Contingent self-esteem, social interaction fears, and compulsive WeChat usage

Fayaz Ali, Qingyu Zhang, Muhammad Zubair Tauni, Asad Hassan Butt and Tanveer Ahsan

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2023, vol. 42, issue 6, 659-670

Abstract: This research examines the impact of contingent self-esteem on compulsive usage of social media application WeChat in China. The authors attempt to identify the channels based on self-verification and self-determination theory and propose that fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and fear of missing out (FoMO) transfer the impact of contingent self-esteem (CSE) to compulsive WeChat usage (CWU). Additionally, these relationships were tested with frustration about unavailability (FaU) as a moderator in the framework to explain the phenomenon. By employing a convenience method, 396 samples of Chinese students were analyzed. The analyses indicate that CSE contributes to CWU directly and indirectly through FNE and FoMO. Furthermore, FNE mediates the link between CSE and FoMO, ultimately transferring the effect of CSE to CWU in series. These results can enhance our knowledge of how CSE affects CWU, a growing problem among young people today. Our results may guide psychologists to prepare a counselling programme for compulsive social media users and help them overcome social interaction fears in the real world.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0144929X.2022.2039768 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tbitxx:v:42:y:2023:i:6:p:659-670

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tbit20

DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2022.2039768

Access Statistics for this article

Behaviour and Information Technology is currently edited by Dr Panos P Markopoulos

More articles in Behaviour and Information Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().