Positive Self-Disclosure on Social Network Sites and Adolescents’ Friendship Quality: The Mediating Role of Positive Feedback and the Moderating Role of Social Anxiety

Lizhong Liu, Tianyi Zhang () and Lei Han ()
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Lizhong Liu: School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Tianyi Zhang: School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Lei Han: School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: In the current information age, SNSs (Social Network Sites) have been popular among young adolescents, and have also become a main manner to maintain social relationships. Against this background, based on relevant evidence, the present study aimed to examine the association between positive self-disclosure on SNSs and adolescents’ friendship quality, as well as the underlying mechanism—the potential mediating role of perceived positive feedback and the moderating role of social anxiety. A sample of 1713 adolescents aged 11 to 19 was recruited to participate in this study, to complete a set of scales. Results indicated that positive self-disclosure on SNSs was positively associated with adolescents’ friendship quality, and positive feedback significantly mediated the association between self-disclosure positivity and friendship quality. This mediating effect, moderated by social anxiety, could significantly moderate the mediating effect of positive feedback; specifically, compared with higher social anxiety adolescents, the association between positive self-disclosure and positive feedback was stronger among individuals with lower social anxiety. These findings may expand previous studies, with several theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: positive self-disclosure; positive feedback; friendship quality; social anxiety; adolescence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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