Based on the theories of uses and gratifications, and self-determination, we examined a model linking computer-mediated communication (CMC) attributes to psychological need satisfaction in online friendships and to life satisfaction in a sample of school-aged adolescents (N = 1572). Our findings suggest direct links between media orientations (i.e., attitude toward online relationship formation and Internet habit strength) and psychological need satisfaction in online friendships. We also reported direct links between online communication, online self-disclosure and psychological need satisfaction in online friendships, and also a direct link between psychological need satisfaction in online friendships and life satisfaction. Despite these direct links, online communication and online self-disclosure significantly mediated the link between attitude toward online relationship formation and psychological need satisfaction in online friendships. In this pattern of links, both mediators were equally strong. Online communication and online self-disclosure also significantly mediated the link between Internet habit strength and psychological need satisfaction in online friendships. For this pattern of links, both mediators differed significantly in strength. Online communication emerged as a stronger mediator than online self-disclosure. Our findings suggest that CMC attributes may serve as a new social milieu for adolescent subjective well-being.
Life satisfaction reflects an individual’s global and subjective evaluations of his or her quality of life ( Diener, 2000). Such positive evaluations are linked to physical and mental health ( Gilman and Huebner, 2003, Huebner et al., 2005, Pavot and Diener, 2008 and Trzcinski and Holst, 2008), and such negative evaluations are linked to depression, fretfulness, and aggressive behaviors ( Buelga et al., 2008, Huebner and Gilman, 2004, Koivumaa-Honkanen et al., 2004 and Swami et al., 2007). Despite numerous studies investigating adult life satisfaction, few studies have been examined adolescent life satisfaction ( Gilman and Huebner, 2006 and Huebner and Gilman, 2004). As children grow into adolescents, friendship is thought to be of greater importance, playing an indispensable role in enhancing adolescent life satisfaction ( Allen et al., 2010, Coleman, 2010, Crosnoe, 2000, Gilman and Huebner, 2006, Oberle et al., 2011 and Suldo and Huebner, 2004). However, the study of adolescent life satisfaction has been limited to face-to-face friendships ( Gilman and Huebner, 2003, Gilman and Huebner, 2006 and Pavot and Diener, 2008). There is relatively limited evidence documenting the associations between computer mediated-friendships and life satisfaction ( Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008).
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), a form of communication transaction that occurs through the use of computer networks, has fast become a popular sphere for social interactions and its sphere of penetration continues to grow under the rubrics of ICT development and modernization (Baym, 2010, Sheldon et al., 2011 and Walther, 2011). Indeed, the last few years have seen an exponential growth in the use of CMC among adolescents—as compared to other age groups, adolescents are more inclined to accept computer technology and they represent an active group of Internet communication (Allen et al., 2010, Baran and Davis, 2011, Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008 and Urista et al., 2009).
The unprecedented popularity of CMC has consequently fueled a growing academic concern with respect to its consequences. While research has found that there are potential positive consequences, most of the available studies seem to adopt a negative, or even dystopian perspective, focusing on the adverse effects of CMC use (Chou and Peng, 2007, Engelberg and Sjöberg, 2004, Kraut et al., 1998 and Morahan-Martin, 2008). This left the positive impact of the CMC attributes on adolescent life satisfaction open to speculation. Even if critics held the diffusion of CMC, recent years have witnessed that the young users are, nevertheless, not declining, but sharply rising worldwide (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). As posited by McLeod (2007), it may be that CMC can potentially provide some pleasure or psychological benefits for its users. Indeed, many adolescents enjoy making online friends and they regarded such online relationships as real, deep, and meaningful (Bargh and McKenna, 2004, Leung, 2011, McKenna et al., 2002 and Subrahmanyam and Smahel, 2011). This has led to our interest in investigating adolescent life satisfaction from the lens of CMC attributes since CMC, similar to the physical context, could be a place that fosters friendships.
