The Impact of Social Media on Users’ Self-Efficacy and Loneliness: An Analysis of the Mediating Mechanism of Social Support

Abstract

Purpose

The integration of social media into all areas of society has become a typical phenomenon of the Internet era. This study’s core objective is to dissect the relationship between social media, self-efficacy and loneliness, especially emphasizing the mediating function of social support.

Patients and Methods

The research data is derived from the pooled cross-sectional data combined from the four-period data of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The study employs Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression as the basic research method, and utilizes Instrumental Variables (IV) and other methods to conduct robustness checks.

Results

Social media usage frequency (SMUF) enhances self-efficacy and loneliness through social support. Social support promotes self-efficacy and alleviates users’ loneliness. In self-efficacy, social support plays a fully mediating role. Moreover, education (human capital) has a significant moderating effect. There are noticeable differences in the response of different characteristics groups to SMUF.

Conclusion

This study reveals how social media impacts self-efficacy and loneliness through social support. Based on the research results, avoiding prolonged usage of social media and improving digital literacy are the crucial means to exert the positive benefits of social media.

Keywords:

• social media
• self-efficacy
• loneliness
• social support
• mediation analysis

Statement on AI Usage

All content in this study is original to the authors and no AI was used to generate research content.

Data Sharing Statement

The microdata used in this study are derived from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), which can be accessed at the website [www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/]. All empirical results of the study are presented in this published article.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

This study and its protocols have received approval from the Qingdao University Human Research Ethics Committee. All methods were carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and were approved by the aforementioned ethics committee. All participants were informed about the survey and provided their consent, as well as informed consent obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) office.

Consent for Publication

All authors consent to the publication of this study, and there are no objections to the use of images and tables within the research.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) office for providing the micro survey data. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and academic editors for their insightful suggestions on our article, which will help to enhance the quality of our manuscript and shape our future research.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Education Science “14th Five-Year” Planning Project of Shandong Province (Grant No. 2021QYB003); the Shandong Provincial Key R & D Program (Soft Science Project) (Grant No. 2023RKY04017).