Open AccessDivergent effects of social media use on meaning in life via loneliness and existential isolation during the coronavirus pandemic
Author(s) -
Peter J. Helm,
Tyler Jimenez,
Madhwa S. Galgali,
Megan Edwards,
Kenneth E. Vail,
Jamie Arndt
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of social and personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.251
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1460-3608
pISSN - 0265-4075
DOI - 10.1177/02654075211066922
Subject(s) - loneliness , social isolation , psychology , isolation (microbiology) , meaning (existential) , existentialism , feeling , pandemic , anxiety , social psychology , covid-19 , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , medicine , psychiatry , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , law , disease , pathology
Stay-at-home orders issued to combat the growing number of infections during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 had many psychological consequences for people including elevated stress, anxiety, and difficulty maintaining meaning in their lives. The present studies utilized cross-sectional designs and were conducted to better understand how social media usage related to people's subjective isolation (i.e., social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential isolation) and meaning in life (MIL) during the early months of the pandemic within the United States. Study 1 found that general social media use indirectly predicted higher MIL via lower existential isolation and social isolation. Study 2 replicated these patterns and found that social media use also predicted lower MIL via higher emotional loneliness, and that the aforementioned effects occurred with active, but not passive, social media use. Findings suggest social media use may be a viable means to validate one's experiences (i.e., reduce existential isolation) during the pandemic but may also lead to intensified feelings concerning missing others (i.e., increased emotional loneliness). This research also helps to identify potential divergent effects of social media on MIL and helps to clarify the relationships among varying types of subjective isolation.