A theory of social media dependence : Evidence from microblog users
Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews (RGC: 21, 22, 62) › 21_Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
Author(s)
Related Research Unit(s)
Detail(s)
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 40-49 |
Journal / Publication | Decision Support Systems |
Volume | 69 |
Online published | 1 Dec 2014 |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2015 |
Link(s)
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests that problematic use of social media has become prevalent among a large proportion of users and led to significant behavioral and psychological problems. Nevertheless, theory-driven investigation into this issue is still relatively scarce, and the few existing studies tend to adopt only a conceptual or descriptive approach. This study uses a theory-guided approach and seeks to clarify the development of psychological dependence in the context of social media, with a particular focus on microblogging. Building on the theory of rational addiction, this study hypothesizes that dependence is initially developed from habit. Furthermore, the study draws on the cognitive-affective-behavioral modeling paradigm to hypothesize that maladaptive cognition and affect tend to distort habit into psychological dependence. We conduct a longitudinal empirical test to validate the underlying mechanism of social media dependence as theorized in our study. The study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.
Research Area(s)
- Addiction, Cognitive-affective-behavioral model, Dependence, Habit, Problematic technology use, Social media
Citation Format(s)
A theory of social media dependence : Evidence from microblog users. / Wang, Chuang; Lee, Matthew K.O.; Hua, Zhongsheng.
In: Decision Support Systems, Vol. 69, 01.2015, p. 40-49.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews (RGC: 21, 22, 62) › 21_Publication in refereed journal › peer-review