Leonard Reinecke

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 were surveyed twice in a 6months interval. Data were analyzed using structure equation modeling. The proposed reciprocal effects of SNS activities and self-disclosure were supported by the data: The disposition for online self-disclosure had a positive longitudinal effect on SNS use which in turn positively influenced the disposition for online self-disclosure. Both effects were moderated by the amount of social capital users received as a consequence of their SNS use.

“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 important tasks increases students academic stress levels and contributes to the negative well-being effects of Facebook use beyond the academic domain. The implications of investigating procrastination as a specific pattern of uncontrolled and dysfunctional media use are discussed with regard to research on the uses and effects of ubiquitous online media. Using Facebook (FB) to procrastinate tasks is common among students.Trait self-control (TSC), FB habits, and FB enjoyment predicted procrastination.Procrastination with FB increased students academic stress and FB-induced strains.Procrastination mediated the effects of TSC, habits, and enjoyment on well-being.Conclusion: Procrastinating with FB can impair users well-being.

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 communication load and Internet multitasking. The results, thus, underline the need to address digital stress from a life span perspective.

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, procrastination was consistently associated with higher stress, more depression, anxiety, fatigue and reduced satisfaction across life domains, especially regarding work and income. Associations were also found with lack of a partnership and unemployment. Findings are discussed with regard to potential developmental and cohort effects. While procrastination appears to be a pervasive indicator for maladjustment, longitudinal analyses in high-risk samples (e.g. late adolescence, unemployment) are needed to identify means and mechanisms of procrastinating.

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 it less important to generate social gratifications on SNSs as compared to people from collectivist-oriented countries. However, the latter placed greater emphasis on privacy risks—presumably to safeguard the collective. Furthermore, we identified uncertainty avoidance to be a cultural dimension crucially influencing the perception of SNS risks and benefits. As expected, people from cultures ranking high in uncertainty avoidance found privacy risks to be more important when making privacy-related disclosure decisions. At the same time, these participants ascribed lower importance to social gratifications—possibly because social encounters are perceived to be less controllable in the social media environment.

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 media-induced recovery. In an experiment (N = 99), participants were first exposed to a task to impose work strain and then assigned to one of the 3 experimental conditions: (a) a movie clip with positive affective valence, (b) a movie clip with negative affective valence, or (c) the control condition with no media exposure. The results demonstrate that both media conditions resulted in higher levels of recovery experience and cognitive performance than the nonmedia control condition. Furthermore, exposure to the video clip with negative valence resulted in higher levels of involvement and energetic arousal than exposure to the positive media stimulus. The findings extend prior research by providing a direct test of the recovery potential of noninteractive media and by revealing the differential patterns of recovery effects resulting from exposure to positive and negative media content.

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 partially accounted for the correlation between trait procrastination and impaired well-being (i.e. stress, anxiety, and depression). These findings underline the role of online media as an instrument for dysfunctional task delay among Internet users. Implications of the results are discussed with regard to media use and self-control in general and procrastinatory media use in specific.

Skalenkonstruktion in der Kommunikationswissenschaft

Systematische Skalenkonstruktionen tragen erheblich zum Erkenntnisfortschritt der Kommunikationswissenschaft bei, indem sie gultige und verlassliche Messinstrumente zur Verfugung tellen. Gleichzeitig wird die Durchfuhrung gezielter Skalenkonstruktionen in der Kommunikationswissenschaft immer popularer, was als Zeichen der Reife und Professionalisierung der Disziplin gedeutet werden kann. Das vorliegende Kapitel gibt einen Uberblick uber die typischen Schritte einer Skalenkonstruktion inklusive aktueller Empfehlungen zur Datenanalyse, haufig angewandter Faustregeln, und Verweise auf vertiefende Literatur. Die zentralen Schritte der Skalenkonstruktion umfassen theoretische Vorarbeiten, die Entwicklung eines Itempools, die Ermittlung psychometrischer Gute der Items, die Uberprufung der Dimensionalitat der Skala, die Itemauswahl und finale Skalenbildung, sowie das Testen der Validitat der Skala. Die Ausfuhrung dieser Schritte erfordert in der Regel mehrere Stichproben und Studien, wodurch Skalenkonstruktionen gut geplant sein mussen.

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

ABSTRACT 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 behavioral control (situation level). The results underline the value of a dual-systems perspective on media choices in our media-saturated environment.

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 work satisfaction in the work context. A path model suggests that meaningful videos predicted mastery recovery experiences, whereas positive affect predicted psychological detachment and relaxation experiences. In addition, mastery recovery experiences predicted vitality, whereas relaxation experiences predicted satisfaction with work, indicating a unique potential of the consumption of meaningful and positive affect inducing YouTube videos at work for workplace well-being.