Self-disclosure in social media and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of social and personal relationships Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 576 - 599
• Main Authors: Chu, Tsz Hang, Sun, Mengru, Crystal Jiang, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Honesty; Mass media; Meta-analysis; Psychological theories; Psychological well being; Self disclosure; Social media; Social networks; Sociocultural factors; Well being; meta-analysis; Self-disclosure; psychological well-being; social media
• ISSN: 0265-4075; 1460-3608
• DOI: 10.1177/02654075221119429

Self-disclosure in social media and psychological well-being have been theorized to mutually influence each other. The vibrant research on this issue, however, presents mixed results, calling for a synthesis of the empirical evidence. To this end, we conducted a meta-analysis with 38 empirical studies to systematically examine the nature of the relationship between social media self-disclosure and psychological well-being. We adopted a multidimensional perspective of self-disclosure to scrutinize how the quantity (amount and depth) and quality (intent, valence, and honesty) dimensions of self-disclosure were associated with psychological well-being. The results indicated that valence and honesty of self-disclosure were moderately and positively associated with psychological well-being, but the quantity of self-disclosure was not significantly associated with psychological well-being. Participants’ gender, age, and cultural context of the studies significantly moderated the associations between some dimensions of self-disclosure and psychological well-being. Based on the meta-analysis results, we reassessed theoretical claims on self-disclosure in social media and suggested directions for future research.