In-person vs. text-based support : relationships between social anxiety, communication attitudes, and support effectiveness
department or school: Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
department or school: Psychology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Wiebe, Sage Lynn
issued: 2024-07-29T16:19:57Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Social support can have wide-ranging positive effects on emotional well-being, particularly during times of stress. Digitally mediated communication has become a common means of connecting with supportive others, raising questions of whether digital support, such as texting, can match the effectiveness of in-person support. Conflicting theories and empirical results to date may be due to individual differences impacting one’s experience of digitally mediated communication and support. The current research investigated the role of social anxiety symptoms in users’ reported overarching attitudes, preferences, and tendencies surrounding digitally mediated support in daily life, and how this may relate to the effectiveness of in-person versus text-based support in two lab-based experiments. In Experiment 1, participants underwent a psychological stress task followed by receiving support either in-person or via texting from a research confederate. Experiment 2 followed a similar procedure but with support from a close friend. Participants' levels of positive (“happy,” “calm”) and negative (“anxious”) affect, along with satisfaction with support, were measured. Higher symptoms of social anxiety were associated with a greater preference for and utilization of asynchronous digital communication (such as texting) for support in daily life. However, findings from Experiment 1 indicated that those with higher social anxiety symptoms had significantly higher anxiety following text-based support, compared to in-person support. Otherwise, the effectiveness of in-person versus text-based support did not vary based on social anxiety symptoms. Thus, while digital communication may be preferred by more socially anxious individuals, this doesn’t seem to translate to better outcomes for mood and satisfaction with support. This research has important implications, suggesting the need for a more nuanced understanding of effective support for those with higher social anxiety levels in rel…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/88718
note: IN-PERSON VS. TEXT-BASED SUPPORT: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOCIAL ANXIETY, COMMUNICATION ATTITUDES, AND SUPPORT EFFECTIVENESS by Sage Lynn Wiebe B.A. (Hons.), The University of British Columbia, 2021 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) July 2024 © Sage Lynn Wiebe, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: IN-PERSON VS. TEXT-BASED SUPPORT: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOCIAL ANXIETY, COMMUNICATION ATTITUDES, AND SUPPORT EFFECTIVENESS submitted by Sage Lynn Wiebe in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts . Dr. Susan Holtzman, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisor Dr. Maya Libben, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Jessica Lougheed, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Kathy Rush, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development University Examiner iii Abstract Social support can have wide-ranging positive effects on emotional well-being, particularly during times of stress. Digitally mediated communication has become a common means of connecting with supportive others, raising questions of whether digital support, such as texting, can match the effectiveness of in-person support. Conflicting theories and empirical results to date may be due to individual differences impacting one’s experience of digitally mediated communication and support. The current research investigated the role of social anxiety symptoms in users’ reported overarching attitudes, preferences, and tendencies surrounding digitally mediated support in daily life, and how this may relate to the effectiveness of in-person versus text-based support in two lab-based experiments. In…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2024-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0444837
language: eng
degree discipline: Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Holtzman, Susan
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88718