1989
DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1989.tb01242.x
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Social Contact, Loneliness, and Mass Media Use: A Test of Two Hypotheses1

Abstract: The possible connections between social variables such as frequency of social activity and subjective loneliness on the one hand, and extent of mass media use on the other, have received relatively little empirical attention. In this investigation, two related hypotheses concerning such links are proposed. The compensation hypothesis holds that persons with little social contact or greater loneliness will be more likely to utilize mass media to compensate for social impoverishment. The buffering hypothesis mor… Show more

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Cited by 52 publications
(30 citation statements)
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References 14 publications
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“…The positive influence of loneliness on parasocial interaction with TV hosts supports Davis and Kraus's (1989) compensation hypothesis that people with little social contact, or greater loneliness, use mass media to compensate for social isolation. Although Tsao (1996) failed to find support for the deficiency paradigm in explaining parasocial interaction among younger consumers, the paradigm seems to be supported for older consumers.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 55%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…The positive influence of loneliness on parasocial interaction with TV hosts supports Davis and Kraus's (1989) compensation hypothesis that people with little social contact, or greater loneliness, use mass media to compensate for social isolation. Although Tsao (1996) failed to find support for the deficiency paradigm in explaining parasocial interaction among younger consumers, the paradigm seems to be supported for older consumers.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 55%
“…Researchers have argued that older consumers develop parasocial interaction as a substitute for people no longer available to them on a daily face-to-face basis (Cohen, 1997;Hess, 1974;Rubin, 1982). This reasoning refers to the compensation hypothesis (Davis & Kraus, 1989) and has received inconsistent support. For instance, Hess (1974) argued that older consumers, especially those who live alone, reduced feelings of isolation and maintained the illusion of being in a populated world by watching TV and by building relationships with TV personalities.…”
Section: Loneliness and Parasocial Interactionmentioning
confidence: 97%
“…Research on loneliness also lends credence to this line of reasoning. Lonely persons tend to engage in higher levels of media consumption in order to ameliorate negative feelings arising from being lonely (Davis & Kraus, 1989, more readily than to face-to-face channels (A. filling purposes, rather than for gaining information or entertainment (A. Rubin et al,…”
Section: The Deficiency Paradigmmentioning
confidence: 98%
“…Previous research on the relationship between loneliness and media usage paints a rather unclear picture (Davis & Kraus, 1989;). There is evidence for a compensatory as well as for a complementary use of TV watching, for instance (D. N. .…”
Section: Conclusion and Future Studiesmentioning
confidence: 99%