The Associations Between Social Network Sites Status Updates Use And Personality Traits And Anxiety

The use of social network sites(SNSs)is closely related to individuals' personality traits.However,due to the diversity of social networking platforms,the differences in its functions,and the different usage patterns of individuals,there are diverse correlations between the use of SNSs and personality traits.In addition,personality traits are a multidimensional structure,which makes individuals' use of SNSs and personality traits show a more complex relationship.Previous findings of the relationships between the SNS use and personality traits are inconsistent,and the use of status updates on SNSs has not received enough attention;therefore,this study focused on the use of status updates on SNSs and its relationships with individuals' personality traits.The use of SNSs status updates refers to the sum of a series of usage behaviors such as updating one's own status,browsing,thumb up,commenting and forwarding others' status.Previous studies have shown that,on the other hand,individuals' use of SNSs can be complexly impact on their psychological well-being,and this association is inconsistent,and the measures of psychological well-being is numerous,making the relationships between them becomes more difficult to clarify;therefore,this study aims to further clarify the complicated associations between SNS use and psychological well-being.Study 1 utilized qualitative and quantitative methods to explore people's motivations of updating status on WeChat moment and QQ Zone,and the associations between these motivations with their Big Five personality traits,self-esteem,and narcissism.In total of 616 status updates users participated in study 1,the results showed that there were five motivations when people updating status on WeChat moment and(or)QQ Zone named attentions seeking,archiving,affection participation,aesthetics,and communication.The correlations between personality traits and these motivations showed that extraversion was positively correlated with all five motivations;both agreeableness and conscientiousness were positively correlated with affection participation,aesthetics,and communication;neuroticism was positively correlated with archiving,affection participation,aesthetics,and communication;openness was positively correlated with attention seeking,affection participation,aesthetics,and communication.Self-esteem was positively correlated with affection participation,aesthetics,and communication.Narcissism was positively correlated with all five motivations.Study 2 explored whether the status which individuals' updated in WeChat moment and(or)QQ Zone can reflect their Big Five personality traits accurately.The results showed that perceivers can accurately judge users' extraversion,agreeableness,neuroticism,and conscientiousness based on those status updates;and users can accurately perceive how others judge their Big Five personality traits based on their status updates,including extraversion,agreeableness,conscientiousness,and neuroticism.In sum,users' status which updated in WeChat moment and(or)QQ Zone can accurately reflect their extraversion,agreeableness,conscientiousness,and neuroticism.Study 3 investigated the association between individuals' SNS status updates use and anxiety,and the mediating role of perceived social support underlying this relationship.The results showed that people's status updates use intensity of SNSs was negatively associated with their levels of anxiety,and their perceived social support played a significant mediating role in this relationship.Specifically,individuals with higher status updates use intensity perceived higher levels of social support,and this made them feel less anxiety.The use of SNS status updates has been integrated into our daily life,through three studies,we further clarified the relationship between the use of SNS status updates,personality traits and psychological well-being.In view of the diversity of the use of SNSs,as well as the multidimensional nature of personality traits and psychological well-being,future studies can focus on other aspects not covered by existing studies and more comprehensively study the relationships between the SNS use and psychological attributes.