School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2021 Jul;24(7):480-487. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2020.0675. Epub 2021 May 31.
Whether mobile phones benefit or sabotage close relationships has been a persistent subject of debate in media and communication studies. Because previous studies have demonstrated contrasting findings, further studies on this topic are required. Based on media richness theory and social penetration theory, this study investigated the direct and indirect associations between mobile communication and relationship quality (i.e., depth, support, and conflict) in romantic relationships. A survey of 1,000 university students in China revealed that relationship depth was positively predicted by mobile phone calls and negatively predicted by mobile short messages. Mobile WeChat had dialectical effects, as it reinforced relationship depth and support, but increased conflict. Regarding indirect effects, communication quality online positively mediated the effects of mobile phone calls on relationship quality and negatively mediated the effects of mobile short messages and Weibo on relationship quality. Moreover, passionate love attitudes (PLAs) and gender negatively moderated the effects of mobile phone calls on relationship depth, indicating that females and individuals who had stronger PLAs had lower relationship quality when they used mobile phone calls to interact with their romantic partners. The moderating effects of PLA were extended to the indirect relationship between phone calls and relationship quality through communication quality. Overall, this study developed a typology to examine mobile relational communication by integrating the quantity (i.e., mobile use frequencies) and quality of mobile communication, as well as personal attitudes in close relationships.
手机对亲密关系是有益还是有害一直是媒体和传播学中争论不休的话题。由于之前的研究得出了相互矛盾的结论，因此需要进一步研究这个话题。本研究基于媒体丰富度理论和社会渗透理论，考察了手机沟通与恋爱关系质量（深度、支持和冲突）之间的直接和间接关系。对中国 1000 名大学生的调查显示，手机通话与恋爱关系深度呈正相关，与手机短信呈负相关。手机微信则具有辩证效应，既增强了关系深度和支持，又增加了冲突。关于间接效应，在线沟通质量正向中介了手机通话对关系质量的影响，负向中介了手机短信和微博对关系质量的影响。此外，激情爱情态度（PLAs）和性别对手机通话对关系深度的影响具有负向调节作用，表明女性和具有更强 PLA 的个体在与伴侣进行手机通话时，关系质量较低。PLA 的调节作用通过沟通质量扩展到电话与关系质量之间的间接关系。总的来说，本研究通过整合手机沟通的数量（即手机使用频率）和质量以及亲密关系中的个人态度，发展了一种手机关系沟通的类型学。
