| Loneliness is the subjective negative emotional feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction of the individual caused by the lack of satisfactory social relationships.Shyness is the feeling of uncomfortable and depression in interpersonal communication.A large number of studies have shown that shyness is associated with negative social adaptation consequences,and among the negative consequences caused by shyness,loneliness is the most common one.Loneliness can be affected by shyness in many ways,and Internet use can be considered as one of them.Due to its characteristics of anonymity and non-contemporaneity,the Internet can provide a relatively safe social communication environment for the shy people,which will make them feel less social pressure than face-to-face communication when they use it for communication and thus obtain more comfortable experience.So shy people tend to use the Internet more.And many studies have proved the relationship between Internet use and loneliness.For example,some researchers believe that Internet use will lead to increased loneliness.So Internet use may play a mediating role on the association between shyness and loneliness.Previous studies mostly chose social network use as the research object,and paid less attention to other network activities.Thus,in this study,Two specific types of Internet,Internet shopping and online games,were selected to explore the mediating effect of shyness on loneliness,to reveal the influence mechanism of shyness on loneliness from the perspective of Internet use.A total of 3100 students(mean age = 18.25 years,SD=1.68)from senior school and university participated in this study.They were required to complete a battery of self-report questionnaires,including Revised Henderson University Shyness Scale(RHUSS),Internet Gaming Disorder Test(IGDT-10),Loneliness scale(UCLA)and online shopping use intensity scale.The mediating effect of Internet shopping and online games between shyness and loneliness and its difference between three learning stage was validated.The conclusions are as follows:1.The shyness level and loneliness level of high school students are significantly higher than that of college students;The intensity of online shopping use of college students was significantly higher than that of high school students.The shyness level and the intensity of online shopping use of girls are significantly higher than that of boys;the loneliness level and the intensity of online game use of boys are significantly higher than that of girls.2.Shyness is positively correlate with loneliness,online shopping use and online game use.It means the higher the degree of shyness,the stronger the loneliness,and the stronger the use of online shopping and online game.There is also a significant positive correlation between online shopping use and online game use.It means teenagers who use more online shopping also play more online game.In addition,online game ues and online shopping use are also significantly positively correlate with loneliness.It means the more teenagers use online shopping and online games,the more lonely they feel.3.Online shopping use and online game use played negatively partial mediating role on the association between adolescents' shyness and loneliness,It means shyness level of people impacts their loneliness,thus affecting their loneliness via the intensity of online shopping use and online game use.4.There are difference in the mediating role of online shopping use between two learning stage.In high school students,the relationship between online shopping use and loneliness is not significant,so there is no mediating effect of online shopping use between shyness and loneliness.The mediating effect of online shopping use was found in college students.And the mediating effect of online game use was found in senior high school and college students. |
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