Autistic Traits Predicting Videconference Fatigue: Do Social Phobia and Internet Use Disorder Mediate that Association?

Abstract

Background The present work sets out to replicate findings linking specific psychological factors with videoconference fatigue (VC fatigue). Specifically, an earlier study demonstrated that high VC fatigue was associated with high autistic traits, high social phobia, and high tendencies toward Internet use disorder (IUD) in a German-speaking sample, and a positive association between personality trait neuroticism and VC fatigue was also observed in Western countries. Due to the replication crisis of confidence in psychology and related disciplines, replicating findings in psychological research has become increasingly important. Therefore, we aimed to replicate the relationships between these psychological factors in a Chinese sample with different cultural backgrounds relative to previous studies. Methods We replicated this earlier study by investigating a sample from a different cultural background, which included 408 Chinese participants (214 males, 194 females, mean age of 21.61 years). Survey data via the Internet was collected to replicate the relationships between autistic traits, social phobia, IUD, neuroticism, and VC fatigue. Results As expected, autistic traits, social phobia, and IUD tendencies were robustly and positively associated with VC fatigue. A similar mediation effect also indicated that the relationship between autistic traits and VC fatigue was significantly mediated by IUD tendencies. Additionally, a positive association between neuroticism and VC fatigue was also observed in the present study. Conclusion Psychological factors, including autistic traits, IUD and neuroticism, might be important factors that contribute to VC fatigue. The consistency of correlations across studies and cultural backgrounds underlines the validity of these relationships between psychological factors and VC fatigue.