Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Full length article

Examining the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the

social network site
Hsin-Yi Huang
Department of Computer Science and Information Management, Soochow University, No.56, Sec. 1, Kuiyang St., Taipei City, 10048, Taiwan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Today, individual's self-disclosure on the social network sites (SNS) have become a prevalent phenom-
Received 28 February 2015 enon. This study proposes a research model for investigating the beneficial effects of individual's self-
Received in revised form disclosure on the social network sites (SNS). In this study, social support and online social well-being
28 November 2015
are seen as the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the SNS. Furthermore, this study ex-
Accepted 14 December 2015
Available online 23 December 2015
amines whether self-disclosure increases social support and online social well-being. For developing a
more parsimonious research model, this study chose self-disclosure and social support as second-order
constructs. Self-disclosure is devised as a formative second-order construct that includes five compo-
Keywords:
Social penetration theory
nents: amount, depth, honesty, intent, and valence. Social support is used as a reflective second-order
Self-disclosure construct comprising two factors: informational support and emotional support. In addition, this
Online social well-being research also proposes that social support increase online social well-being. Further, online social well-
Social support being is hypothesized to positively affect the continuance intention in relation to the SNS. Data collected
from 333 Facebook users provided support for all the hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are
discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Social network sites (SNS) have become an international phe-
nomenon. SNS are online services, platforms, or websites that
enable the construction and reflection of social networks or social
relations among individuals. Recently, scholars have begun
exploring the social impacts of SNS (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Ellison,
Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). As of November 2015, SNS were the
second most popular websites worldwide (Facebook; Alexa Top
Sites, 2015). Globally, increasing numbers of people have begun
to use SNS. For example, Facebook, the dominant player of the
social networking industry, has on average 1.01 billion active, daily
users logging on to Facebook on any given day (Facebook
Newsroom, 2015). Online social networking not only represent a
prevalent phenomenon but also a trend that offer many potential
opportunities for business.
For better enhancing the impact of branding or increasing de-
mand for products, business would like to use an ideal source of
marketing research (Kozinets, 2002). In other words, the potential
business benefits of self-disclosure in online communities are
E-mail address: hyhuang@csim.scu.edu.tw.
profound (Posey, Lowry, Roberts, & Ellis, 2010). Kozinets (2002)
indicated that consumer's disclosed information can be seen as
an ideal and unique source of marketing research. Through the SNS,
business can gather the consumer's disclosed information and
build the connection between the brand and consumers. Therefore,
this study would like to examine individual's self-disclosure and its
beneficial effects in the SNS context.
According to social penetration theory (SPT) (Altman & Taylor,
1973), self-disclosure is the key concept in relationship develop-
ment. Self-disclosure can contribute to not only developing a close
relationship but also maintaining a relationship (Derlega, Metts,
Sandra, & Margulis, 1993). The development of interpersonal pro-
cess is orderly and proceeds through stages over time (Altman &
Taylor, 1973). As interpersonal relationships develop to more inti-
mate levels, individuals generally disclose more private informa-
tion on a more personal level (Derlega, 1984). Individuals may
receive support from their social networks after they disclose their
personal emotions, feelings, and the situations they find upsetting
(Derlega et al., 1993). Therefore, social support can be seen as the
social benefit derive from the reactions others provide (Derlega
et al., 1993).
On the other hand, from the perspective of positive psychology,
self-disclosure would improve the individual's physical and mental

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.030
0747-5632/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
health (i.e., subjective well-being) (Niederhoffer & Pennebaker,
2002). When people share their story with others, i.e., communi-
cate personal information, thoughts, and feelings with other peo-
ple, whether the experience is positive or negative would gain a
psychological benefit to themselves (Esterling, L'Abate, Murray, &
Pennebaker, 1999; Gable, Reis, Impett, & Asher, 2004). Therefore,
online social well-being can be seen as the beneficial effect of self-
disclosure. Consequently, in this study, social support and well-
being can be seen as the beneficial effects which derived from
self-disclosure.
Broadly, the purpose of this study is to examine the phenome-
non of individual's self-disclosure on the SNS context. In addition,
the beneficial effects of self-disclosure, i.e., social support and the
satisfaction with individual's online social life (i.e., online social
well-being), would also be examined. Further, this study in-
vestigates whether individual's online social well-being increases
their continuance intention toward the SNS. Specifically, the
research questions of interest are as follows:
(1) How does an individual's self-disclosure impact social sup-
port and online social well-being in the SNS context?
(2) To what extent do self-disclosure and social support matter
in driving individual's online social well-being?
(3) Does an individual's online social well-being increase his/her
continuance intention toward the SNS?
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. The next
section discusses the conceptual foundation of the research. Sec-
tion 3 develops the research model and hypotheses. Section 4 ex-
plains the methods and analyzes the data. The results and their
implications are discussed in Section 5. The paper concludes with
the limitations of the study, along with suggestions for future
research directions.
2. Literature reviews
2.1. Social media usage
Today, social media usage, such as weblogs, social network sites,
and video platforms, has become a prevalent phenomenon and
brings significant impacts to our daily lives. According to Kaplan
and Haenlein (2010), social media is a group of Internet-based
applications that allow people to create and exchange the user
generated content. See-To and Ho (2014) indicated that because of
the rapid development of social media usage, prior studies exam-
ined the impacts of social media to different facets in the society via
the theoretical lens of information systems (Pai & Arnott, 2013),
marketing (Naylor, Lamberton, & West, 2012), academic perfor-
mance (Alwagait, Shahzad, & Alim, 2015), and social networking
activity and connectivity (Shahzad & Alwagait, 2014; Shahzad,
Alwagait, & Alim, 2014).
Park, Jin, and Jin (2011) proposed that although scholars make
an effort in understanding the rapidly growing use of SNS, few
studies have examined the SNS usage from the interpersonal re-
lationships perspective. According to Pornsakulvanich, Haridakis, &
Rubin (2008), self-disclosure is a key component of processes of
relationship formation and maintenance. Prior studies that
examine individual's self-disclosure in SNS context mostly focus on
the relational outcome, such as intimacy with relational partners
(Park et al., 2011) and quality of friendship (Wang, Jackson, &
Zhang, 2011). Therefore, this study investigates the beneficial ef-
fects of people who disclose their personal or private information to
others within an SNS.
123
2.2. Social penetration theory
Social penetration theory (SPT) was formulated in 1973 by
psychologists Altman & Taylor. It is a theory on communication and
psychology, which provides a better understanding on relationship
development. According to Altman and Taylor (1973), social
penetration deals primarily with “(1) overt interpersonal behaviors
occurring in social interaction” and “(2) the internal cognitive
processes that precede, accompany, and follow relationship for-
mation.” Altman and Taylor (1973) argued that this theory hy-
pothesizes that relationships develop gradually, moving from
superficial, non-intimate levels to more intimate, deeper levels.
Therefore, SPT explains and predicts relational closeness, which is
seen in the superficiality of self-disclosures in a relationship (Posey
et al., 2010).
The powerful metaphor of SPT is its “onion” analogy. Altman &
Taylor compared individuals to a multilayered onion. When in-
dividuals get to know each other, the layers will shed away to
disclose the inner self. Therefore, disclosure plays an critical role in
interpersonal relationship development. People who develop the
interpersonal relationships from more superficial exchange of in-
formation to more personal levels of interactions (Altman & Taylor,
1973). They further suggested that the development of interper-
sonal relationships (the social penetration process) progresses
through four stages: orientation, exploratory affective exchange,
full affective exchange, and stable exchange (Altman & Taylor,
1973).
According to Altman and Taylor (1973), orientation is the earliest
stage of interaction, which is supposed to take place at the pe-
riphery of the persona in “public” fields. At this stage, the interac-
tion is mostly limited to public fields, and communication is
cautious and tentative such as a conventional formula. The stage of
the exploratory affective exchange is similar to that of relationships
between casual acquaintances or friendly neighbors. In other
words, relationships at this stage are friendly, relaxed, and casual.
Although this represents an extension of the richness of commu-
nication in public outer fields, the exchange is still based on ste-
reotyped responses. Affective exchange characterizes a close
friendship in which individuals know one another well and the
exchange is freewheeling and loose. In other words, the relation-
ship is enjoyable and comfortable. Although communication at this
stage is characterized by an obvious increase in the very private and
central fields of the person, in core fields, willingness is mixed with
hesitancy. Stable exchange is the final stage of relationship devel-
opment, and few relationships achieve this level. Communication
at this stage is one of oneness, richness, and spontaneity. Dyad
communicators know one another very well and can easily and
immediately interpret and forecast the other's feelings and prob-
able behaviors.
2.3. Self-disclosure
SPT states that the process of interpersonal-relationship devel-
opment primarily takes place through self-disclosure. Wheeless
and Grotz (1976) conceptualized self-disclosure as “any message
about the self that a person communicates to another.” Derlega
(1984) reported that self-disclosure makes individuals show
others who they are and what their needs are. Therefore, self-
disclosure can refer to what people voluntarily and intentionally
reveal about themselves to others, which includes thoughts, feel-
ings, and experiences (Derlega et al., 1993). Although self-
disclosure is not equivalent to have a close relationship, it can
contribute to develop a close relationship and to relationship
maintenance (Derlega et al., 1993).
According to Altman and Taylor (1973), and Cozby (1973), there
124 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
are three basic dimensions of self-disclosure: breadth, depth, and
duration. Breadth is the amount of disclosed information, depth is
the intimacy of the disclosed information, and duration is the
amount of time spent disclosing information. Wheeless (1976) also
indicated that self-disclosure is a multidimensional construct,
which has been conceptualized along five separate dimensions:
amount, depth, honesty, intent, and valence. The amount of self-
disclosure shows both the frequency and duration of the dis-
closed messages. The depth of the disclosure represents the degree
of intimacy of the information topic revealed. Honesty reflects the
accuracy of the information that is disclosed by the other about
oneself. Intent (willingness) refers to an individual's self-revealing
disclosure. Valence represents the positive and negative nature of
the information being disclosed in the communication. In this
study, self-disclosure is conceptualized and measured by Wheel-
ess's (1976) classification.
Taylor and Altman (1987) indicated that interpersonal rewards
(benefits) can continue a relationship. Benefits shape the founda-
tion that maintains a relationship and moves it to deeper exchange
levels. Previous studies have already focused on the perspective of
interpersonal benefits, such as studies by Ko and Chen (2009), and
Posey et al. (2010). In their online community self-disclosure
model, Posey et al. (2010) treated reciprocity as the social benefit.
Ko and Chen (2009) also argued that self-esteem, social life, and
positive effect are the benefits bloggers perceive from self-
disclosure. However, these studies paid less attention on the role
of beneficial effects from the perspective of social support and
online well-being in the SNS context. Therefore, this study probes
into beneficial effects (i.e., social support and online well-being) of
an individuals' self-disclosure in the interpersonal relationship
development.
2.4. Social support
The term “social support” is used to refer to individuals'
perceived available social resources or the social resources they
actually receive from nonprofessionals in the context of both formal
support groups and informal helping relationships (Cohen,
Gottlieb, & Underwood, 2000). Cobb (1976) and House (1981)
defined social support as an individual's experiences of being
cared for, being responded to, and being helped by others in their
social group. According to Schwarzer and Buchwald (2004), social
support is information that leads people to believe that they are
valued, respected, and loved. In addition, this kind of information
helps people to deal with life stressors and the challenges of
everyday life. Sarason, Levine, Basham, and Sarason (1983) argued
that social support plays positive roles, such as the social attach-
ments that contribute to psychological adjustment and health.
Therefore, social support promotes positive adjustment and per-
sonal development, and offers a buffer against the effects of stress
(Sarason et al., 1983). Liang, Ho, Li, and Turban (2011) also proposed
that receiving social support can warm the receivers' hearts. People
can feel gratified by their good experiences with their supporters in
their social interactions, and these experiences help satisfy their
social needs (Liang et al., 2011).
Social support is a multidimensional construct and the diversity
of components could differ from context to context (Huang,
Nambisan, & Uzuner, 2010; Madjar, 2008; Xie, 2008; Zimet,
Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988). It is assumed that people can
receive different types of supportive functions through their social
relationships, and that these functions may be differentially useful
for various types of problems or stressors (Cohen & McKay, 1984;
Cutrona & Russell, 1990; Sandler, Miller, Short, & Wolchik, 1989).
Wills (1985) argued that the social relationship provides four types
of social supports, including esteem support, informational
support, instrumental support, and motivational support. House
(1981) also delineated four types of social support that can
decrease work stress: emotional, instrumental, informational, and
appraisal support. According to Wills and Shinar (2000), esteem
and motivational support can be seen as two types of emotional
support, while appraisal support can be treated as another form of
informational support. SchXaefer Coyne, & Lazarus (1981) pro-
posed that when an individual's health is under stress, they need
both tangible and intangible support (i.e., emotional and informa-
tional support). In addition, online interactions are virtual in nature
and often rely on the exchange of messages. Social-media users
may receive social support from others that is intangible in nature,
including information support and emotional support (Coulson,
2005; Huang et al., 2010; Madjar, 2008). Therefore, this study ex-
amines both information and emotional support in the context of
the SNS.
According to Taylor et al. (2004) and Liang et al. (2011),
emotional support refers to offering warmth to another person and
reassuring the person that he/she is valuable and cared about.
Informational support can provide recommendations, advice, or
knowledge to the person who needs help in solving a problem.
Liang et al. (2011) argued that, in online communities, these two
types of social supports are the major support mechanisms for
social interactions. Wills and Shinar (2000) reasoned that from the
perspective of benefit, changes in emotional support impact one's
assessment of one's life events, improves self-esteem, decreases
anxiety and depression, and motivates coping; while informational
support, which can increase the amount of available useful infor-
mation to the receivers, helps them acquire the services they need,
and results in more effective coping. Therefore, emotional and
informational support could be seen as the beneficial effects of self-
disclosure because they are “the perceived value of the desired
outcome to the individual disclosing” (Omarzu, 2000).
2.5. Online social well-being
According to Diener, Oishi, and Lucas (2009), subjective well-
being refers to individuals' cognitive and affective evaluation of
their life. Subjective well-being can be seen as the individual's
consciousness and feelings about their lives, which consists of
perceptions of pleasure, positive emotions, and higher satisfaction.
Subjective well-being is defined as an individual's cognitive and
affective evaluations of his/her whole life (Diener et al., 2009).
Diener et al. (2009) argued that subjective well-being is a broad
concept, which includes several experiences, such as pleasant
emotions, small, negative moods, and high life satisfaction.
Previous studies have examined the relationship between the
use of SNS and a satisfaction with life (e.g., Ellison et al., 2007;
Steinfield, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009).
When people experience a high quality of life, they may perceive
subjective well-being (Diener, 1984). However, those studies
focused on satisfaction with real life, such as college students'
satisfaction with life at university (Ellison et al., 2007; Johnston,
Tanner, Lalla, & Kawalski, 2013; Steinfield et al., 2008; Valenzuela
et al., 2009), students' family relationships (West, Lewis, & Currie,
2009), adults' health (psychological distress) (Kontos, Emmons,
Puleo, & Viswanath, 2010), and individuals' happiness in their
romantic relationships (Utz & Beukeboom, 2011). In brief, little
research has been done to examine the use of SNS from the
perspective of satisfaction with an online social life. In addition, as
suggested in prior research, people who disclose themselves can be
seen as confession in some group therapy at treatment and increase
individual's well-being (Esterling et al., 1999; Gable et al., 2004). In
the other word, well-being can be seen as the beneficial effect of
self-disclosure.
 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
3. Research model and hypotheses
Fig. 1 presents the proposed research model for exploring in-
dividual SNS usage behavior. Self-disclosure is operationalized as a
formative second-order construct that consists of five dimensions:
amount, depth, honesty, intent, and valence. Social support is
devised as a reflective second-order construct that consists of two
dimensions: informational support and emotional support. This
study hypotheses that self-disclosure would positively affect social
support and online social well-being. Social support is hypothe-
sized to positively affect an individual's online social well-being.
Furthermore, online social well-being is theorized to positively
affect the continuance intention toward the SNS.
3.1. Self-disclosure to social support
According to Derlega et al. (1993), when individuals disclose
their distress or their upsetting situation to others, the listeners
might be able to offer information, advice, and guidance on coping
with the problem. Even if the disclosed information is not easily
resolvable, the listeners can offer encouragement or motivational
support (Derlega et al., 1993). In addition, the authors argued that
the help seekers' willingness to divulge their private information
may encourage their listeners to understand their needs and pro-
vide support. According to Ko and Kuo (2009), bloggers who dis-
closed more information about themselves, such as their thoughts
and feelings, or who openly and honestly shared them with others,
would receive more social support. This unfiltered self-disclosure
can be seen as the signal that alerts these individuals’ need for
support from their “Friends” on Facebook (Kim & Lee, 2011). Hence
self-disclosure will increase the likelihood of receiving support on
the SNS.
H1. An individual's self-disclosure has a positive effect on his/her
perceived social support.
3.2. Self-disclosure to online social well-being
According to Niederhoffer and Pennebaker (2002), self-
disclosure can improve an individual's physical and mental health
from positive-psychology perspective. The content of the infor-
mation disclosed on the Internet may be helpful for developing
Fig. 1. Research model.
125
intimate relationships and for increasing well-being (Schiffrin,
Edelman, Falkenstern, & Stewart, 2010). In addition, Ko and Kuo
(2009) indicated that the more people self-disclose on the blogs,
the higher is the subjective well-being they experience. Finally, Lee,
Lee, and Kwon (2010) also proposed that self-disclosure has a
positive effect on subjective well-being in the SNS context.
H2. An individual's self-disclosure has a positive effect on his/her
online social well-being.
3.3. Social support to online social well-being
Social support provided by interpersonal relationships is one of
the most robust correlates of well-being (Schiffrin et al., 2010).
According to Wills (1985), the resources provided by interpersonal
relationships (e.g., social support) play a significant role in deter-
mining an individual's adaptive functioning and health outcomes
(e.g., subjective well-being). Myers (2000) also indicated that social
support is an important source of happiness. Therefore, social
support is related to increased psychological well-being (Cohen
et al., 2000; Kim & Lee, 2011; Okun, Stock, Haring, & Witter,
1984; Wills, 1985). Some studies even suggest that social support
is necessary for subjective well-being (Baumeister & Leary, 1995;
Diener & Oishi, 2005; Diener & Seligman, 2002). Cohen et al.
(2000) also proposed that social support is thought to enhance
well-being through influencing emotions, cognitions and behaviors
in a way that accelerate positive affect. In the present study, it may
be possible that the social support offered by an individual's
“Friends” on the SNS would positively contribute to the individual's
online social well-being.
H3. An individual's perceived social support has a positive effect on
his/her online social well-being.
3.4. Online social well-being to continuance intention
According to Deci and Ryan (1985), if people feel happy about
doing something, they are self-determined and intrinsically moti-
vated to continue doing whatever it was that made them happy.
Sheldon and Houser-Marko (2001) proposed that the main goal in
life is the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, when people derive a
positive effect from online a social interaction, their choice of action
126 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
will be affected by this positive effect. Dholakia, Bagozzi, and Klein
(2004) argued that when people are satisfied with their online
interactions, they will be inspired to participate in the online virtual
community Accordingly, it is expected that individuals who
actively participate in a SNS are more likely to experience
connectedness and feel happier (Valkenburg, Peter, & Schouten,
2006). Past research in several fields had examined the relation-
ship between well-being and loyalty (e.g., Chiu, Cheng, Huang, &
Chen, 2013; El Hedhli, Chebat, & Sirgy, 2013; Spector, 1997).
Applying these arguments to satisfaction with an online social life,
this study supposes that an individual who experiences satisfaction
and feels happier about their online social life is more likely actively
to continue to participate in the SNS.
H4. An individual's online social well-being has a positive effect on
his/her continuance intention toward the SNS.
4. Research methodology
4.1. Measurement development
The measurement items in this study (see Appendix A) are
adopted from the existing literature and adapted to the SNS
context. First, items for measuring self-disclosure are slightly
modified from Wheeless (1976). Second, the emotional and infor-
mational support measures are adapted from Liang et al. (2011) and
Lin (2011). Third, the measurement for online social well-being is
adapted from Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985). Finally,
items used to measure continuance intention are adapted from
Bhattacherjee (2001). All items measure online users’ SNS experi-
ences. The scales are slightly modified for the SNS context. Items
are measured on a seven-point Likert scale, with anchors from
strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). The appendix lists the
operational definitions, sources and measurement items.
Both a pre-test and a pilot test were conducted to validate the
instrument. For the pre-test, a questionnaire was given to 3 experts,
with Facebook experience, to verify its logical consistency, ease of
understanding, wording, and the appropriateness of the in-
struments. A pilot test was conducted, with 105 users of the target
online SNS, to confirm the measurement properties of the final
items. The results indicated that the measurement model fulfills
the criteria of reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant
validity.
4.2. Survey administration
The research model was tested using data collected from Face-
book users in Taiwan. Facebook was chosen as the target SNS
because it is the second most popular site in the world, with more
than a billion members (Alexa, 2015 traffic rankings; Facebook
Newsroom, 2015). Furthermore, Facebook is the dominant player
in the SNS industry and is growing daily. In order to target Facebook
users, a hyperlink that led to the survey website was posted on
several local bulletin-board systems, on online forums, and to vir-
tual communities. Online users who have Facebook experience will
be cordially invited to support the survey.
The first page of the questionnaire presented the purpose of this
study and a guarantee of confidentiality. The respondents were
instructed to answer all the questions based on their experience
using Facebook. After we finished the data-collection process, 16
randomly selected respondents were contacted through e-mail to
obtain their contact information so we could mail them an incen-
tive of US$17 in the form of a gift certificate. The web survey yielded
a total of 333 complete, valid responses for the data analysis. Table 1
lists the demographic information of the respondents.
4.3. Data analysis
A two-step approach, recommended by Anderson and Gerbing
(1988), was adopted for the data analysis. The first step analyzes
the measurement model; the second step tests the structural re-
lationships among the latent constructs. The aim of the two-step
approach is to establish the reliability and validity of the mea-
sures before assessing the structural relationships of the model.
Therefore, the first step involves the confirmation of the mea-
surement model, and the second step validates the structural re-
lationships among the latent constructs. SmartPLS 2.0 M3 (Ringle,
Wende, & Will, 2005) was used because it allows the latent con-
structs to be modeled as formative or reflective indicators. Ac-
cording to Chin and Newsted (1999), PLS places minimal
restrictions on several parts, such as measurement scales, sample
size, and residual distribution.
4.3.1. Measurement model
Self-disclosure and social support are modeled as second-order
constructs with the reflective-formative and reflectiveereflective
approach respectively. For the self-disclosure dimension, the first-
order constructs are reflectively defined, and the second-order
constructs are formatively defined. For the social support dimen-
sion, the first-order constructs are reflectively defined, and the
second-order constructs are reflectively defined. Since PLS does not
directly support second order factors, this research-generated fac-
tor scores for each of their first-order dimensions. These were then
used as reflective measures (indicators) of the second-order con-
structs (see Chin, Marcolin, & Newsted, 2003; Polites & Karahanna,
2012). To do so, we first ran the full research model in SmartPLS
with the dimensions for each construct disaggregated. The result-
ing factor scores of the dimensions were then used as the measures
of the aggregate constructs (i.e., self-disclosure and social support).
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to test the ade-
quacy of the measurement model. The adequacy of the measure-
ment model was evaluated on the criteria of reliability, convergent
validity, and discriminant validity.
The reliability of the measurement items was examined using
composite reliability (CR) values. To indicate adequate reliability, it
is suggested that CR values should be above 0.70 (Fornell & Larcker,
1981). Table 2 shows that all of the CR values were well above the
0.7 threshold. To establish convergent validity, all indicator load-
ings on their corresponding constructs must exceed 0.70 (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981). For the research model, all indicators had loadings
above 0.7. (see Table 3). Another criterion for evaluating convergent
validity suggests that the average variance extracted (AVE) for each
construct should be 0.5 or greater (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Table 2
shows that all of the AVE values of ranged from 0.641 to 0.951,
indicating adequate convergent validity.
To establish discriminant validity, the cross-loadings and the
square root of the AVEs were used. The correlation matrix, pre-
sented in Table 4, indicates that the square roots of the AVE on the
diagonal are greater than the corresponding off-diagonal inter-
construct correlations. Table 3 also shows that the loading of each
measurement item onto its assigned latent variable is larger than
its loading onto any other construct (Chin, 1998). Thus, the
discriminant validity of all factors is supported.
Furthermore, variance inflation factors (VIF) were used to assess
the degree of multi-collinearity. This study conducted a regression
analysis by modeling the continuance intention as the dependent
variable and the other nine variables as the independent variables.
The VIFs ranged from 1.509 to 2.936, all below the suggested
threshold of 3.3 (Diamantopoulos & Siguaw, 2006). Therefore, we
did not find a significant multicollinearity problem in this study.
 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132 127

Table 1
Demographic information about the respondents (N ¼ 333).

Variable Items Freq. Percent Variable Items Freq. Percent

Gender Male 159 47.7 Education Less than high school 4 1.2
Female 174 52.3 High school students 3 0.9
High school degree 21 6.3
junior college students 3 0.9
junior college degree 8 2.4
University students 80 24.0
University degree 89 26.7
Graduate students 58 17.4
Graduate/postgraduate 67 20.1
Age Under 20 46 13.8 Tenure of membership Less than 1 Year 3 0.9
20e30 224 67.3 1 Yeare2 Years 7 2.1
31e40 55 16.5 2 Yearse3 Years 46 13.8
Over 40 8 2.4 More than 3 Years 277 83.2

Table 2
Descriptive statistics for the constructs.

Constructs Items Composite reliability Mean (STD) AVE

Amount (AM) 3 0.918 3.788 (1.306) 0.790

Depth (DE) 4 0.877 3.427 (1.143) 0.641
Honesty (HO) 4 0.931 4.236 (1.059) 0.771
Intent (IN) 3 0.945 5.217 (0.970) 0.851
Valence (VA) 3 0.899 4.771 (0.941) 0.747
Emotional support (ES) 5 0.929 5.029 (0.983) 0.725
Informational support (IS) 4 0.946 4.995 (0.942) 0.815
Online social well-being (SW) 4 0.936 4.767 (0.949) 0.784
Continuance intention (CI) 3 0.983 5.765 (0.985) 0.951

Table 3
PLS confirmatory factor analysis and cross-loadings.
The bold value represents the loading of each measurement item on its assigned latent variable.

AM DE HO IN VA ES IS SW CI

AM1 0.828 0.437 0.207 0.169 0.007 0.202 0.177 0.350 0.347
AM2 0.931 0.673 0.274 0.020 0.035 0.127 0.129 0.220 0.169
AM3 0.904 0.570 0.274 0.183 0.020 0.218 0.249 0.314 0.227
DE1 0.499 0.801 0.357 0.070 0.066 0.087 0.195 0.202 0.136
DE2 0.501 0.862 0.239 0.023 0.149 0.059 0.087 0.123 0.039
DE3 0.534 0.824 0.203 0.002 0.149 0.003 0.008 0.111 0.002
DE4 0.515 0.707 0.094 0.092 0.163 0.064 0.059 0.081 0.081
HO1 0.220 0.143 0.817 0.374 0.255 0.435 0.453 0.220 0.295
HO2 0.251 0.365 0.872 0.296 0.215 0.325 0.320 0.275 0.306
HO3 0.253 0.214 0.916 0.473 0.342 0.390 0.418 0.370 0.423
HO4 0.273 0.358 0.903 0.379 0.272 0.300 0.354 0.267 0.333
IN1 0.118 0.001 0.457 0.917 0.453 0.451 0.475 0.490 0.434
IN2 0.158 0.029 0.412 0.918 0.285 0.406 0.384 0.416 0.407
IN3 0.116 0.016 0.332 0.933 0.366 0.402 0.427 0.396 0.371
VA1 0.098 0.180 0.291 0.236 0.829 0.393 0.345 0.392 0.320
VA2 0.026 0.084 0.256 0.344 0.873 0.376 0.284 0.345 0.376
VA3 0.009 0.137 0.265 0.441 0.890 0.331 0.287 0.369 0.273
ES1 0.206 0.105 0.284 0.258 0.270 0.802 0.602 0.382 0.270
ES2 0.161 0.025 0.364 0.453 0.399 0.927 0.731 0.510 0.506
ES3 0.169 0.051 0.314 0.391 0.339 0.894 0.702 0.441 0.325
ES4 0.132 0.025 0.357 0.519 0.421 0.906 0.740 0.473 0.485
ES5 0.231 0.101 0.449 0.290 0.355 0.710 0.568 0.468 0.441
IS1 0.110 0.036 0.380 0.462 0.375 0.753 0.938 0.513 0.494
IS2 0.150 0.021 0.383 0.457 0.308 0.733 0.942 0.519 0.495
IS3 0.212 0.113 0.426 0.470 0.303 0.720 0.929 0.496 0.457
IS4 0.308 0.198 0.401 0.277 0.270 0.640 0.795 0.464 0.343
SW1 0.280 0.149 0.360 0.397 0.326 0.416 0.471 0.842 0.509
SW2 0.258 0.106 0.325 0.441 0.451 0.594 0.606 0.892 0.581
SW3 0.306 0.115 0.198 0.460 0.379 0.433 0.441 0.916 0.539
SW4 0.336 0.256 0.264 0.374 0.332 0.426 0.417 0.892 0.545
CI1 0.284 0.057 0.358 0.420 0.347 0.443 0.503 0.627 0.973
CI2 0.255 0.050 0.376 0.440 0.354 0.468 0.464 0.577 0.981
CI3 0.269 0.052 0.404 0.425 0.387 0.488 0.489 0.594 0.971

4.3.2. Structural model assessed by examining the structural paths and the R-square scores
In PLS analysis, the explanatory power of a structural model is of the endogenous variables. Fig. 2 shows the results of the
128 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132

Table 4 (b ¼ 0.336, p < 0.001). After individuals reveal their intimate in-
Correlation among constructs and the square root of the AVE. formation to one another, they would experience being cared
AM DE HO IN VA ES IS SW CI about, being responded to, and being helped by friends on the SNS.
AM 0.889
Even when this kind of support does not provide direct help for
DE 0.632 0.801 solving his or her problem, they would still perceive the enthusi-
HO 0.284 0.308 0.878 astic feedback and feel better. In addition, people who live in a high-
IN 0.141 0.005 0.436 0.923 pressure environment and are remote in terms of social distance
VA 0.019 0.151 0.311 0.402 0.864
could write or express their personal information through the SNS
ES 0.206 0.043 0.411 0.456 0.420 0.852
IS 0.211 0.097 0.439 0.466 0.349 0.789 0.903 in order to relax, or to enhance their physical and mental health.
SW 0.331 0.174 0.325 0.473 0.424 0.534 0.552 0.886 People can get a psychological benefit from sharing their story with
CI 0.277 0.055 0.389 0.439 0.372 0.478 0.499 0.616 0.975 their social ties, no matter the experience is negative or positive
Note: Diagonal elements (in bold) are the square root of the average variance (Esterling et al., 1999; Gable et al., 2004). Therefore, individuals
extracted. who engage in self-disclosure on the SNS could promote their

Fig. 2. SEM analysis of the research model.

structural-path analysis. All of the hypotheses exhibited a p-value
of less than 0.05. The path coefficients between self-disclosure and
social support, self-disclosure and online social well-being are
0.576 (p < 0.001), and 0.336 (p < 0.001) respectively, thus sup-
porting H1 and H2. As H3 hypothesizes, social support has a sig-
nificant positive effect on online social well-being (path coefficient
is 0.380, p < 0.001). Finally, online social well-being positively af-
fects the continuance intention (path coefficient is 0.616,
p < 0.001), H4 is supported. The significance of all of the paths was
assessed via 500 bootstrap runs. Overall, the base model accounted
for 37.9% of the variance of the continuance intention.
5. Discussion and implications
The purpose of this study is to understanding the individual's
SNS usage behavior. Further, this research focuses on examining the
beneficial effects of an individual's self-disclosure on the SNS. In
this study, social support and online social well-being are treated as
the beneficial effects of an individual's self-disclosure in the SNS
context. The results provide support for all of the hypothesized
relationships in the theoretical model.
5.1. Summary of the results
As predicted, self-disclosure has a positive, significant effect on
social support (b ¼ 0.576, p < 0.001), and online social well-being
satisfaction with their online social life.
As H3 hypothesized, social support has a significant, positive
effect on online social well-being (b ¼ 0.380, p < 0.001). People who
receive the informational or emotional support from their online
friends would promote the satisfaction with their online social life.
Since social support could bring warmth and understanding to
individuals (Liang et al., 2011), it can be seen as an important source
of happiness (Myers, 2000). Therefore, people who receive this
kind of social support may make a positive contribution to their
online social life.
As predicted, online social well-being has a strong effect on the
individual's continuance intention toward the SNS (b ¼ 0.616,
p < 0.001). Individuals who are happy with their online social life
are more likely to continue use the SNS. Chiu et al. (2013) also
indicated that an individual's satisfaction with their online social
life would have a positive effect on his/her loyalty toward an SNS.
Finally, for an individual's satisfaction with his/her online social
life, social support (b ¼ 0.380, p < 0.001) is slightly important than
self-disclosure (b ¼ 0.336, p < 0.001) in relation to shaping an in-
dividual's online social well-being. The result implies that although
received the information or emotional support from others is
important in promoting satisfaction with online social life, sharing
with others by disclose personal thoughts, feelings, and experi-
ences is also essential for mental health. Thus, both individual-
related (i.e., self-disclosure) and social-related (i.e., social support)
factors have a positive contribution to an individual's online social
 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
well-being.
5.2. Theoretical implications
On the basis of the findings of this research, this study would
like to share several points that are worthy of consideration in
theory development. First, based on SPT, people would develop
intimate interpersonal relationships through self-disclosure. This
study has contributed to our understanding of the beneficial effects
of an individual's self-disclosure in the SNS context. There are two
beneficial effects of an individual's self-disclosure on the SNS. First,
after people self-disclosure on the SNS, they can receive benefits
from the other party, such as being cared about. Second, they can
increase their mental health by sharing their stories to other
people.
This study applies social support and online social well-being to
explain the beneficial effects associated with self-disclosure on the
SNS. The results imply that self-disclosure has a significant effect on
social support and online social well-being toward the SNS. This
means that if individuals who want to receive support from others,
they can disclose their inner self to others on the SNS. On the other
hand, people may improve their psychological or mental health
through revealing themselves on the SNS. In other words, people
would see the SNS as the channel through which to look for support
or share their inner self. Therefore, self-disclosure on the SNS can
bring certain values that are the basis for the individual's overall
assessment of the benefits that the self-disclosure gives him/her.
Individual's self-disclosure on a SNS can be seen as a valuable
behavior.
This study emphasizes the linkage between psychological state
and behavioral intention. Individual's psychological or affective
state is related to and results from a cognitive appraisal of using the
SNS - satisfaction with online social life the individual's continu-
ance intention. In addition, online social well-being represents an
important determinant of individual's continuance intention to-
ward the SNS that has been ignored in the past research. Although
Lin and Lu (2011) found that enjoyment was the major antecedent
of SNS continuance intention, the measure of enjoyment focuses on
the overall pleasurable experience of using the SNS. Therefore, this
study can provide a better understanding on the relationship be-
tween individuals' online social well-being and their continuance
intention toward the SNS.
Finally, from the perspective of individual-related and social-
related factors in shaping online social well-being, social support
is lightly important than self-disclosure to online social well-being.
This finding is consistent with Myers (2000), who indicated that
social support is an important source of happiness. Therefore, in the
SNS context, the outcome of social interaction (social support) may
be slightly important than solitary action (self-disclosure) to
contribute to individual's online social well-being.
5.3. Implications for practice
A finding of potential interest to managers of SNS is that online
social well-being plays an important role in shaping members'
continuance intention. Online social well-being, such as pleasure, is
an emotion-oriented concept. Support tools (e.g., photo sharing and
video sharing) are among the complementary services that can be
used to strengthen the impact of a satisfactory online social life. SNS
managers should continue to develop novel and fun support tools
or services that gratify members’ needs to have a happy online
social life. However, it is important to encourage members to self-
disclose, on the SNS, so they can construct the relationships
necessary for a gratifying experience and for continuance with the
SNS. Therefore, less-intrusive designs may be useful for leading
129
people to shed the layers of their personal “onions” and engage in
self-disclosure. Finally, SNS managers should develop strategies to
promote the exchange of information and emotional support
among SNS members.
5.4. Limitations and future research
Even though we made every effort to effectively design and
implement this research, there are still some limitations. First, the
respondents to the survey were limited to Taiwanese Facebook
users. Therefore, this study may have limited applicability to other
countries. Second, as the data are cross-sectional, the statistically
supported relationships can only be viewed as correlational. Third,
our study may have been affected by self-selection bias. The sample
of this research consists of active users. Users who have already
stopped using Facebook may have different perceptions on the
influence of social support and online social well-being. Thus, the
results of this study should be interpreted as explaining the
continuance intention of current online users only. Fourth, the data
were collected from a single SNS site: Facebook. Although it is the
most popular SNS in the world, the generalizability of the model
and the findings to other SNSs requires additional research.
Even if self-disclosure can promote one's self-worth by offering
social support during stressful periods, there is also the risk of being
rejected or exploited by others (Derlega et al., 1993). People who
disclose their personal information and feelings may be at risk.
According to Derlega et al. (1993), when other people know our
personal information or feelings, they may divulge this information
to others whom we do not know or like; people who disclose their
personal information may discover that after they had talked about
certain matters, others may avoid them or decide they do not like
them. The disclosures make the disclosers vulnerable to exploita-
tion (Kelvin, 1977). In other words, revealing one's inner self to
another makes the revealer more vulnerable to potential risks.
Therefore, another interesting area for future research can examine
the harmful effect of self-disclosure on the SNS.
5.5. Conclusion
To better understand the continuance intention of SNS, this
study examines the relationships among self-disclosure, social
support, online social well-being and repetitive behavior. Further,
this study examines the beneficial effects of an individual's self-
disclosure in the SNS context. The findings indicate that an in-
dividual's satisfaction with his/her online social life is a powerful
driver of individuals' continuance intentions toward the SNS. In
addition, self-disclosure on a SNS is beneficial for individuals. Not
only people can receive the social support from other people on the
SNS, but also can facilitate the happiness and satisfaction with his/
her online social life. We believe that the model proposed in this
paper is not conceptually limited to SNS, but should also be
applicable to other online services. We hope the model proposed in
this study can lay a useful foundation for future work in this
important area.
Acknowledgments
This research and paper were supported by National Science
Council (Grant No. NSC-102-2410-H-031-053-).
130 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132

Appendix A. Questionnaire items

Appendix. BThe operational definition, sources, and measurement

items.

Amount: The frequency and duration of the disclosive messages on the SNS.

AM1 I do not often talk about myself on Facebook.* Wheeless (1976)

AM2 I often talk about myself on Facebook.
AM3 I often discuss my feelings about myself on Facebook.
Depth: The intimate degree of the message topic revealed on the SNS.

DE1 I intimately disclose who I really am, openly and fully in my conversations on Facebook. Wheeless (1976)
DE2 On Facebook, once I get started, my self-disclosures last a long time.
DE3 On Facebook, I typically reveal information about myself without intending to.
DE4 Once I get started, I intimately and fully reveal myself in my self-disclosures on Facebook.
Honesty: The accuracy of the message revealed on the SNS.

HO1 I always feel completely sincere when I reveal my own feelings and experiences on Facebook. Wheeless (1976)
HO2 My self-disclosures on Facebook are completely accurate reflections of who I really am.
HO3 On Facebook, my statements about my feelings, emotions, and experiences are always accurate self-perceptions.
HO4 I am always honest in my self-disclosures on Facebook.
Intent: The individual's revealed messages on the SNS are self-revealing.

IN1 When I express my personal feelings on Facebook, I am always aware of what I am doing and saying. Wheeless (1976)
IN2 When I reveal my feelings about myself on Facebook, I consciously intend to do so.
IN3 When I am self-disclosing on Facebook, I am consciously aware of what I am revealing.
Valence: The positive and negative nature of the revealed messages on the SNS.

VA1 I usually disclose positive things about myself on Facebook. Wheeless (1976)
VA2 I normally express my “good” feelings about myself on Facebook.
VA3 On the whole, my disclosures about myself on Facebook are more positive than negative.
Informational support: The messages received from friends on the SNS provide the needed assistance.

IS1 Some “Friends” on the Facebook would offer suggestions when I needed help. Liang et al. (2011); Lin (2011)
IS2 When I encountered a problem, some “Friends” on the Facebook would give me information to help me overcome the problem.
IS3 When faced with difficulties, some “Friends” on the Facebook would help me discover the cause and provide me with suggestions.
IS4 Over the last one month, I obtained sufficient assistance from my “Friends” on Facebook.
Emotional support: The messages received from friends on the SNS include emotional concerns.

ES1 When faced with difficulties, some “Friends” on Facebook are on my side. Liang et al. (2011); Lin (2011)
ES2 When faced with difficulties, some “Friends” on Facebook comforted and encouraged me.
ES3 When faced with difficulties, some “Friends” on Facebook listened to me talk about my private feelings.
ES4 When faced with difficulties, some people on the Facebook expressed interest in and concern for my well-being.
ES5 Over the last one month, I received adequate emotional support from my “Friends” on Facebook.
Online social well-being: An individual's own assessment of his/her happiness and satisfaction with his/her social life on the SNS.

SW1 In most respects, my online social life in Facebook is close to my ideal. Diener et al. (1985)
SW2 The conditions of my online social life on Facebook are excellent.
SW3 I am satisfied with my online social life on Facebook.
SW4 So far, I have obtained the important things I want from my online social life on Facebook.
Continuance intention: The individual's willingness to revisit the SNS.

CI1 If I could, I would like to continue using Facebook in the future. Bhattacherjee (2001)
CI2 It is likely that I will continue using Facebook in the future.
CI3 I plan to continue using Facebook in the future.
*
Negatively worded items.

References
Alexa. (2015). Alexa top sites Accessed 23.11.15 http://www.alexa.com/topsites.
Altman, I., & Taylor, D. (1973). Social penetration: The development of interpersonal
relationships. NewYork: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Alwagait, E., Shahzad, B., & Alim, S. (2015). Impact of social media usage on students
academic performance in Saudi Arabia. Computers in Human Behavior, 51,
1092e1097.
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: a
review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103,
411e423.
Baumeister, R., & Leary, M. (1995). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal
attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117,
497e529.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2001). Understanding information systems continuance: an
expectation-confirmation model. MIS Quarterly, 25, 351e370.
Boyd, D., & Ellison, N. (2007). Social network sites: definition, history, and schol-
arship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210e230.
Chin, W. W. (1998). Issues and opinions on structural equation modeling. MIS
Quarterly, 22, 7e16.
Chin, W. W., Marcolin, B. L., & Newsted, P. R. (2003). A partial least squares latent
variable modeling approach for measuring interaction effects: results from a
Monte Carlo simulation study and electronic-mail emotion/adoption study.
Information Systems Research, 14(2), 189e217.
Chin, W. W., & Newsted, P. R. (1999). Structural equation modeling analysis with
small samples using partial least squares. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Statistical stra-
tegies for small sample research (pp. 307e341). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Chiu, C. M., Cheng, H. L., Huang, H. Y., & Chen, C. F. (2013). Exploring individuals'
subjective well-being and loyalty towards social network sites from the
perspective of network externalities: the Facebook case. International Journal of
Information Management, 33(3), 539e552.
Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosomatic Medicine,
38(5), 300e314.
Cohen, S., Gottlieb, B., & Underwood, L. (2000). Theoretical and historical per-
spectives. In S. Cohen, L. Underwood, & B. Gottlieb (Eds.), Social support mea-
surement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 3e28).
New York: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, S., & McKay, G. (1984). Social support, stress, and the buffering hypothesis: a
theoretical analysis. In A. Baum, J. E. Singer, & S. E. Taylor (Eds.), Handbook of
psychology and health (Vol. 4, pp. 253e267). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Coulson, N. S. (2005). Receiving social support online: an analysis of a computer-
mediated support group for individuals living with irritable bowel syndrome.
 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8(6), 580e584.
Cozby, P. (1973). Self-disclosure: a literature review. Psychological Bulletin, 79,
73e91.
Cutrona, C. E., & Russell, D. (1990). Type of social support and specific stress: toward
a theory of optimal matching. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),
Social support: an interactional view (pp. 319e366). New York: Wiley.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human
behavior. New York: Plenum.
Derlega, V. J. (1984). Self-disclosure and intimate relationships. In V. J. Derlega (Ed.),
Communication, intimacy and close relationships (pp. 1e10). Orlando, FL: Aca-
demic Press.
Derlega, V. J., Metts, S., Sandra, P., & Margulis, S. T. (1993). Self-disclosure. California:
Sage Publications, Inc.
Dholakia, U. M., Bagozzi, R. P., & Klein, L. R. (2004). A social influence model of
consumer participation in network and small group-based virtual communities.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 21(3), 241e263.
Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative versus reflective indicators in
organizational measure development: a comparison and empirical illustration.
British Journal of Management, 17(4), 263e282.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542e575.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life
scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71e75.
Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2005). The nonobvious social psychology of happiness. Psy-
chological Inquiry, 16, 162e167.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2009). Subjective well-being: the science of
happiness and life satisfaction. In C. R. Snyder, & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Oxford hand-
book of positive psychology (pp. 187e194). New York: Oxford University Press.
Diener, E., & Seligman, E. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13(1),
81e84.
El Hedhli, K., Chebat, J. C., & Sirgy, M. J. (2013). Shopping well-being at the mall:
construct, antecedents, and consequences. Journal of Business Research, 66(7),
856e863.
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook ‘‘Friends:’’
social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143e1168.
Esterling, B. A., L'Abate, L., Murray, E. J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1999). Empirical
foundations for writing in prevention and psychotherapy: mental and physical
health outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 79e96.
Facebook Newsroom.(2015). http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/ accessed 23.11.15.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with un-
observable and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39e50.
Gable, S. L., Reis, H. T., Impett, E. A., & Asher, E. R. (2004). What do you do when
things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing posi-
tive events. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 87, 228e245.
House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Huang, K. Y., Nambisan, P., & Uzuner, O. € (2010). Informational support or emotional
support: preliminary study of an automated approach to analyze online support
community contents. In Paper presented at the International Conference on in-
formation systems (ICIS), St. Louis, MO.
Johnston, K., Tanner, M., Lalla, N., & Kawalski, D. (2013). Social capital: the benefit of
Facebook “Friends”. Behaviour & Information Technology, 32(1), 24e36.
Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! the challenges and
opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59e68.
Kelvin, P. (1977). Predictability, power and vulnerability in interpersonal attraction.
In S. Duck (Ed.), Theory and practice in interpersonal attraction (pp. 355e378).
New York: Academic Press.
Kim, J., & Lee, J. E. R. (2011). The Facebook paths to happiness: effects of the number
of facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being. Cyberp-
sychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(6), 359e364.
Ko, H. C., & Chen, T. K. (2009). Understanding the continuous self-disclosure of
bloggers from the cost-benefit perspective. In Proceedings of the 2nd Conference
on human system interactions, Cantania, Italy.
Ko, H., & Kuo, F. (2009). Can blogging enhance subjective well-being through self-
disclosure? CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, 75e79.
Kontos, E. Z., Emmons, K. M., Puleo, E., & Viswanath, K. (2010). Communication
inequalities and public health implications of adult social networking site use in
the United States. Journal of Health Communication, 15, 216e235.
Kozinets, R. V. (2002). The field behind the screen: using netnography for marketing
research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), 61e72.
Lee, G., Lee, J., & Kwon, S. (2010). Use of social-networking sites and subjective well-
being: a study in South Korea. CyberPsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking,
14, 151e155.
Liang, T. P., Ho, Y. T., Li, Y. W., & Turban, E. (2011). What drives social commerce: the
role of social support and relationship quality. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 16(2), 69e90.
Lin, C. P. (2011). Assessing the mediating role of online social capital between social
support and instant messaging usage. Electronic Commerce Research and Ap-
plications, 10, 105e114.
Lin, K. Y., & Lu, H. P. (2011). Why people use social networking sites: an empirical
study integrating network externalities and motivation theory. Computers in
Human Behavior, 27, 1152e1161.
Madjar, N. (2008). Emotional and informational support from different sources and
employee creativity. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,
81(1), 83e100.
Myers, D. G. (2000). The funds, friends, and faith of happy people. American
131
Psychologist, 55, 56e67.
Naylor, R. W., Lamberton, C. P., & West, P. M. (2012). Beyond the ‘‘Like’’ button: the
impact of mere virtual presence on brand evaluations and purchase intentions
in social media settings. Journal of Marketing, 76(6), 105e120.
Niederhoffer, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2002). Sharing one's story. In C. R. Snyder, &
S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 573e583). New York:
Oxford University Press, Inc.
Okun, M., Stock, W., Haring, M., & Witter, R. (1984). The social activity/subjective
well-being relation: a quantitative synthesis. Research on Aging, 6, 45e65.
Omarzu, J. (2000). A disclosure decision model: determining how and when in-
dividuals will self-disclose. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 174e185.
Pai, P., & Arnott, D. C. (2013). User adoption of social networking sites: eliciting uses
and gratifications through a means-end approach. Computers in Human
Behavior, 29(3), 1039e1053.
Park, N., Jin, B., & Jin, S. A. (2011). Effects of self-disclosure on relational intimacy in
Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1974e1983.
Polites, G., & Karahanna, E. (2012). Shackled to the status quo: the inhibiting effects
of incumbent system habit, switching costs, and inertia on new system
acceptance. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 21e42.
Pornsakulvanich, V., Haridakis, P. M., & Rubin, A. M. (2008). The influence of dis-
positions and internet-use motivation on online communication satisfaction
and relationship closeness. Computer in Human Behavior, 24(5), 2292e2310.
Posey, C., Lowry, P. B., Roberts, T. L., & Ellis, T. S. (2010). Proposing the online
community self-disclosure model: the case of working professionals in France
and the UK who use online communities. European Journal of Information Sys-
tems, 19, 181e195.
Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Will, S. (2005). SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) Beta, Hamburg. http://
www.smartpls.de.
Sandler, I. N., Miller, P., Short, J., & Wolchik, S. A. (1989). Social support as a pro-
tective factor for children in stress. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children's social networks
and social supports (pp. 277e307). New York: Wiley.
Sarason, I. G., Levine, H. M., Basham, R. B., & Sarason, B. R. (1983). Assessing social
support: the social support questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 44(1), 127e139.
Schiffrin, H., Edelman, A., Falkenstern, M., & Stewart, C. (2010). The associations
among computer- mediated communication, relationships, and well-being.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13(3), 299e306.
Schwarzer, C., & Buchwald, P. (2004). Social support. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of applied psychology (pp. 435e441). Academic Press.
SchXaefer, C., Coyne, J. C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The health-related functions of
social support. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 381e406.
See-To, E. W. K., & Ho, K. K. W. (2014). Value co-creation and purchase intention in
social network sites: the role of electronic word-of-mouth and trust: a theo-
retical analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 182e189.
Shahzad, B., & Alwagait, E. (2014). Does a change in weekend days have an impact
on social networking activity? Journal of Universal Computer Science, 20(15),
2068e2079.
Shahzad, B., Alwagait, E., & Alim, S. (2014). Impact of change in weekend days on
social networking culture in Saudi Arabia. Barcelona: Future Internet of Things
and Cloud (FiCloud).
Sheldon, K. M., & Houser-Marko, L. (2001). Self-concordance, goal-attainment, and
the pursuit of happiness: can there be an upward spiral? Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 80, 152e165.
Spector, P. E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes, and conse-
quences. California: Sage.
Steinfield, C., Ellison, N., & Lampe, C. (2008). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of
online social network sites: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Develop-
mental Psychology, 29, 434e445.
Taylor, D. A., & Altman, I. (1987). Communication in interpersonal relationships: social
penetration processes. In M. Roloff, & G. Miller (Eds.), Interpersonal processes: New
directions in communication research (pp. 257e277). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Taylor, S. E., Sherman, D. K., Kim, H. S., Jarcho, J., Takagi, K., & Dunagan, M. S. (2004).
Culture and social support: who seeks it and why? Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 87(3), 354e362.
Utz, S., & Beukeboom, C. J. (2011). The role of social network sites in romantic re-
lationships: effects on jealousy and relationship happiness. Journal of Computer-
Mediated Communication, 16(4), 511e527.
Valenzuela, S., Park, N., & Kee, K. F. (2009). Is there social capital in a social network
site? Facebook use, and college students' life satisfaction, trust, and participa-
tion. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(4), 875e901.
Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend networking sites and
their relationship to adolescents' well being and social self-esteem. CyberP-
sychology and Behavior, 9, 584e590.
Wang, J. L., Jackson, L. A., & Zhang, D. J. (2011). The mediator role of self-disclosure
and moderator roles of gender and social anxiety in the relationship between
Chinese adolescents' online communication and their real-world social re-
lationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(6), 2161e2168.
West, A., Lewis, J., & Currie, P. (2009). Students' Facebook “friends”: public and
private spheres. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(6), 615e627.
Wheeless, L. R. (1976). Self-disclosure and interpersonal solidarity: measurement,
validation, and relationships. Human Communication Research, 3, 47e61.
Wheeless, L. R., & Grotz, J. (1976). Conceptualization and measurement of reported
self-disclosure. Human Communication Research, 2(4), 338e346.
Wills, T. A. (1985). Supportive functions of interpersonal relationships. In S. Cohen,
& S. L. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health (pp. 61e82). New York: Academic
132 H.-Y. Huang / Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016) 122e132
Press.
Wills, T. A., & Shinar, O. (2000). Measuring perceived and received social support. In
S. Cohen, L. G. Underwood, & B. H. Gottlieb (Eds.), Social support measurement
and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 86e135). Oxford;
New York: Oxford University Press.
Xie, B. (2008). Multimodal computer-mediated communication and social support
among older Chinese internet users. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communi-
cation, 13(3), 728e750.
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The multidimensional
scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30e41.
Hsin-Yi Huang is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and
Information Management at the Soochow University, Taiwan. She holds a PhD in In-
formation Management from the National Central University, Taiwan. Her research
interests include electronic commerce, online consumer behavior, and social network
services. Her research has appeared in European Journal of Information Systems, In-
formation Systems Journal, International Journal of Information Management, and
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications.