Li Chao, Ning Guangjie, Xia Yuxin, Guo Kaiyi, Liu Qianqian
Business School, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
HSBC Business School, Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2022 Oct 31;12(11):425. doi: 10.3390/bs12110425.
The complementarity interference (CI) model suggests that the Internet may either inhibit or facilitate interpersonal communications. This paper empirically examines the impact of Internet usage on interpersonal interactions, using a micro dataset from China to answer whether the Internet brings people closer together or further apart. The empirical results demonstrate, first, that Internet usage significantly increases both the time and frequency of people's communications with their family and friends, rather than causing them to feel more disconnected and isolated. Holding other factors constant, for each one-standard-deviation increase in Internet usage, weekly communications with family members increases by an average of 102.150 min, while there is an average increase of 54.838 min in interactions with friends. These findings as to its positive effects are robust when using other regression models and interpersonal contact measures, as well as the instrumental variable method. Second, Internet usage also contributes to decreased loneliness; it exerts this effect primarily by improving people's interactions with their family members. However, communications with friends do not significantly mediate such impacts. Third, the positive role of Internet usage on communications is more prominent for people with more frequent online socialization and self-presentation, better online skills, younger age, higher educational level, and who are living in urban areas. In addition, the beneficial effects of Internet usage are larger for communications with family members in the case of migrants. Therefore, in the context of the rapid development of information technology, the network infrastructure should be improved to make better use of the Internet to facilitate interpersonal communications and promote people's wellness.
互补性干扰(CI)模型表明,互联网可能会抑制或促进人际沟通。本文通过使用来自中国的微观数据集,实证检验了互联网使用对人际互动的影响,以回答互联网是让人们走得更近还是更远。实证结果表明,首先,互联网使用显著增加了人们与家人和朋友沟通的时间和频率,而不是让他们感到更加疏远和孤立。在其他因素保持不变的情况下,互联网使用每增加一个标准差,与家庭成员的每周沟通时间平均增加102.150分钟,而与朋友的互动平均增加54.838分钟。当使用其他回归模型、人际接触测量方法以及工具变量法时,这些关于其积极影响的发现是稳健的。其次,互联网使用也有助于减少孤独感;它主要通过改善人们与家庭成员的互动来发挥这种作用。然而,与朋友的沟通并没有显著调节这种影响。第三,互联网使用对沟通的积极作用在那些在线社交和自我展示更频繁、网络技能更好、年龄更小、教育水平更高以及居住在城市地区的人群中更为突出。此外,对于移民来说,互联网使用对与家庭成员沟通的有益影响更大。因此,在信息技术快速发展的背景下,应改善网络基础设施,以更好地利用互联网促进人际沟通,提升人们的健康水平。
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