examined the links between childhood emotional and physical maltreatment and current impulsivity traits of positive and negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and sensation seeking in emerging adults. Furthermore, effects of maltreatment are known to differ by the gender of the parent and the gender of the child. Thus, differences between parent-emerging adult child gender dyads were also examined. Results suggested both physical and emotional maltreatment were associated with negative urgency across the parent–child gender dyads. Emotional maltreatment and physical maltreatment differed in relation to impulsivity facet across parent and child gender. Results contribute to a knowledge base to use in future exploration of emotional and physical maltreatment outcomes and targets of intervention.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752098115
Author(s):  
Isabel Miguel ◽  
Alexandra M. Araújo ◽  
Sandra Fernandes ◽  
Luísa Carneiro ◽  
Paula Fernandes

Given the crucial role that grandparents play in the upbringing and well-being of their grandchildren, research regarding the perceived importance of grandparents for their emerging adult grandchildren is of particular relevance. This study examined the relations between perceived grandparents’ roles and family and life satisfaction in Portuguese emerging adults. Participants (N = 387), aged 18–25, completed a structured self-report questionnaire. Findings of structural equation modeling showed that emerging adults’ perceptions of grandparental roles of counselor, enjoying the relationship, and indulgence are positively related to their family and life satisfaction. The mediation analysis showed that family satisfaction mediated the relation between perceptions of grandparents acting as counselors and the life satisfaction of emerging adult grandchildren. Implications of family relationships and grandparenting in the context of emerging adulthood are discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Willnat ◽  
Zhou He ◽  
Hao Xiaoming

This study examines the relationship between foreign media exposure and stereotypical perceptions of and feelings toward Americans in Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), and Singapore. In line with previous studies, it finds that foreign TV consumption is related to negative stereotypical perceptions of and feelings toward Americans among all tested subjects. However, it also finds that different types of foreign media, such as newspaper, radio, video, and movies, exhibit very distinct and different relationships with perceptions of Americans by subjects from China and Singapore. It suggests that in studies of foreign media impact, attention should be given to specific foreign media channels, the actual content of the media, the impact of local media, the stages at which other cultures encounter the Western culture, and the cultural context of each society.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107769582199224
Author(s):  
David A. Craig ◽  
Patrick Lee Plaisance ◽  
Erin Schauster ◽  
Ryan J. Thomas ◽  
Chris Roberts ◽  
...  

A growing body of psychology-based scholarship identifies emerging adulthood as a distinct, transitional stage of life and work characterized by several features, wherein relatively little is known regarding moral development. This study is part of a 3-year, longitudinal project involving recent graduates across six U.S. universities who studied journalism and media-related fields. Guided by emerging adulthood, moral psychology, and media exemplar research, this study analyzes results for 110 graduates who completed an online survey regarding their personality traits, virtuous character, moral reasoning, and ethical ideology. It constitutes the first detailed portrait of moral identity of emerging adults in media-related fields.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Yi Sum ◽  
Sherry Kit Wa Chan ◽  
Gloria Hoi Yan Wong

BACKGROUND Adolescence and young adulthood is a period of heightened risk of mental disorders onset. The Covid-19 pandemic may have impacted the daily lives and learning of students, exposing them to risks of emotional distress. Understanding factors associated with individual differences in distress can inform remedial strategies for schools. OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of Covid-19 on undergraduate students’ lifestyle and learning, and explore relationship between depressive symptoms, resilience, and optimism/pessimism bias in undergraduate students in Hong Kong. METHODS Cross-sectional online survey of undergraduate students in a university (n=1020) before and during the third wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong between May and August 2020. Changes in habits and family conflicts, depressive symptoms (measured using Patient Health Questionnaire-9), resilience (measured using Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), optimism/pessimism towards Covid-19 risks, and knowledge about Covid-19 were recorded. Multivariable linear regression and mediation analyses were used to explore relationships with depressive symptoms. RESULTS 61.7% of respondents have mild to severe depressive symptoms. The regression model found that 18.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms was explained by resilience, pessimism bias, changes in sleep, decrease in study at home, and increase in family conflict. Mediation analysis showed that resilience is indirectly related to depressive symptoms through its relationship with pessimism (ab = -0.042, CI = -0.057 to -0.013). Higher resilience was associated with lower depressive symptoms even after accounting for resilience’s indirect effect through pessimism (c’ = 0.311, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the mental health vulnerability of undergraduate students. Measures to reduce family conflict, maintain healthy daily habits, adjust optimism/pessimism bias, and enhance resilience may be useful for improving the mental wellbeing of undergraduate students during the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Marler ◽  
Susie S. Cox ◽  
Marcia J. Simmering ◽  
Bryan L. Rogers ◽  
Curtis F. Matherne

Purpose Information sharing is vital to organizational operations, yet employees are often reluctant to share negative information. This paper aims to gain insight into which employees will be reluctant to share negative information and when by drawing from the proactive motivation literature examining effects of proactive personality and motivational states on individuals’ willingness to share negative information. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was used, with data collected from a final sample of 393 individuals via an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Findings Interactive effects indicate proactive individuals with accompanying high levels of role breadth self-efficacy (“can do”) or high levels of felt responsibility for constructive change (“reason to”) were less likely to be reluctant to share negative information. However, findings also suggest proactive individuals with lower levels of proactive motivation avoid sharing negative information. Originality/value The findings extend what is known about personality factors and employee willingness to share information to highlight which employees may be likely to avoid sharing negative information. The authors also examine the moderating influence of proactive motivational states on the relationships between proactive personality and reluctance to share negative information.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110463
Author(s):  
Laura Stafford ◽  
Susan L. Kline ◽  
Xiaodan Hu

Surname practices in the U.S. are believed to reflect and reinforce the enduring patriarchal nature of U.S. society. Yet, some women and men reject patriarchal expectations. Calls for research accounting for such individual variations have been made. We examine the role that dispositional differences play in preferences for and reasoning about marital surnames in a sample of U.S. heterosexual women and men. With an online survey, we examined 799 heterosexual unmarried emerging adults’ (mean age = 19.9) preferences for their own and a future partner’s surname, reasons for their preferences, and associations with social cognitive dispositions relevant to self- and other-orientations: narcissism and perspective-taking. The findings suggest greater flexibility about women’s surname preferences than previously reported. Approximately one-third of men and women were open to nontraditional options. Reasons for preferences included heritage, tradition, masculinity norms, conceptions of marriage and family, identity, family pressures, and practical reasons. After controlling for age, relational status, traditionalism, autonomy, and career aspirations, lower perspective-taking was predictive of women’s preferences for both partners to retain their birth names, whereas greater narcissism was associated with women’s preferences to retain their birth name. Greater narcissism was associated with men’s desires for both partners to use his name. Taken together, the addition of individual difference dispositions provides greater insight into surname preferences and reasons for those preferences beyond gender masculinity norms.


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