Communication Networks and Individual Resilience for Individual Well-Being During a Time of Crisis

ABSTRACT

The deprivation of offline communication necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about whether and how external social resources and internal ability lead individuals to maintain their well-being. However, most research on the two factors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been based on cross-sectional survey data during the early lockdowns and focused on each factor separately. Combining the two lines of research, this study investigates how individuals’ communication networks and resilience interacted with each other and influenced individual well-being at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the two-wave online panel survey data gathered from 708 Korean adults, this study suggests that individual well-being depends on strong ties and emotional support, and that their offline support influences their well-being differently depending on their level of resilience. Implications for understanding the transformed roles of communication networks and the complex dynamics of offline support together with individual resilience on individual well-being are discussed.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Some studies have used the term “social networks” (Smith & Christakis, 2008) instead of “communication networks,” but we use “communication networks” as an umbrella term to include the structure of social contacts (i.e., social networks) and the function of support from the networks (i.e., social support). Here, “social networks” specifically refers to the structural aspects of communication networks.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF- 2018S1A5B8070398) and the Institute of Communication Research at Seoul National University. The study sponsors had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing the report, and the decision to submit the report for publication.