A two-process view of Facebook use and relatedness need-satisfaction: Disconnection drives use, and connection rewards it.

TLDR

Implications for theories of psychological needs, behavioral motives, and adaptive coping are considered. Does using Facebook help people to meet their relatedness needs? Study 3 examines the effects of depriving participants of Facebook use for 48 hr. The studies show that frequent Facebook use is associated with both higher relatedness satisfaction and dissatisfaction; disconnection drives use as a coping strategy while connection results from increased use; a 48‑hour deprivation lowers connection but not disconnection, and those who become more disconnected during deprivation use Facebook more later, whereas initial disconnection predicts poorer performance on a self‑set reduction goal.

Abstract

Does using Facebook help people to meet their relatedness needs? Study 1 shows that more frequent Facebook usage paradoxically correlates with more relatedness satisfaction (connection) and more relatedness dissatisfaction (disconnection). Study 2 supports a 2-process explanation of this finding, showing that disconnection motivates greater usage as a coping strategy, whereas connection results from greater usage. Study 3 examines the effects of depriving participants of Facebook use for 48 hr. Further supporting the 2-process view, connection decreased, but disconnection was unaffected during the deprivation period; however, those who became more disconnected during the deprivation period engaged in more Facebook use during a 2nd, unconstrained 48-hr period, whereas changes in connection did not predict later use. In Study 4, participants set a Facebook reduction goal; initial disconnection interfered with and predicted worse performance in this goal. Implications for theories of psychological needs, behavioral motives, and adaptive coping are considered.