Self-disclosure in social media and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Self-disclosure in social media and psychological well-being have been theorized to mutually influence each other. The vibrant research on this issue, however, presents mixed results, calling for a synthesis of the empirical evidence. To this end, we conducted a meta-analysis with 38 empirical studies to systematically examine the nature of the relationship between social media self-disclosure and psychological well-being. We adopted a multidimensional perspective of self-disclosure to scrutinize how the quantity (amount and depth) and quality (intent, valence, and honesty) dimensions of self-disclosure were associated with psychological well-being. The results indicated that valence and honesty of self-disclosure were moderately and positively associated with psychological well-being, but the quantity of self-disclosure was not significantly associated with psychological well-being. Participants’ gender, age, and cultural context of the studies significantly moderated the associations between some dimensions of self-disclosure and psychological well-being. Based on the meta-analysis results, we reassessed theoretical claims on self-disclosure in social media and suggested directions for future research.

Online health community for change: Analysis of self-disclosure and social networks of users with depression

“…An overwhelming amount of literature has focused on the negative consequences of SNS, including (a) intensive use of SNS, which brings experiences of time displacement and overload ( van der Schuur et al, 2019 ; Prestin and Nabi, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ); (b) problematic use of SNS, which increases levels of psychological distress, work exhaustion, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts ( McConnell et al, 2018 ; Froehlich et al, 2020 ); and (c) upward comparison and envy, led by the tendency to compare with the perfected content of others ( Batenburg and Das, 2015 ; Spitzer et al, 2022 ). On the other hand, accumulating research has highlighted SNS’ positive effects, including (a) online social support, which serves as a coping mechanism against negative thoughts and events ( Oh et al, 2014 ; Bi et al, 2020 ); (b) reduced riskiness of self-disclosure, facilitated by SNS’ publicity, broad reach, usability, and immediacy ( Pan et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2019 ; Chu et al, 2022 ); and (c) inspiration and enjoyment, when users reach out for social relationship maintenance ( Kim and Kim, 2020 ; Myrick and Willoughby, 2021 ).…”

Positive Self-Disclosure on Social Network Sites and Adolescents’ Friendship Quality: The Mediating Role of Positive Feedback and the Moderating Role of Social Anxiety

“…Utz indicated that positive and entertaining self-disclosure on SNSs increased the feeling of connection with friends [ 3 ]. Recently, researchers have focused on the effects of SNS-specific self-disclosure, rather than on SNS self-disclosure in general [ 4 , 5 ]; for example, the effect of the valence of self-disclosed content on Facebook on interactions with other individuals [ 6 ]. Therefore, there is a growing tendency for researchers to focus on how the use of SNSs affects adolescents’ physical and mental development, especially the specific self-disclosure behaviors seen commonly.…”

“…At the same time, forming and strengthening social relations is a fundamental purpose of SNS users, and SNSs provide a handy way for adolescents to maintain and develop relationships with their offline friends [ 8 ]. Research indicates that using SNSs, especially disclosing and expressing personal information on SNSs, can strengthen social ties and enhance closeness and connectedness between users and friends or acquaintances [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Self-disclosure is a multi-dimensional variable. Previous research mainly focused on general SNS use and self-disclosure on SNSs (the amount of self-disclosure or the depth and width of disclosure) [ 5 , 9 ]; however, the valence of the self-disclosure should be paid attention to. In SNSs, positive self-disclosure is a more usual self-disclosure valence.…”

“…Adolescents can easily post/update their status, upload photos, and publish posts to express themselves positively and present a positive individual image, which is common on SNSs. Hence, positivity is a fundamental dimension to describe self-disclosure on SNSs [ 19 ]; however, most previous research focused mainly on general disclosure, or the quantity rather than the positivity of disclosure on SNSs [ 5 , 9 , 15 ]. Capitalization theory indicates that sharing positive events is a capitalization process.…”