Feelings on Facebook and their correlates with psychological well-being: The moderating role of culture

Abstract

The current study explores four types of emotions reflecting distinct dimensions of social orientation—interpersonal affiliation vs. distance, and valence—positive vs. negative, that users may experience on Facebook and their relationship to psychological well-being through two distinct routes: perceived relationship harmony and perceived control. A survey was conducted in the U.S. (n = 320) and South Korea (n = 336) to explore these relationships, as well as the moderating role of culture (i.e., valuing interdependence vs. independence). Results show that experiencing socially engaging emotions, whether positive (e.g., friendliness) or negative (e.g., shame), is positively associated with life satisfaction through perceived relationship harmony with Facebook friends for users valuing interdependence (vs. independence). In contrast, experiencing positive disengaging emotions (e.g., pride) is positively associated with perceived control in a Facebook context for users valuing independence (vs. interdependence). Perceived control is positively related to life satisfaction for users valuing independence (vs. interdependence) when experiencing positive emotions, whether engaging or disengaging (e.g., anger). Implications regarding adaptive consequences of experiencing culturally fit emotions on Facebook are discussed. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd