PSY 3109 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Disconnection
15 May 2018
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Unit 1: Social Needs Part II
Effects of Cyberspace:
• Mixed results
• Some research suggests that internet and social networking use is linked to a host of
negative psychological outcomes:
o Decreased sense of belonging
o Decreased well-being
o Increased likelihood of depression and loneliness
• Other studies suggest that cyberspace is a good way for people to fulfill their need to belong.
Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch (2011)
• Had students rate themselves on the following over a week:
o Connection: I felt close and connected with others who are important to me
o Disconnection: I had disagreements or conflicts with people I usually get along with
o How often do you visit Facebook?
Findings:
• Interestingly, connection and disconnection were not correlated
• Both correlated positively with Facebook use
• Higher Facebook use was linked both to more connection and more disconnection
• Sense of belonging is a cause and consequence of Facebook use
• People who feel disconnected from their social relationships are more motivated to use
Facebook
o Thus, disconnection is a cause of using social network sites
• When people actually use Facebook, they feel more connected to their social relationships
o Thus, increased connection is a consequence of using social network sites
Researchers had students quit Facebook for 48 hours:
• Reduced students sense of connectedness but didn’t increase disconnectedness
• The more that students felt disconnected or lonely the more likely they were to turn to
Facebook again after the 48 hours were up
• Facebook is rewarding for most people and leads to increased sense of belonging
• However, for people feeling disconnected in the real world, Facebook wont decrease their
loneliness/make them feel more connected
Cyberspace’s effect on face to face contact:
• Research shows that people do not replace face to face interactions with online relations
• Online tools serve to enrich the face to face interactions that many of us have
• A 2002 study took 208 people who did not yet have computers in their homes and gave
them a computer and internet
o 3 years later, it was found that increased internet use was linked to increased (not
decreased) face-to-face interactions with family and friends
• Most people don’t replace face-to-face with e-mail, rather we use e-mail to maintain long-
distance connections where face-to-face meetings are difficult
• 66% of people who develop relationships online end up meeting in person
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