From Social Networking Site Use to Subjective Well-Being: The Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Mediating Pathways of Prosocial Behavior among Vocational College Students in China

Bryant Pui Hung Hui; Algae Kit Yee Au; Jacky Chi Kit Ng; Xinmiao Song

doi:10.3390/ijerph20010100

From Social Networking Site Use to Subjective Well-Being: The Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Mediating Pathways of Prosocial Behavior among Vocational College Students in China

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 21;20(1):100. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20010100.

Authors

Bryant Pui Hung Hui¹, Algae Kit Yee Au¹, Jacky Chi Kit Ng¹, Xinmiao Song²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

In view of the growing importance of social networking sites (SNS) to adolescents and the mixed and inconclusive empirical evidence on the relationships between SNS use and their well-being, the present study aimed to investigate the associations of social function use intensity (SFUI) and entertainment function use intensity (EFUI) with adolescent life satisfaction and self-esteem, and examine the mediating roles that general prosocial behavior and school volunteering may play in the links. Drawing from the findings of a self-administered online survey with a valid sample of 3452 adolescents (mean age = 18.21) from 10 vocational colleges across four regions of China, our results demonstrated that there was an indirect positive effect of SFUI on adolescent life satisfaction and self-esteem via two interpersonal pathways of general prosocial behavior and school volunteering. We also discovered that there was an indirect negative effect of EFUI on adolescent life satisfaction and self-esteem via an intrapersonal pathway of school volunteering. Our findings provided empirical support for the differential effects of SFUI and EFUI on adolescent life satisfaction and self-esteem through the interpersonal and intrapersonal pathways, and unpacked the mediating roles of general prosocial behavior and school volunteering in these mechanisms.

Keywords: China; prosocial behavior; social networking site use; vocational college; well-being.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Altruism*
Humans
Social Adjustment
Social Networking*
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The project was supported by the Collaborative Research Fund, Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (C5010-15G); the General Research Fund, Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (17608420).