Social and Parasocial Relationships on Social Network Sites(5)

To adjust for the skewed distribution,the number of each relationship was log transformed(M social=1.16,SD social= 0.65,range0–3.48;M parasocial=0.70,SD parasocial=0.55,range 0–1.91).The two types of SNS relationship are slightly cor-related with each other(r=0.25,p<0.001).b

Measures of psychological well-being

This study examined three constructs of psychological well-being:(a)loneliness,(b)interpersonal trust,and(c)SNS addiction.First,the UCLA loneliness scale29was modi?ed and shortened for the SNS context in Korea.There were?ve statements in the loneliness scale:‘‘When using SNS,I feel isolated from others’’;‘‘SNS friends are not‘with’me’’;‘‘When using SNS,I feel sometimes left out’’;‘‘No SNS friends know the‘real’me’’;and‘‘SNS relationships are super?cial.’’Based on a conventional5-point Likert scale(1=‘‘strongly disagree,’’5=‘‘strongly agree’’),respondents were asked to indicate their agreement with each statement(Cronbach’s a=0.89,M=2.70,SD=0.74).

Second,interpersonal trust was measured using Rotter’s interpersonal trust scale,30which was modi?ed for the SNS context in Korea.There were?ve statements in the inter-personal trust scale:‘‘Online users in general try to take advantage of others’’;‘‘Generally speaking,online users are sel?sh’’;‘‘You can’t be too careful when dealing with online users’’;‘‘Online users in general are fair’’;and‘‘Generally speaking,online users can be trusted.’’Respondents were asked to estimate their agreement with the?ve statements, based on a5-point Likert scale.After reversely coding the ?rst three statements,respondents’agreement on the?ve

statements was averaged(Cronbach’s a=0.84,M=3.55, SD=0.66).

Finally,SNS addiction was measured by modifying the Korean Internet addiction scale for the SNS context.31Basi-cally,SNS addiction aims to measure the degree of perceived obsession of SNS use or withdrawal symptoms from SNS abstinence.There were four statements on the SNS addiction scale:‘‘Whenever I have time,I log on to my SNS account’’;‘‘Frequently,I regret I consume too much time using SNS services’’;‘‘If I could not use SNS services,I would be de-pressed’’;and‘‘If I stopped using SNS,my social relationships would be ruined.’’Using the same scale as for the other constructs,respondents’agreement on the four statements was averaged(Cronbach’s a=0.83,M=2.94,SD=0.86). Statistical controls

Socio-demographical variables and SNS behaviors were additionally controlled for statistical adjustment.The socio-demographical variables were the respondents’gender,age (measured in years),monthly income,and educational achievement.Regarding SNS behaviors,a self-report of daily SNS use(measured by the hour)and number of SNS accounts was included.A dichotomous variable for whether a re-spondent used Twitter was also added because Twitter is the most popular SNS for forming parasocial interactions with celebrities.Descriptive statistics of socio-demographics and SNS behaviors can be found in Table1.

Results

To test the hypotheses,three outcome variables were re-gressed on two types of SNS relationships as well as seven statistical controls.Results of ordinary least square regression analyses are provided in Table2.As shown in the column under loneliness,SNS users’subjective loneliness is nega-tively related with social relationships(b=-0.18,p<0.01).By contrast,users’loneliness is positively related with depen-dency on parasocial relationship(b=0.14,p<0.001). Interpersonal trust,however,shows opposite patterns. SNS users’interpersonal trust is positively related with de-pendency on social relationships on SNSs(b=0.15,p<0.01), but it is negatively correlated with dependency on parasocial relationships with celebrities(b=-0.16,p<0.05).

Unlike loneliness and interpersonal trust,the number of social relationships on SNS addiction shows positive rela-tionships with both social and parasocial relationships on SNS(b=0.41,p<0.001in social relationships;b=0.36, p<0.001in parasocial relationships).

To sum up,higher reliance on social relationships is neg-atively related with subjective loneliness and interper-sonal trust,but positively related with indulgence in SNS use. Table1.Descriptive Statistics of Statistical Controls

Frequency Percentage Gender

Male22957% Female17543% Age

19–2913233% 30–3913433% 40–498421% q505413% Educational achievement

Less than high school graduate61% High school graduate5915% College/BA30074% Advanced degree over BA3910% Monthly income{

<$1,00011729% $1,000–$2,00011027% $2,000–$3,0009123% $3,000–$4,0004110% $4,000–$5,000184% $5,000–$6,000154% q$7,000123% Time use for SNS(hour)M=2.19(SD=3.12) Number of SNS accounts

1account14536%

2accounts10225%

3accounts9022% q4accounts6717% Twitter users

Users16040% Nonusers24460% Note.N=404.Monthly income{was measured by Korean Won but is translated to U.S.dollars here.

514BAEK ET AL.

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