Guilt and Media Use

Procrastination, Distress and Life Satisfaction across the Age Range – A German Representative Community Study

Addressing the lack of population-based data the purpose of this representative study was to assess procrastination and its associations with distress and life satisfaction across the life span. A representative German community sample (1,350 women; 1,177 men) between the ages of 14 and 95 years was examined by the short form of the General Procrastination Scale (GPS-K; 1) and standardized scales of perceived stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue and life satisfaction. As hypothesized, procrastination was highest in the youngest cohort (14-29 years). Only in the youngest and most procrastinating cohort (aged 14 to 29 years), men procrastinated more than women. As we had further hypothesized,…

Too Much or Too Little Messaging? Situational Determinants of Guilt About Mobile Messaging

Abstract Mobile messaging has been associated with guilt. Guilt about too much messaging may result from self-control failures during goal conflicts. Conversely, guilt about too little messaging may result from violating the salient norm to be available. This research considers both boundary conditions of guilt about mobile communication—goal conflicts and availability norm salience—simultaneously for the first time. We conducted two preregistered experiments to investigate their interplay. Results from a vignette experiment, but not from a laboratory experiment, support the hypotheses that goal conflicts trigger guilt about using messengers and that guilt about not using messengers arises …

Authenticity and well-being on social network sites: A two-wave longitudinal study on the effects of online authenticity and the positivity bias in SNS communication

In offline settings, authentic behavior has frequently been linked to increased well-being. Social network sites (SNSs) provide a new venue for authenticity, yet the effects of online authenticity are largely unknown. The present study investigated the reciprocal effects of authenticity on SNSs and the psychological well-being of SNS users in a two-wave longitudinal study (N=374). The results demonstrate that online authenticity had a positive longitudinal effect on three indicators of subjective well-being. The data further illustrate that this beneficial effect of SNS use is not equally accessible to all users: participants with low levels of well-being were less likely to feel authentic …

Permanently online and permanently connected : development and validation of the Online Vigilance Scale

Smartphones and other mobile devices have fundamentally changed patterns of Internet use in everyday life by making online access constantly available. The present paper offers a theoretical explication and empirical assessment of the concept of online vigilance, referring to users' permanent cognitive orientation towards online content and communication as well as their disposition to exploit these options constantly. Based on four studies, a validated and reliable self-report measure of online vigilance was developed. In combination, the results suggest that the Online Vigilance Scale (OVS) shows a stable factor structure in various contexts and user populations and provides future work i…

Digital Stress over the Life Span: The Effects of Communication Load and Internet Multitasking on Perceived Stress and Psychological Health Impairments in a German Probability Sample

The present study investigated the psychological health effects and motivational origins of digital stress based on a representative survey of 1,557 German Internet users between 14 and 85 years of age. Communication load resulting from private e-mails and social media messages as well as Internet multitasking were positively related to perceived stress and had significant indirect effects on burnout, depression, and anxiety. Perceived social pressure and the fear of missing out on information and social interaction were key drivers of communication load and Internet multitasking. Age significantly moderated the health effects of digital stress as well as the motivational drivers of communi…

“Facebocrastination”? Predictors of using Facebook for procrastination and its effects on students’ well-being

Procrastinating with popular online media such as Facebook has been suggested to impair users well-being, particularly among students. Building on recent procrastination, self-control, and communication literature, we conducted two studies (total N=699) that examined the predictors of procrastination with Facebook as well as its effects on students academic and overall well-being. Results from both studies consistently indicate that low trait self-control, habitual Facebook checking, and high enjoyment of Facebook use predict almost 40 percent of the variance of using Facebook for procrastination. Moreover, results from Study 2 underline that using Facebook for the irrational delay of impor…

Watching Online Videos at Work: The Role of Positive and Meaningful Affect for Recovery Experiences and Well-Being at the Workplace

This study extends research on the relationship between hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment and its potential for recovery experiences and aspects of well-being (e.g., Rieger, Reinecke, Frischlich, & Bente, 2014). With the broad notion of what hedonic and eudaimonic media can entail, this research focused on unique affective experiences—namely, positive affect—and an expanded concept of meaningful affect (including elevation and gratitude). An online experiment with 148 full-time employees in the United States was conducted to investigate the unique role of positive and meaningful affect eliciting YouTube videos (compared to neutral control video) on recovery experiences and vitality and w…

Insights Into Aspects Behind Internet-Related Disorders in Adolescents: The Interplay of Personality and Symptoms of Adjustment Disorders

Abstract Purpose Problematic Internet use (PIU) that has recently been referred to as Internet-related disorder is a growing health concern. Yet, it is unclear why some adolescents are developing problematic use, whereas others sustain control. Based on previous research, we hypothesize that personality traits (low conscientiousness and high neuroticism) act as predispositions for PIU. We further hypothesize that PIU can be understood as a maladaptive reaction toward critical life events and that these maladaptive reactions are exacerbated by dysfunctional personality traits. Methods The study investigates the prevalence of distinct subtypes of PIU among a sample of adolescents (n = 1,489; …

Characterizing mood management as need satisfaction: The effects of intrinsic needs on selective exposure and mood repair

This study attempted to (a) extend traditional mood management theory research by investigating the influence of the intrinsic needs for competence and autonomy on selective exposure to video games and (b) test the influence of satisfying these needs on resultant mood repair. An experiment varied satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs using false feedback. Subjects then selected media that varied in level of user demand. Measures of need satisfaction were taken before and after media selection. Results demonstrated that (a) thwarted intrinsic needs significantly predict the choice of video games with different levels of user demand and (b) the satisfaction of these needs predicts enj…

Entertainment 2.0? The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Need Satisfaction for the Enjoyment of Facebook Use

While intrinsic motivation has received broad attention in recent entertainment research, the effects of extrinsic motivation, such as social pressure to use media, on media enjoyment remain unknown. Based on an online-survey (N = 230), this study tested the effects of intrinsic need satisfaction and perceived social pressure on the enjoyment of Facebook use with structural equation modeling. The results reveal complex effects of extrinsic motivation: While social pressure negatively affected autonomy need satisfaction, it was positively related to competence and relatedness need satisfaction. This study is the first to develop and test a theoretical model of entertainment experience in the…

Meier_Reinecke_Meta_Review_Online-Appendix_R3_no_fieldcodes – Supplemental material for Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media, and Mental Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Meta-Review

Supplemental material, Meier_Reinecke_Meta_Review_Online-Appendix_R3_no_fieldcodes for Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media, and Mental Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Meta-Review by Adrian Meier and Leonard Reinecke in Communication Research

Mood Management Theory

Zusammenhänge zwischen Anpassungsstörungen und Internetbezogenen Störungen im Jugendalter: Ergebnisse einer Längsschnittuntersuchung

Mobile (Self-)Socialization: The Role of Mobile Media and Communication in Autonomy and Relationship Development in Adolescence

Two of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence are developing autonomy and establishing relationships (i.e., friendships and romantic relationships). Self-socialization processes are ...

Self-control and need satisfaction in primetime: Television, social media, and friends can enhance regulatory resources via perceived autonomy and competence

The relationship between self-control and media use is complicated. Loss of self-control capacity has been linked to generally higher levels of media use, which might represent self-regulatory failure, but could also be attempts at replenishing self-control. Indeed, self-determination theory proposes that satisfying intrinsic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), for example via media use, aids the recovery of self-control. In this 2-wave survey (N = 395), we examined the interplay of users’ self-control capacity and their perceived satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs via media use and alternative leisure activities. Satisfaction of intrinsic n…

The relationship between trait procrastination, Internet use, and psychological functioning : results from a community sample of German adolescents

Adolescents with a strong tendency for irrational task delay (i.e., high trait procrastination) may be particularly prone to use Internet applications simultaneously to other tasks (e.g., during homework) and in an insufficiently controlled fashion. Both Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet usage may thus amplify the negative mental health implications that have frequently been associated with trait procrastination. The present study explored this role of Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet use for the relationship between trait procrastination and impaired psychological functioning in a community sample of N = 818 early and middle adolescent…

The Guilty Couch Potato: The Role of Ego Depletion in Reducing Recovery Through Media Use

This article addresses ego depletion as a mechanism influencing media-based stress recovery processes. Using structural equation modeling, relationships between ego depletion, procrastination, guilt, enjoyment, vitality, and recovery experience were tested using data from an online survey (N = 471). Results suggest that ego depletion may increase the risk of negatively appraising the use of interactive (video games) and noninteractive (television) entertaining media as a form of procrastination. The resulting guilt is negatively related to the recovery experience associated with using entertainment. Therefore, ego-depleted individuals may benefit less from the psychological recovery potenti…

How and when do mobile media demands impact well-being? Explicating the integrative model of mobile media use and need experiences (IM3UNE)

Using mobile media can be both detrimental and beneficial for well-being. Thus, explaining how and when they elicit such effects is of crucial importance. To explicate boundary conditions and processes for digital well-being, this article introduces the Integrative Model of Mobile Media Use and Need Experiences (IM³UNE). Instead of assuming mobile media to be pathogenic, the IM³UNE offers a salutogenic perspective—it focuses on how we can stay healthy when using mobile media ubiquitously in daily life. More specifically, the model assumes that both the satisfaction and the frustration of basic psychological needs are key underlying mechanisms linking demanding mobile media use to well-being…

Well-Being and Media Use

Media-induced recovery: The effects of positive versus negative media stimuli on recovery experience, cognitive performance, and energetic arousal.

Recent research has demonstrated that the use of hedonically positive interactive media content contributes to the satisfaction of recovery needs and is associated with recovery outcomes such as higher levels of cognitive performance and increased energetic arousal. The recovery effects of noninteractive media stimuli as well as of media content with negative affective valence, however, are less clear. The present investigation addressed this limitation of prior research on

Procrastination out of Habit? The Role of Impulsive Versus Reflective Media Selection in Procrastinatory Media Use

The pervasive access to media options seriously challenges users’ self-regulatory abilities. One example of deficient self-regulation in the context of media use is procrastination—impulsively ‘giving in’ to available media options despite goal conflicts with more important tasks. This study investigaes procrastinatory media use across 3 types of media (TV, computer, smartphone) from a dual-systems perspective, taking both person-level and situation-level predictors into account. Results from a 14-day long diary study (N = 347) suggest that procrastinatory media use is driven by automatic media selection, which is facilitated by strong media habits (person level) and low motivation for beha…

Corrigendum to ““Facebocrastination”? Predictors of using Facebook for procrastination and its effects on students' well-being” [Computers in Human Behavior 64 (2016) 65–76]

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger? The Relationship between Cognitive Task Demands in Video Games and Recovery Experiences

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that the use of interactive media is associated with recovery experiences, suggesting that engaging with media can help people to alleviate stress and restore mental and physical resources. Video games, in particular, have been shown to fulfil various aspects of recovery, not least due to their ability to elicit feelings of mastery and control. However, little is known about the role of cognitive task demand (i.e., the amount of cognitive effort a task requires) in that process. Toward this end, our study aimed to investigate how cognitive task demand during gameplay affects users’ recovery experiences. Results of a laboratory experiment suggest that dif…

Just One More Episode: Predictors of Procrastination with Television and Implications for Sleep Quality

© 2019, © 2019 Mass Communication & Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Sleep experts have raised concern over the effects of electronic media use on sleep. To date, few studies have looked beyond the effects of duration and frequency of media exposure or examined the underlying mechanisms of this association. As procrastinatory media use has been related to lower well-being, we used data from two survey studies (N1 = 821, N2 = 584) to investigate (a) predictors of procrastinatory TV viewing and (b) the link between procrastinatory TV viewing and sleep quality. Findings from both studies indicate that those with a stronger viewing habit, h…

Permanently online and permanently procrastinating? The mediating role of Internet use for the effects of trait procrastination on psychological health and well-being

A growing number of studies suggest that Internet users frequently utilize online media as “tools for procrastination.” This study thus investigated the relationship between trait procrastination, Internet use, and psychological well-being in a representative sample of N = 1,577 German Internet users. The results revealed that trait procrastination was associated with an increased use of leisure-related online content and impaired control over Internet use. As a result, Internet users high in trait procrastination showed a higher risk of experiencing negative consequence of Internet use in other life domains. These negative repercussions of insufficiently self-regulated Internet use partia…

Permanently Online—Always Stressed Out? The Effects of Permanent Connectedness on Stress Experiences

Abstract Concerns have been expressed that permanent online connectedness might negatively affect media user’s stress levels. Most research has focused on negative effects of specific media usage patterns, such as media multitasking or communication load. In contrast, users’ cognitive orientation toward online content and communication has rarely been investigated. Against this backdrop, we examined whether this cognitive orientation (i.e., online vigilance with its three dimensions salience, reactibility, monitoring) is related to perceived stress at different timescales (person, day, and situation level), while accounting for the effects of multitasking and communication load. Results acr…

The relationship between online vigilance and affective well-being in everyday life: Combining smartphone logging with experience sampling

Contains fulltext : 220301.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Through communication technology, users find themselves constantly connected to others to such an extent that they routinely develop a mindset of connectedness. This mindset has been defined as online vigilance. Although there is a large body of research on media use and well-being, the question of how online vigilance impacts well-being remains unanswered. In this preregistered study, we combine experience sampling and smartphone logging to address the relation of online vigilance and affective well-being in everyday life. Seventy-five Android users answered eight daily surveys over five days (N = 1615) whilst having their…

The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being

Mind-wandering and mindfulness as mediators of the relationship between online vigilance and well-being

Contains fulltext : 199030pub.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) As mobile technology allows users to be online anywhere and at all times, a growing number of users report feeling constantly alert and preoccupied with online streams of online information and communication - a phenomenon that has recently been termed online vigilance. Despite its growing prevalence, consequences of this constant orientation toward online streams of information and communication for users' well-being are largely unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether being constantly vigilant is related to cognitive consequences in the form of increased mind-wandering and decreased mindfulness and exam…

Feeling interrupted-Being responsive: How online messages relate to affect at work

Being constantly connected to others via e‐mail and other online messages is increasingly typical for many employees. In this paper, we develop and test a model that specifies how interruptions by online messages relate to negative and positive affect. We hypothesize that perceived interruptions by online messages predict state negative affect via time pressure and that perceived interruptions predict state positive affect via responsiveness to these online messages and perceived task accomplishment. A daily survey study with 174 employees (a total of 811 day‐level observations) provided support for our hypotheses at the between‐person and within‐person level. In addition, perceived interru…

Media Use and Well-Being

Media for Coping During COVID-19 Social Distancing: Stress, Anxiety, and Psychological Well-Being.

In spring 2020, COVID-19 and the ensuing social distancing and stay-at-home orders instigated abrupt changes to employment and educational infrastructure, leading to uncertainty, concern, and stress among United States college students. The media consumption patterns of this and other social groups across the globe were affected, with early evidence suggesting viewers were seeking both pandemic-themed media and reassuring, familiar content. A general increase in media consumption, and increased consumption of specific types of content, may have been due to media use for coping strategies. This paper examines the relationship between the stress and anxiety of university students and their st…

No place for negative emotions? The effects of message valence, communication channel, and social distance on users’ willingness to respond to SNS status updates

Abstract The present study contributes to the investigation of communicative norms and social support in Social Network Sites (SNSs). We suggest that a positivity bias restricts the availability of social support users receive from others via public responses to negative status updates. Moderated mediation analyses of the data of an online experiment ( N  = 870, M age  = 25.16 years, 64% female) show that users are less willing to comment on negative status updates than on positive ones. In contrast, users are more willing to respond to negative status updates with private messages. These effects are moderated by the strength of the relationship between sender and receiver of the status upd…

A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the Privacy Calculus

The “privacy calculus” approach to studying online privacy implies that willingness to engage in disclosures on social network sites (SNSs) depends on evaluation of the resulting risks and benefits. In this article, we propose that cultural factors influence the perception of privacy risks and social gratifications. Based on survey data collected from participants from five countries (Germany [ n = 740], the Netherlands [ n = 89], the United Kingdom [ n = 67], the United States [ n = 489], and China [ n = 165]), we successfully replicated the privacy calculus. Furthermore, we found that culture plays an important role: As expected, people from cultures ranking high in individualism found i…

Influence of Social Support Received in Online and Offline Contexts on Satisfaction With Social Support and Satisfaction With Life: A Longitudinal Study

People around the globe now regularly interact with family and friends through social network sites (SNSs). In this article, we investigated the differences between social interactions in online and offline contexts as well as users' satisfaction with the social support received in these contexts. It was hypothesized that SNSs are better set up for the task of leveraging informational support but that they are inferior to offline contexts in terms of emotional or instrumental support. We further assumed that users might feel similarly satisfied with how support is rendered online and offline but that only social support transacted in offline contexts would contribute to overall life satisfa…

The reciprocal effects of social network site use and the disposition for self-disclosure: A longitudinal study

Since the advent of social network sites (SNSs), scholars have critically discussed the psychological and societal implication of online self-disclosure. Does Facebook change our willingness to disclose personal information? The present study proposes that the use of SNSs and the psychological disposition for self-disclosure interact reciprocally: Individuals with a stronger disposition show a higher tendency to use SNSs (selection effect). At the same time, frequent SNS use increases the wish to self-disclose online, because self-disclosing behaviors are reinforced through social capital within the SNS environment (socialization effect). In a longitudinal panel study, 488 users of SNSs wer…

From Mood to Meaning: The Changing Model of the User in Entertainment Research

In recent years, entertainment theory has undergone a paradigmatic shift: The traditional conceptualization of entertainment as an exclusively pleasurable affective state has been significantly extended by recent two-factor models. These models have introduced a second dimension of entertainment that incorporates more complex nonhedonic experiences, such as the search for meaning or intrinsic need satisfaction. They have not only crucially altered the way communication scholars conceptualize the audience of media entertainment but also our discipline's view on the effects of entertaining media content. The present article discusses the implications of this changing model of the media user b…

Slacking Off or Winding Down? An Experience Sampling Study on the Drivers and Consequences of Media Use for Recovery Versus Procrastination

Today's constant availability of media content provides users with various recreational resources. It may also challenge self-control, however, once media exposure conflicts with other goals and obligations. How media users deal with these self-regulatory chances and risks in their daily lives is largely unknown. Our study addressed the predictors and consequences of recreational and procrastinatory media use using experience sampling methodology (N = 215; 1,094 media use episodes). Results suggest that trait (self-control, performance goal orientation) as well as state variables (exhaustion) are significant predictors of media use for recovery versus procrastination. Whereas recreational m…

Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media, and Mental Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Meta-Review

Computer-mediated communication (CMC), and specifically social media, may affect the mental health (MH) and well-being of its users, for better or worse. Research on this topic has accumulated rapidly, accompanied by controversial public debate and numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Yet, a higher-level integration of the multiple disparate conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH and individual review findings is desperately needed. To this end, we first develop two organizing frameworks that systematize conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH. Based on these frameworks, we integrate the literature through a meta-review of 34 reviews and a content analysi…

Binge-Watching as Case of Escapist Entertainment Use

Although the concept of escapism is widely used in entertainment research, it lacks theoretical and empirical differentiation. Based on the transactional model of stress and coping, we extend previous attempts to conceptualize escapism as a form of emotion-focused avoidance coping. In contrast to the primarily negative connotation of escapism found in prior research, we propose that escapist entertainment use may be a functional coping strategy in some situations and may thus have beneficial effects on the well-being of media users. To develop and illustrate our perspective, we turn to binge-watching as a prominent example of escapist entertainment use. We show exemplarily how escapist bing…

Media Entertainment and Well-Being-Linking Hedonic and Eudaimonic Entertainment Experience to Media-Induced Recovery and Vitality

This paper explores the impact of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment experience on well-being. We propose that the satisfaction of recovery needs can provide an important link that connects recent 2-factor models of entertainment with well-being after media consumption. Using path modeling, relationships between hedonic/eudaimonic entertainment experiences, media-induced recovery experience, and vitality as a recovery outcome were explored in an experiment (N = 120). Results suggest that different recovery needs are satisfied by hedonic versus eudaimonic entertainment: Although hedonic entertainment experiences were associated with the recovery dimensions of relaxation and psychological d…

The interplay of intrinsic need satisfaction and Facebook specific motives in explaining addictive behavior on Facebook

We conducted an online survey with 581 SNS users.We developed a scale measuring SNS addiction.SNS specific motives mediate the effect of intrinsic needs on SNS addiction.People try to compensate thwarted intrinsic needs with gratifications from SNS use.Gratifications sought from SNS use can cause addictive SNS usage patterns. The present paper aims at exploring the new phenomenon of social network site (SNS) addiction and at identifying predictors of problematic SNS use. For this purpose, a scale measuring addictive behavior specifically with regard to SNS use was developed. The effects of intrinsic need satisfaction in the offline context and of SNS-specific motives on SNS addiction were t…

Overcoming challenges and leveraging opportunities

It is our great pleasure and honor to begin this year as the new co-editors of Media Psychology. For the four of us, Media Psychology has been an intellectual home throughout our academic lives—a c...