The Impact of Social Network Site Use on Young Adult Development: Extending the Research Beyond Time Use and Considering the Role of Self-Disclosure Motivations

Abstract

Young adults spend a good deal of time using social network sites (SNSs), and the consequences of this activity have come under considerable scrutiny in research. There is some evidence that SNSs offer a context for young adults to engage in self-disclosure, and that such behavior may contribute to their development. In the current study, self-disclosure motivations were explored as a moderator of the relationship between SNS time use and indicators of adjustment. It was hypothesized that the relationships between SNS time use and three indicators of young adult adjustment (belonging, self-concept clarity, and flourishing) would be moderated by self-disclosure motivations. Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey of 524 young adults aged 17–25 years (Mean age = 19.75; SD = 2.16) who used at least one social network site daily (Mean hours of daily use = 3.25; SD = 1.67). The relationships between SNS time use and both belonging and flourishing were moderated by self-disclosure motivations. Specifically, when participants were low or moderately motivated to self-disclose (for relationship maintenance or self-presentation purposes) SNS time use was negatively related to belonging and flourishing. Whereas when participants were highly motivated to self-disclose there was no significant relationship between SNS time use and belonging and SNS time use and flourishing. Additionally, there was no significant moderation of the relationship between SNS time use and self-concept clarity. Based on these findings, we recommend that in order for young adults to reap potential benefits of spending time online they should endeavor to use SNSs for purposes that promote positive self and relational development.

Keywords

Young adulthood social network sites relationship maintenance self-presentation self-disclosure flourishing belonging self-concept

The accessibility and widespread use of portable digital devices like smart phones and tablets has resulted in networked technologies that facilitate social connection, information sharing, and entertainment becoming deeply embedded within the social fabric of society (Whiting and Williams, 2013). Among young adults, digital technologies that are oriented toward social interactions, like social network sites (SNSs; such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat) are particularly popular. In fact, SNSs are so prevalent in the daily lives of young adults that approximately 90% of those aged 18–25 years regularly use at least one SNS (Smith and Anderson, 2018), with recent Australian estimates suggesting that 55% of young adults check their SNSs at least ten times per day (Sensis, 2020).

SNSs are best characterized as communication platforms that consist of identifiable user-generated profiles, public connections to other users, and interactive user-generated content (Ellison and boyd, 2013). The popularity of SNSs among young adults is in part due to the myriad of features that offer convenient and accessible communication options. These features lower barriers for social interaction, facilitating engagement with others and capacity to share life updates (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008; Yang and Brown, 2016). In light of this, research has increasingly focused on how SNSs operate as a social context that can afford distinct or additional opportunities beyond those available in offline contexts alone. Much of this research has focused on adolescents (those aged between 13–17 years), finding that SNSs provide a space for these young people to meet their developmental needs for relatedness, identity exploration, and psychological well-being (Davis, 2013; Moreno and Uhls, 2019). Comparatively less research has focused on how SNSs may provide young adults with a social context for developmental growth (Walsh, 2017). However, greater understanding of young adults’ SNS time use as relevant to their developmental needs is essential, as successful adjustment during young adulthood can strongly influence the trajectory of young people’s lives (Bonnie et al., 2015).

Therefore, the current study explores young adults’ use of SNSs to satisfy core developmental needs by assessing the relationships between time spent on SNS and indicators of relational, identity, and psychological adjustment. Additionally, the influence of motivations for self-disclosure—defined as the act of sharing personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences with others (Chelune, 1975)—on these relationships will be considered. Self-disclosure motivations will be considered due to the importance of self-disclosure for both the active use of SNSs (Krasnova and Veltri, 2011) and adjustment during young adulthood (Côté, 2006). The following sections will define young adulthood and review the literature to consider what is already known about young adults’ use of SNSs. Subsequently, the importance of conducting research that explores motivations for self-disclosure will be discussed and a conditional relationship between SNS time use and the outcomes of interest, based on self-disclosure motivations will be proposed.

Young Adulthood and SNS Use

We define young adulthood as a period in the life course, roughly between the ages of 18–25 years, during which individuals gain increasing independence as they transition from adolescence into adult roles and responsibilities (Scales et al., 2016). During this time, young adults navigate a range of tasks such as establishing meaningful and intimate relationships, connecting with a social group, acquiring further self-understanding, getting a job, and starting relationships/family (Arnett, 2000; Scales et al., 2016). In addition to navigating these tasks, young adults also have basic needs that must be adequately addressed for positive developmental growth to occur (Bonnie et al., 2015). These needs include physical health, educational and occupational competence, identity consolidation, positive family and social relationships, civic engagement, and psychological and emotional well-being (Scales et al., 2016). According to theories of positive youth development, adjustment during young adulthood is predicated on individuals’ access to developmentally appropriate contexts that expose young adults to cognitive, psychological, social, and ecological assets (Eccles et al., 1997; Lerner et al., 2012). Importantly, when these assets are paired with individual characteristics, such as sense of competence, connection to others, and self-worth, positive developmental growth can occur (Lerner et al., 2012). In the current study, SNSs will be examined as a contemporary social context that facilitates developmental growth, by providing young adults with additional access to psychological and social assets than are afforded exclusively by offline social contexts alone.

While contexts like SNSs may provide opportunities to access these assets, it is only via repeated and more intensive exposure that developmental needs can be met (Bronfenbrenner, 1995). The large body of literature that has focused on disentangling the implications of young adults spending time on SNSs exemplifies this point (Meier et al., 2020). As reviewed below, scholars have previously examined how SNS time use is associated with adjustment during young adulthood and produced conflicting evidence regarding whether spending time on SNSs is beneficial or risky for young adults (Meier et al., 2020). In the current study, we will contribute to this literature by further unpacking the relationship between SNS time use and young adults’ adjustment, as indicated by attainment of key developmental needs. Specifically, we will focus on young adults’ needs for relatedness, identity, and psychological well-being, as previous research indicates that young adults use SNSs to satisfy these needs (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008; Walsh, 2017). Then, in order to extend the research beyond a focus on SNS time use, we will examine self-disclosure motivations as an individual factor that may shape the nature of the relationship between SNS time use and indicators of positive development in these three domains.

SNS Time Use and Young Adult Relational Needs

Relationships are essential for optimal functioning across the lifespan, and during young adulthood social connection with others provides a source of emotional support, as well as a sense of belonging, and significantly contributes to self-esteem (Radmacher and Azmitia, 2006). Contemporary relationships are navigated in both online and offline settings, where young adults’ offline relationships are typically extended to online environments (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008). SNSs are a key place for young adults to interact with their friends and access social and emotional support from others (Blight et al., 2015). Importantly, SNSs afford greater convenience for social connection across large distances meaning that young adults can continue to connect with friends they established during adolescence who they may be geographically separate from (Hood et al., 2018).

Previous research has found many benefits to spending time on SNSs that are core to young adults’ relational needs, such as increased social and emotional support, greater feelings of connection, and higher levels of self-esteem (Blight et al., 2015). However, there is comparatively less literature that considers the relationship between SNS time use and young adult’s attainment of a sense of belonging. Belonging, defined as the subjective feeling that one is an important part of their surrounding social systems, such as friends, family, or community (Hagerty et al., 1992), is a core feature of young adults’ relational needs (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Côté, 2006). Extensive evidence indicates that the need to belong drives one’s engagement in social experiences and, in turn, influences developmental adjustment (Malone et al., 2012).

Recently, there has been increased interest in how individuals attain a sense of belonging through their social contexts, particularly in online environments (Allen et al., 2021). Specifically, research has suggested that as SNSs are a context for social connection among young adults, greater time spent using SNSs can fulfill an inherent need for belonging and by extension meet young adults’ relational needs (Nadkarni and Hofmann, 2012; Oh et al., 2014; Seidman, 2013). Therefore, in the current study belonging will be used an indicator of how young adults meet their relational needs and analyses consider how SNS time use is related to feelings of belonging. As SNSs are made up of young adult’s important social systems (i.e., friends, family, and communities), it is hypothesized that more time spent on SNSs will be related to higher levels of belonging (Hypothesis 1).

SNS Time Use and Young Adult Identity Needs

Young adulthood is an important time for identity development, when young people continue to explore and consolidate their identity, with further emphasis placed on careers, worldviews, and political values (Arnett, 2000; Côté, 2006). A central part of identity exploration for young adults is choosing what self-relevant information to present to others and when to do so (Scales et al., 2016). SNSs provide young adults with a wealth of opportunities to self-present through content creation (such as photo or video posting), as well as affiliating with content generated by others (such as sharing or liking; Nesi et al., 2018). Compared to offline settings, SNSs afford young adults more flexibility in their self-presentations due to features like convenient access to a wide audience of others, reduced non-verbal cues, and asynchronous interactions (Nesi et al., 2018; Subrahmanyam and Šmahel, 2011). Importantly, these features provide young adults with greater choice over what parts of their identity to share with others and when (Subrahmanyam and Šmahel, 2011). On SNSs, young adults can also receive feedback on their self-presentations, usually in the form of comments, likes, and reactions (Yang and Brown, 2016). Upon receiving such feedback, it has been theorized that young adults may engage in reflective practices and integrate the feedback into their self-schema (Cooley, 1972; Harter, 1999; Leary and Kowalski, 1990), a process that has long been considered important in identity consolidation (Mead, 1934).

Although SNSs provide young adults with a convenient platform for identity exploration, existing evidence suggests that SNS use may undermine young adults’ development of a clear and coherent self-concept (i.e., self-concept clarity; Campbell et al., 1996). Two competing hypotheses have been applied to understand the relationship between SNS use and self-concept clarity: the unity hypothesis and the fragmentation hypothesis (Yang et al., 2017). Early qualitative research aligned with the unity hypothesis, with participants reporting that SNSs provide a multitude of opportunities to explore the facets of their identity and unite those facets into a coherent sense of self (Salimkhan et al., 2010). In contrast, quantitative investigations have demonstrated a negative association between SNS use and self-concept clarity, providing strong support for the fragmentation hypothesis (Davis, 2013; Kawamoto, 2021; Michikyan, 2020; Yang and Brown, 2016; Yang et al., 2017). Specifically, the fragmentation hypothesis posits that greater time spent on SNSs can provide young adults with too many opportunities for self-expression and ultimately undermine their capacity to coordinate the components of their identity into a coherent whole (Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that more time spent using SNSs will be related to lower self-concept clarity (Hypothesis 2).

SNS Time Use and Young Adult Psychological Needs

In addition to relationship and identity-based needs, another domain of young adult development that may be associated with SNS time use is psychological needs. Measures tapping into psychological needs are varied in the developmental literature and can include subjective well-being, mental health, positive self-worth, mastery orientation, purpose, optimism, emotional-regulation, and coping (Eccles et al., 2003; Scales et al., 2016). The majority of the work investigating the psychological and emotional outcomes of young adult’s SNS time use has placed great emphasis on measures of mental health and subjective well-being. Much of this work has focused on the negative implications of SNS time use, with a multitude of studies reporting that spending more time on SNSs is associated with higher levels of depressed mood, loneliness, and anxiety (Banjanin et al., 2015; Stavrova and Denissen, 2020; Woods and Scott, 2016). Despite the findings that SNS time use is associated with lower mental health, some research has found that those who spend more time on SNS have greater well-being, and specifically, higher levels of life satisfaction (Oh et al., 2014; Stavrova and Denissen, 2020).

Although these studies provide an important snapshot of the implications of young adults SNS time use for measures of subjective well-being (such as depressed mood and life satisfaction), the existing literature has not considered other facets of young adult’s psychological and emotional adjustment such as sense of meaning, purpose, and self-worth. In the current study, flourishing will be used to fill this gap in the literature and further our understanding of the implications of young adults’ SNS time use. Flourishing is an indicator of adjustment during young adulthood (Padilla–Walker and Nelson, 2017) that includes a variety of components such as purpose in life, positive relationships, engagement, competence, self-esteem, optimism, and contributing to the well-being of others (Diener et al., 2010). Specifically, flourishing is a broad measure of well-being that combines elements of feeling good (i.e., subjective well-being) and functioning effectively (i.e., psychosocial well-being; Keyes et al., 2002). Previous research has established that spending more time in social contexts promotes flourishing in young people (Feeney and Collins, 2015). Indeed, in their recent study, Liu and colleagues (Liu et al., 2020) found that SNS time use was directly associated with both increased social capital and flourishing among adolescents. Therefore, as SNSs are a contemporary social context for young adults, we hypothesize that more time spent using SNSs will be related to higher levels of flourishing (Hypothesis 3).

Self-disclosure Motivations

The ubiquitous nature of SNSs has spurred much public and scholarly interest in disentangling the implications of young adult’s SNS use. However, the majority of this work has focused heavily on the time young adults spend using SNSs and produced conflicting evidence regarding the implications of SNS use (Coyne et al., 2020). In fact, recent meta-analyses have concluded that the relationship between SNS time use and adjustment may be dependent upon individual differences among young adults’ motivations for SNS use (Best et al., 2014; Huang, 2017). Of the recent empirical articles in this space, self-disclosure motivations have garnered considerable interest due to the prevalence of self-disclosure on SNSs (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; Williamson et al., 2017). Specifically, as the act of sharing personal thoughts, feelings, or experiences (Chelune, 1975), self-disclosure is central in the active use of SNSs and is seen to occur when users share information on their profile or when communicating with others, either to a wide audience (such as posting a status update or photo) or dyadically (in the case of instant messaging; Krasnova and Veltri, 2011).

Much of the existing research has been grounded in the functional theory of self-disclosure—a framework that considers self-disclosure as a goal-directed behavior that is functional in allowing self-expression, social validation, identity clarification, relationship development, and social control (Derlega and Grzelak, 1979). This work has found that self-expression and relationship maintenance are the most prominent self-disclosure motivations that young adults are driven to meet by using SNSs (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; Williamson et al., 2017). So far, however, little attention has been paid to the developmental relevance of these findings despite the functional role of self-disclosure when forming meaningful relationships and consolidating a sense self (Altman and Taylor, 1973; Côté, 2006).

A recent qualitative study unpacked the role of self-disclosure, by identifying how young adults’ self-disclosure motivations for SNS use align with their developmental needs (O’Donnell et al., 2021). Consistent with the existing literature (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; Williamson et al., 2017), this study found that relationship maintenance and self-presentation (akin to self-expression in previous work) are the most commonly endorsed self-disclosure motivations by young adults. Specifically, the study reported that young adults were driven to maintain close relationships through disclosures that connect with or provide emotional support to others, as well as socially supporting others in the form of public approval of others’ disclosures (i.e., encouraging comments). Further, self-disclosures were motivated by the desire to present a self-image that could attract peer approval but was also aligned with personal values and beliefs. These findings not only align with the self-disclosure motivations identified in previous work, but they also point to the utility of SNSs for young adults to navigate developmental tasks. However, research has not yet determined how individual differences in self-disclosure motivations may shape the nature of the relationship between young adult’s SNS time use and their adjustment.

Therefore, we aim to address this gap in the literature. As we aim to understand self-disclosure online, we will be guided by the literature examining motivations in the online context, where is it reported that relationship maintenance and self-presentation motivations are prevalent (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; O’Donnell et al., 2021; Williamson et al., 2017). In this study, relationship maintenance motivations are conceptualized as the extent to which young adults are driven to self-disclose on SNSs for the purpose of connecting with others and sustaining friendships. Self-presentation motivations are conceptualized as the extent to which young adults are driven to self-disclose on SNSs for the purpose of sharing information about their life and identity.

The Current Study

In this investigation we aim to generate new insights into the implications of young adult’s SNS use for positive development. Importantly, we address recent calls to further the literature beyond time use (Best et al., 2014; Coyne et al., 2020; Huang, 2017) by considering how the conditional effects of individual characteristics (as captured by motivations) on the impacts of time spent using SNSs on developmental outcomes during young adulthood. Specifically, we will explore how the self-disclosure motivations of relationship maintenance and self-presentation moderate the association between SNS time use and indicators of relational, identity, and psychological adjustment. First, to test the relationship between time spent using SNSs and the indicators of positive development three hypotheses have been made based on prior research.

1. More time spent on SNSs will be related to higher levels of belonging (relational domain; Hypothesis 1).

2. More time spent using SNSs will be related to lower levels of self-concept clarity (identity domain; Hypothesis 2).

3. More time spent using SNSs will be related to higher levels of flourishing (psychological domain; Hypothesis 3).

Second, to explore the role of self-disclosure motivations we hypothesize that the relationships between SNS time use and indicators of positive development (i.e., belonging, self-concept clarity, and flourishing) will be conditional on self-disclosure motivations. Although there is sufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that self-disclosure motivations will play a key role in the outcomes of young adult’s SNS time use (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; O’Donnell et al., 2021; Williamson et al., 2017), as the extant literature has not empirically examined self-disclosure motivations as a moderator of SNS time use there is not enough existing evidence to hypothesize the direction of these relationships. Therefore, we examine the following three research questions.

1. Is the association between SNS time use and belonging (relational domain) moderated by either relationship maintenance or self-presentation self-disclosure motivations?

2. Is the association between SNS time use and self-concept clarity (identity domain) moderated by either relationship maintenance or self-presentation self-disclosure motivations?

3. Is the association between SNS time use and flourishing (psychological domain) moderated by either relationship maintenance or self-presentation self-disclosure motivations?

Method

Participants

Criteria for participation included that individuals were between the ages of 17–25 years and were active SNS users, meaning that they used at least one SNS daily. A total of 532 young adults completed the study, although eight participants were excluded due to not meeting the age criteria. The final sample included 524 participants (Mage = 19.75; SD = 2.16; 62.4% Female, 37.4% Male, 0.2% Not Specified), the majority (N= 466) of the participants were students recruited from an undergraduate psychology major, and a further 58 participants were students recruited from the wider university community. Comparing the two groups, initial checks found no significant mean-level differences on the variables of interest and therefore, the samples were combined. Approximately, 75% of the participants identified as Caucasian, 8.2% Asian, 5.7% European, 1.7% Indigenous Peoples (First Nations), 1.3% Middle Eastern, 1.1% Pacific Islander, and the remaining 6.7% selected other. The participants reported an average of 3.25 hours of SNS use per day (SD = 1.67, range 1–10 hours). Facebook was the most regularly used SNS (90.1% of participants), followed by Instagram (86.5% of participants), and Snapchat (75.8% of participants). Twitter was the least regularly used SNS with only 13.4% of the participants reporting regular use.

Procedure

This study was conducted online using the Qualtrics survey platform. Before commencement of participant recruitment, ethical clearance was obtained from the University Human Research Ethics Committee (omitted for review) and all participants underwent standard informed consent procedures at the beginning of the study. Participants completed a 30-minute questionnaire consisting of questions relating to demographic information, SNS time use, SNSs self-disclosure motivations, belonging, self-concept clarity, and flourishing. The participants that were recruited from the undergraduate Psychology major received partial course credit for their completion of the study. The participants that were recruited from the wider university community were given the option to enter a prize draw to win one of three $50 gift cards.

Measures

SNS Use

SNS Use was measured with a single item asking, “On average, how many hours per day do you spend using social networking sites?” with response options ranging from 1-to-24 hours per day.

Belonging

Belonging was measured by the 12-item General Belongingness Scale (Malone et al., 2012). Participants were asked to rate the level of agreement with each statement on a 7-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree). Example items include “I have close bonds with family and friends,” and “I feel accepted by others.” A mean of the 12-items was computed (Cronbach’s α = .93), with higher scores indicating higher levels of belonging. Six negatively worded items were reversed coded.

Self-Concept Clarity

The 12-item Self-Concept Clarity Scale (Campbell et al., 1996) was used to measure self-concept clarity. This scale assesses the extent to which individuals’ self-beliefs are clearly defined and internally consistent. For example, “In general, I have a clear sense of who I am and what I am.” Responses were recorded on a 7-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree–7 = Strongly Agree), with ten items reverse scored. A mean of the 12-items was computed (Cronbach’s α = .87) with higher scores representing a clearer sense of self.

Flourishing

Flourishing was measured by Diener and colleagues (2010) 8-item flourishing scale. This scale is a measure of an individual’s perceived social-psychological success in areas such as relationships, purpose, and optimism. Example items include “I lead a purposeful and meaningful life,” and “My social relationships are supportive and rewarding.” Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement on a 7-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree–7 = Strongly Agree). A mean of the 8 items was computed (Cronbach’s α = .91) with higher scores representing higher psychosocial flourishing.

Self-Disclosure Motivations

For the purposes of this study, and in the absence of previously validated measures, two scales were developed to capture relationship maintenance and self-presentation self-disclosure motivations. Original items were developed for the self-disclosure measures based on the results of a previous qualitative study conducted in Australia that interviewed 26 young adults (12 female, Mage = 20.15 years) about their motivation for self-disclosing on SNSs (O’Donnell et al., 2021). Specifically, item generation was guided by the key themes that emerged from this qualitative work and common terminology from the participants in this sample was incorporated into the items. All of the items started with the stem “When I share information with people on social networking sites, it is because I want to,” and participants were asked to respond how true the statements were of them on a 7-point scale (1 = Not at all true of me–7 = Very true of me).

An exploratory factors analysis was conducted (see Preliminary Analyses for further details) on the items (see Table 1 for full text), with the factors of “Relationship Maintenance” and “Self-Presentation.” self-disclosure motivations emerging. The average of nine items were used to measure Relationship Maintenance motivations (Cronbach’s α = .92), with participants indicating the extent to which they are driven to share information on SNSs to connect with others and sustain friendships. Example items include “Deepen a friendship” and “Catch up with friends.” The average of seven items were used to measure Self-Presentation motivations (Cronbach’s α = .92), with participants indicating the extent to which they are driven to share information on SNSs as a way to share aspects of one’s life and identity. Example items include “Show the important events in my life,” and “Give others an idea about who I am.” The measures had strong ecological validity as they were created based on previous qualitative work and therefore comprehensively reflected the perspectives of young adults and their use of SNSs for self-disclosure (McKenna et al., 2003). Further, construct validity was established with bivariate correlations (reported below) as the two self-disclosure motivation measures were positively associated with SNS time use as consistent with the extant literature (Rimé, 2016).

Table 1.

Factor loading matrix and communalities of the self-disclosure motivation measures.

Item	Factor 1	Factor 2	Communalities
Catch up with friends	.89		.69
Touch base with friends	.85		.65
Maintain friendships	.83		.66
Deepen a friendship	.83		.65
Strengthen a bond	.76		.60
Support my friends	.69		.58
Connect with others	.65		.58
Give a compliment	.62		.60
Show my friends what they mean to me	.57		.58
Show others what I enjoy doing		.84	.67
Share my experiences		.82	.70
Show the important events in my life		.82	.72
Make others aware of my achievements		.82	.60
Present the good parts of my life		.78	.63
Give others an idea about who I am		.76	.62
Show others the real me		.67	.55
Eigenvalues	7.98	2.08

Note. For ease of interpretation, factor loadings less than .3 are not depicted.

Analytic Strategy

All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (v. 26). A missing values analysis was conducted and indicated that very little data were missing (1.3%). The data were missing completely at random (χ² = 24.50, df = 17, p = .107) as determined by Little’s MCAR test. Initially, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the underlying factor structure of the motivation items. Then descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were computed, followed by six separate hierarchical regression models that tested each potential conditional relationship separately. Specifically, for each outcome variable (Belonging, Self-Concept Clarity, and Flourishing), two models were tested to assess the moderating effects of each motivation (Relationship Maintenance 1a, 2a, 3a; Self-Presentation 1b, 2b, 3b). Preliminary data screening identified no assumption violations for moderated regression. In the first step of each model, the main effect of SNS Use, and the focal motivation were included. Gender (coded as 0 = male, and 1 = female) was also added as a covariate to control for any potential influence of gender on the analysis, as some previous research has reported gender differences in SNS use (Krasnova et al., 2017) and self-disclosure motivations (Rimé, 2016). In the second step of each model, the interaction term between SNS Use and the focal motivation was added. Where significant interactions emerged, these were further examined via simple slopes analyses using Hayes (2017) SPSS macro-PROCESS and the effects were graphed and visually inspected. These analyses examined the relationship between SNS use and each outcome variable at low (1SD below), moderate (the mean), and high (1SD above the mean) levels of the focal motivation.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

To assess the factor structure of self-disclosure motivations, an EFA with oblim rotation was conducted on 16 items developed for the purpose of this study (see Table 1). The unconstrained EFA yielded a 2-factor solution with eigenvalues greater than 1.0, explaining a total of 62.90% of the variance. The factor loading matrix for this solution is presented in Table 1. The first factor, labeled Relationship Maintenance, explained 49.87% of the variance and comprised of nine items (Cronbach’s α = .92) that reflected the extent to which the participants were driven to share information on SNSs to connect with others and sustain friendships. The second factor, labeled Self-Presentation, explained 13.03% of the variance and included seven items (Cronbach’s α = .92) that reflected the extent to which the participants were driven to disclose on SNSs to share aspects of their life and identity. The factors that emerged were consistent with past qualitative research (O’Donnell et al., 2021) and have been labeled in accordance with this work.

Correlations and Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics and correlations among the variables are presented in Table 2. The three outcome measures, (belonging, self-concept clarity, and flourishing) were all positively correlated. The two self-disclosure motivations (relationship maintenance and self-presentation) were also positively and significantly associated. Regarding the associations between SNS use and the other variables, more time spent on SNSs was significantly associated with lower levels of self-concept clarity but was not significantly associated with flourishing or belonging. However, SNS time use was positively and significantly associated both with relationship maintenance and self-presentation self-disclosure motivations. Furthermore, belonging and flourishing were positively associated with motivations for self-disclosure and self-concept clarity was negatively associated with relationship maintenance motivations but was not significantly related to self-presentation.

Table 2.

Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations between SNS use, general belonging, flourishing, self-concept clarity, relationship maintenance motivation, self-presentation motivation, and gender (N = 524).

	Mean (SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. SNS use	3.25 (1.67)
2. General belonging	5.02 (1.18)	−.07
3. Flourishing	5.16 (1.06)	−.07	.71**
4. Self-Concept clarity	4.10 (1.16)	−.22**	.53**	.47**
5. Relationship maintenance	4.60 (1.31)	.18**	.17**	.26**	−.12**
6. Self-Presentation	4.31 (1.41)	.17**	.13**	.26**	−.05	.61**
7. Gender^a		.15**	−.06	.03	−.11*	.17**	.25**

^a0 = male, 1 = female.

*Significant at the p < .05 level. ** Significant at the p < .01 level.

Belonging

Two regression analyses were conducted to examine whether self-disclosure motivations moderated the relationship between SNS use and belonging. The unstandardized regression coefficients, as well as the semi-partial correlations for these analyses are presented in Table 3.

Table 3.

Three multiple moderated regression analyses investigating the conditional effect of self-disclosure motivation types on the relationship between SNS use and belonging.

	Model 1a: Relationship Maintenance^a						Model 1b: Self-Presentation^b
	Step 1			Step 2			Step 1			Step 2
	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %
SNS use	−.07*	.03	0.94	−.46**	.12	2.92	−.06*	.03	0.76	−.32*	.10	1.8
Motivation	.18**	.04	3.88	−.07	.08	0.13	.13**	.04	2.53	−.03	.08	0.04
Gender	−.20	.11	0.66	−.18	.11	0.52	−.22*	.11	0.76	−.22*	.11	0.72
SNS use x motivation				.08**	.02	2.25				.06**	.02	1.25

^aStep 1 R² = .05, p < .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .02, p < .001.

^bStep 1 R² = .03, p = .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .01, p = < .05.

*p < .05; ** p < .001.

Model 1a—Relationship Maintenance Motivations

At step one of the model, SNS use, relationship maintenance, and gender accounted for 4.7% of the variance in belonging (F(3, 516) = 8.48, p < .001). SNS use was negatively associated with belonging (β = −.10, p = .024) whereas relationship maintenance motivations (β = .20, p < .001) were positively associated with belonging. The interaction term between SNS use and relationship maintenance significantly explained an additional 2.3% of the variance. The simple slopes revealed that SNS use was negatively associated with belonging under conditions of low (b = −.20, p < .001) and moderate (b = −.09, p = .003) relationship maintenance motivations (Figure 1). In contrast, when participants were highly motivated to self-disclose for relationship maintenance, SNS use was not significantly associated with belonging (b = .01, p = .781).

Model 1b—Self-Presentation Motivations

Similar to model 1a SNS use, self-presentation, and gender accounted for 3.4% of the variance in belonging (F(3, 516) = 8.11, p = .001), SNS use was negatively associated with belonging (β = −.09, p = .044) and self-presentation was positively associated with belonging (β = .17, p < .001). The addition of the interaction term between SNS use and self-presentation significantly explained an additional 1.3% of the variance in belonging. The simple slopes revealed that SNS use was negatively associated with belonging under conditions of low (b = −.15, p =.001) and moderate (b = −.09, p = .019) self-presentation motivations (Figure 2). When participants were highly motivated to self-disclose for self-presentation, SNS use was not significantly associated with belonging (b = .01, p = .895).

Self-Concept Clarity

To test the second set of models, two regression analyses were conducted to examine whether self-disclosure motivation types moderated the relationship between SNS use and self-concept clarity. The unstandardized regression coefficients, as well as the semi-partial correlations for these analyses are presented in Table 4.

Table 4.

Three multiple moderated regression analyses investigating the conditional effect of self-disclosure motivation types on the relationship between SNS use and self-concept clarity.

	Model 2a: Relationship Maintenance^a						Model 2b: Self-Presentation^b
	Step 1			Step 2			Step 1			Step 2
	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %
SNS use	−.14**	.03	3.8	−.31*	.11	1.35	−.15**	.03	4.32	−.30*	.01	1.72
Motivation	−.06	.04	0.48	−.17	.08	0.83	<.01	.04	<0.01	−.10	.07	0.35
Gender	−.16	.11	0.42	−.15	.11	0.37	−.19	.11	0.56	−.19	.11	0.56
SNS use xMotivation				.03	.02	0.44				.04	.02	0.50

^aStep 1 R² = .06, p < .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .004, p = .125.

^bStep 1 R² = .06, p < .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .005, p = .099.

*p < .05; ** p < .001.

Model 2a—Relationship Maintenance Motivations

At step one of the analyses, SNS use, relationship maintenance, and gender accounted for 6% of the variance in self-concept clarity (F(3, 516) = 10.98, p < .001). SNS use was significantly negatively associated with self-concept clarity (β = −.20, p = < .001), and relationship maintenance did not significantly predict self-concept clarity (β = −.07, p = .106). The inclusion of the interaction term between SNS use and relationship maintenance did not significantly explain any additional variance in self-concept clarity.

Model 2b—Self-Presentation Motivations

Similar to model 2a in the first step of the analyses, SNS use, self-presentation, and gender significantly accounted for 5.5% of the variance in self-concept clarity (F(3, 516) = 10.01, p < .001) and SNS was significantly negatively associated with self-concept clarity (β = −.21, p < .001), although self-presentation motivations were not (β = .01, p = .907). The inclusion of the interaction term between SNS use and self-presentation did not significantly explain any additional variance in self-concept clarity.

Flourishing

To test the final set of models two regression analyses were conducted to examine whether self-disclosure motivation types moderated the relationship between SNS use and flourishing. The unstandardized regression coefficients, as well as the semi-partial correlations for these analyses are presented in Table 5.

Table 5.

Three multiple moderated regression analyses investigating the conditional effect of self-disclosure motivation types on the relationship between SNS use and flourishing.

	Model 3a: Relationship Maintenance^a						Model 3b: Self-Presentation^b
	Step 1			Step 2			Step 1			Step 2
	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %	B	SE	sr² %
SNS use	−.07*	.03	1.28	−.39**	.10	2.56	−.07*	.03	1.15	−.36**	.09	2.92
Motivation	.23**	.04	7.78	.03	.07	0.03	.22**	.03	7.78	.02	.07	0.01
Gender	−.01	.09	<0.01	.01	.01	<0.01	−.06	.10	0.07	−.06	.10	0.06
SNS use x motivation				.07**	.02	1.82				.07**	.02	2.1

^aStep 1 R² = .08, p < .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .02, p = .001.

^bStep 1 R² = .08, p < .001; Step 2 R²_chg = .02, p = .001

*p < .05; ** p < .001

Model 3a—Relationship Maintenance Motivations

At step one of the analyses, SNS use, relationship maintenance, and gender accounted for 8.3% of the variance in flourishing (F(3, 513) = 15.58, p < .001). Similar to the findings for belonging, SNS use was significantly negatively associated with flourishing (β = −.12, p = .008) and relationship maintenance was significantly positively associated with flourishing (β = .29, p = < .001). At step two of the analyses, the addition of the interaction term between SNS use and relationship maintenance significantly explained an additional 1.8% of the variance in flourishing. The simple slopes revealed that SNS use was negatively associated with flourishing under conditions of low (b = −.18, p < .001) and moderate (b = −.09, p = .001) relationship maintenance motivations (Figure 3). In contrast, when participants were highly motivated to disclose for relationship maintenance, SNS use was not significantly associated with flourishing (b = −.01, p = .809).

Model 3b—Self-Presentation Motivations

Like the results of the previous model, SNS use, self-presentation, and gender accounted for 8.3% of the variance in flourishing (F(3, 513) = 16.31, p < .001), SNS use was negatively associated with flourishing (β = −.11, p = .011) and self-presentation was positively associated (β = .29, p < .001). The addition of the interaction term between SNS use and self-presentation, explained an additional 2.1% of the variance in flourishing. The simple slopes revealed that SNS use was negatively associated with flourishing under conditions of low (b = −.17, p < .001) and moderate (b = −.08, p = .003) motivations to disclose for self-presentation (Figure 4). However, when participants were highly motivated to disclose for self-presentation, SNS use was not significantly associated with flourishing (b = −.01, p = .786).

Discussion

The current study adopted a developmental lens in order to better understand young adults’ experiences on SNSs. We proposed that SNSs are social contexts that afford young adults a convenient and accessible space to satisfy their developmental needs. Specifically, we expected that spending more time on SNSs would be associated with higher levels of belonging (hypothesis 1) and flourishing (hypothesis 3) and lower levels of self-concept clarity (hypothesis 2). In support of hypothesis two, a negative relationship between SNS use and self-concept clarity was found. This finding is consistent with previous research (Davis, 2013; Yang and Brown, 2016; Yang et al., 2017) and in support of the fragmentation hypothesis indicates that for young adults spending more time on SNSs may be to the detriment of consolidating a clear and coherent identity (Valkenburg and Peter, 2011). Contrary to hypotheses one and three, the findings illustrated a negative relationship between SNS time use and both belonging and flourishing. In other words, more time spent using SNSs was significantly associated with lower levels of belonging and flourishing. However, when explored further it became evident that these relationships were conditional upon self-disclosure motivations.

The relationships between SNS time use and both belonging and flourishing were moderated by self-disclosure motivations. Specifically, when participants were low or moderately motivated to self-disclose on SNS (for either relationship maintenance or self-presentation purposes), SNS time use was negatively related to belonging and flourishing. Whereas when participants reported that they were highly motivated to maintain relationships or self-present there was no significant relationships between SNS time use and either belonging or flourishing. The key takeaway message from this pattern of results is that the higher the levels of motivation to engage in self-disclosure practices, the less likely that spending time on SNSs will be associated with decrements in belonging and flourishing. In the following sections, the moderation findings will be considered with a focus on the self-disclosure motivations.

Relationship Maintenance Motivations

In the current study, relationship maintenance motivations reflected participants’ drive to self-disclose on SNSs for the purpose of connecting with others and sustaining friendships. These motivations represent an inherent need for relatedness (Deci and Ryan, 2000) and align with previous research reporting that belonging and connection are prominent reasons for and outcomes of SNS use (Nadkarni and Hofmann, 2012; Seidman, 2013). Despite the benefits afforded by online social connection, it has also been suggested that when young adults are not driven to actively connect online, greater SNS time use can be associated with lower levels of belonging and psychological well-being (Steers, 2016). This previous work may inform the current findings, indicating that those who spend more time on SNSs but are less motivated to self-disclosure to maintain their relationships are not reaping the social and psychological benefits associated with self-disclosure.

Specifically, in relation to belonging, previous research has reported that passive engagement with SNSs—such as scrolling through the news feed and viewing but not interacting with other users’ posts—may elevate feelings of social exclusion and potentially lead to decreases in belonging (Verduyn et al., 2015). In contrast, active engagement—such as instant messaging friends or commenting on others’ posts—may facilitate the frequent, supportive, and in some cases intimate interactions that are key to achieving a sense of belonging (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Chen et al., 2016). Similarly, positive relationships are considered a key indicator of flourishing during young adulthood, where the active maintenance of these relationships have previously been associated with social and psychological need fulfillment (Carbery and Buhrmester, 1998; Padilla–Walker and Nelson, 2017). Following this research, our findings may suggest that young adults who are not driven to actively maintain their relationships but spend much time using SNSs report lower levels of flourishing because they are less inclined to engage in social interactions that could foster positive relationships online.

Although relationship maintenance motivations emerged as an important mitigator of the impact of SNS time use on belonging and flourishing, it did not significantly moderate the negative relationship between SNS time use and self-concept clarity. Past research has found that although relationship maintenance motivations are important, the association between SNS time use and self-concept clarity may be best explained by more than motivations alone. Specifically, Davis (2013) reported that adolescents who were motivated to go online to communicate with their existing friends reported higher levels of self-concept clarity as mediated by greater levels of reported friendship quality. Indeed, research has found that self-disclosures increase in intimacy as friendships advance (Altman and Taylor, 1973), and feedback gained during more intimate disclosures can promote greater self-concept clarity (Yang and Brown, 2016). In the current study, our measure of relationship maintenance motivations reflected a broad desire to engage in self-disclosures without considering the specific communication channel or level of intimacy with others. Accordingly, the lack of significant moderation could reflect participants’ aggregation of motivation to self-disclose across public and private online channels, ultimately muting potential impact of more intimate self-disclosures that predominately occur in private channels (Frye and Dornisch, 2010). Thus, the current findings may be attributable to the nonspecific nature of the measure and the importance of more private self-disclosure contexts for self-concept clarity.

Self-Presentation Motivations

The self-presentation self-disclosure motivations examined in the current study represent a formative part of young adult identity development. Specifically, the motivations reflected the participants' drive to self-disclose on SNSs to share aspects of their life and identity. Disclosing about the self is regarded as inherently gratifying for young adults and self-presenting online can promote personal growth and self-exploration (Tamir and Mitchell, 2012; Yang and Brown, 2016). However, similar to the relationship maintenance motivations, the benefits associated with sharing the self online are typically evidenced when young adults are driven to actively self-disclose on SNSs. For example, a study of Chinese college students reported that more time spent using the SNS platform WeChat predicted greater online self-presentation intentions and in turn promoted a greater sense of belonging (Pang, 2020). The author concluded that revealing personal and intimate information about oneself on SNS platforms may instigate greater emotional or instrumental support from peers and subsequentially improve one’s sense of belonging (Pang, 2020).

On SNSs peers may provide emotional and instrumental support privately using instant messaging, or publicly through likes, comments, or shares (Valkenburg et al., 2006). If the support provided is affirming, young adults can also feel a sense of alignment with and acceptance by their social group which are key facets of belonging and flourishing (Carbery and Buhrmester, 1998; Davis, 2013; Padilla–Walker and Nelson, 2017; Valkenburg et al., 2006). Concerning the current study, those who were less inclined to disclose on SNS for self-presentation purposes but were spending more time on SNSs may be missing out on opportunities to receive affirming feedback from their peers, and therefore may not derive some of the inherent benefits associated with sharing the self online.

Similar to the relationship maintenance motivations, self-presentation motivations did not significantly moderate the relationship between SNS time use and self-concept clarity. This result can be illuminated by the existing literature on online self-presentation and self-reflection. Specifically, the relationship between SNS time use and self-concept clarity may only be informed by self-presentation motivations when individuals also engage in self-reflection processes (Yang and Brown, 2016). Indeed, previous research has established that engaging in self-reflections can be constructive for identity consolidation when driven by curiosity about the self (Trapnell and Campbell, 1999). However, self-reflection can also hinder identity consolidation when driven by distrust or distress about the self (Trapnell and Campbell, 1999). Taken together, it is apparent that the relationship between SNS time use, self-presentation motivations, and self-concept clarity may be underpinned by a nuanced range of self-reflective processes that were not measured in the current study. This is a promising avenue for future research that would further our understanding of the role that online self-disclosure motivations and self-reflection processes play in young adults’ SNS use.

Strengths and Limitations

Although this study sheds further light on the developmental implications of young adult’s SNS use, the results need to be interpreted with certain limitations in mind. First, the generalizability of the findings is limited by the sampling method as the participants were from an undergraduate student population from an Australian university. Therefore, the results may not generalize to young adults from different cultures or circumstances where the roles and responsibilities of young adulthood may differ (Scales et al., 2016). However, a growing body of research suggests that similar markers of positive development are evident across cultures (Padilla–Walker and Nelson, 2017). Future research should consider how self-disclosure motivations manifest online for young adults from diverse contexts and if any differences emerge, to explore whether these are attributable to culturally specific developmental trajectories. Second, as the study was cross-sectional, the temporal ordering and thus causality between the constructs cannot be determined and the potential for bidirectional relationships cannot be ruled out. This is a common limitation of SNS research and despite some emerging evidence regarding the long-term implications of SNS use (Coyne et al., 2020; Stavrova and Denissen, 2020), more longitudinal work is needed. Specific to the current study, future longitudinal investigations that traverse adolescence and young adulthood are needed to understand the developmental implications of SNS time use, as well as how online self-disclosure motivations and behaviors shape young people’s developmental trajectories.

Finally, the assessments used to measure the self-disclosure motivations were not previously validated scales. However, this limitation is also a strength of the study as the exploratory factor analyses demonstrated appropriate factor structure, in addition to high levels of internal reliability. Further, the measures also demonstrated ecological validity as they were created using previous qualitative work exploring young adults' lived experiences of self-disclosing on SNSs (Ricci et al., 2018). By employing this technique in the current study, we were able to create items that comprehensively reflected the perspectives of young adults and their use of SNSs for self-disclosure (McKenna et al., 2003). However, as scale validation was beyond the scope of the current study, further research would be useful to confirm the factor structure of the self-disclosure motivation items created for this study.

Conclusion

Online environments are and will continue to be a core part of young adult’s social milieu. Accordingly, it is imperative to continue to build our understanding of the implications for spending time online and to investigate how this shapes and is shaped by young adult development. This study has shown that a greater amount of time spent on SNSs can predict poorer psychosocial adjustment, but that this effect is mitigated when individuals are more motivated to disclose on SNSs to maintain relationships and to self-present. Based on these findings, we recommend that when young adults are spending time online, they should do so with purpose, specifically, for purposes that promote positive self and relational development. This recommendation has relevant implications for digital literacy programs, where policy makers and practitioners could advocate for the purposeful use of SNSs in a way that is developmentally meaningful for young people. This recommendation is directly relevant for programs that target young adults, however, it may also be relevant to programs that target adolescent digital literacy. Additionally, this study has important theoretical implications for future investigations of young adult’s SNS use. In particular, it highlights that developmental theories can be used to provide an informative framework through which we can better focus inquiry to understand the impacts of time spent using SNSs in young adulthood.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Karlee J. O’Donnell

Bonnie L. Barber

Author Biographies

Karlee O’Donnell is a Senior Research Officer working within the Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies team, conducting research and analysis of the Ten to Men and Longitudinal Study of Australian Children studies.

Jaimee Stuart (PhD, Victoria University of Wellington) is a research fellow and senior lecturer at Griffith University in the School of Applied Psychology. Her research interests include cultural diversity, community psychology, cyberpsychology, and parenting.

Bonnie L. Barber (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is the Dean (Research) for the Health Group at Griffith University. Bonnie is a developmental psychologist specializing in youth engagement and well-being. She is especially interested in the impact of young people’s leisure time activity pursuits and their use of technology.

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