Mobile (Self-)Socialization: The Role of Mobile Media and Communication in Autonomy and Relationship Development in Adolescence

ABSTRACT

Two of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence are developing autonomy and establishing relationships (i.e., friendships and romantic relationships). Self-socialization processes are relevant in mastering these developmental tasks. Mobile media are predestined as tools for such self-socialization: Their affordances—universality, private accessibility, and ubiquity—closely match the developmental needs of adolescents and no other media device is so deeply embedded in adolescents’ daily lives. The present paper proposes a reciprocal relationship between mobile media and communication and mastery of developmental tasks. The results of a three-wave panel study (N = 503) point to a marginal role of mobile media and communication in developing autonomy and establishing relationships. Still, results suggest that developmental achievements enable adolescents to make sensible use of mobile media and communication in response to their current developmental stage.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

¹ To test for metric invariance across time, we compared the unconstrained model (i.e., all factor loadings set free) to a model where the factor loadings were constrained to be equal across the three panel waves.

² The sample sizes are comparably low for RI‐CLPMs. This may result in an underestimation of the impact of MMC on adolescent development. Therefore, we reran our analyses using Latent Curve Models (LCM) and CLPM which also provide estimates for the cross-lagged paths necessary for answering our research questions, but require lower sample sizes. Comparing the cross-lagged paths between the three models, we found similar results (see Tables A3–A8 in the online Appendix). Therefore, we are confident that our results are meaningful and robust.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from Forschungsschwerpunkt Medienkonvergenz (Research Center for Media Convergence) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Notes on contributors

Anna Schnauber-Stockmann

Anna Schnauber-Stockmann (Ph.D., University of Mainz, 2016) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her research interests are media choice & effects, focused on mobile media, media habits, and adolescent development.

Mathias Weber

Mathias Weber (Ph.D., University of Mainz, 2014) is a postdoctoral researcher. His research focuses on adolescents’ media use, sexual media content, and on potentially harmful online behavior.

Leonard Reinecke

Leonard Reinecke (Ph.D., University of Hamburg, 2010) is Associate Professor for Media Effects and Media Psychology at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His main research areas include the effects of online and mobile media on psychological health and well-being.

Christian Schemer

Christian Schemer (Ph.D., University of Zurich, 2010) is Professor for Communication at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His research focuses on political communication, media effects, and communication methods.

Kai Müller

Kai Müller (Ph.D., University Medical Center Mainz, 2016) is a researcher at the University Medical Center Mainz and co-founder of the Outpatient Clinic for Behavioral Addictions. His research interests focus on the etiology and treatment of behavioral addictions, especially gaming disorder and gambling disorder.

Manfred Beutel

Manfred Beutel (M.D., University of Freiburg 1986) is Professor for Psychosomatic Medicine and Director of the Dept. of Psychosomatic Medicine. His main research areas includes behavioral addictions and mental health.

Birgit Stark

Birgit Stark (Ph.D., University of Hohenheim, 2005) is a full professor at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her work focuses on media convergence, media performance, fragmentation, and comparative media research. This includes research on algorithm-based information intermediaries like Google and Facebook, their societal impact and the chances and risks associated with them.