I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.

One way in which people may cope with sadness is to seek positive social contact. We examined whether subtle reminders of Facebook increase positive mood and thus attenuate the interest in social activities that is typically enhanced by sad mood induction. Participants watched either a loss-related...

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Main Authors: Judith Knausenberger, Gerald Echterhoff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209889
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author Judith Knausenberger
Gerald Echterhoff
author_facet Judith Knausenberger
Gerald Echterhoff
author_sort Judith Knausenberger
collection DOAJ
description One way in which people may cope with sadness is to seek positive social contact. We examined whether subtle reminders of Facebook increase positive mood and thus attenuate the interest in social activities that is typically enhanced by sad mood induction. Participants watched either a loss-related sad or neutral video and were afterwards presented with either a Facebook, positive (sun) or neutral (Word) icon. We then examined their mood and their desire to engage in social activities as well as their feeling of belonging. The presentation of the Facebook icon increased feelings of belonging, but it did not influence participants' other responses to the sad video. Participants reported more negative mood and a greater desire to engage in social activities after the sad (vs. control) video regardless of the icon condition. The results suggest that the activation of thoughts about Facebook can enhance users' feeling of belonging; however, this effect might not be sufficient to facilitate coping with loss-related sadness.
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spelling doaj.art-befc1d289078472f8263a85861aa7fc12022-12-21T19:18:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-011312e020988910.1371/journal.pone.0209889I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.Judith KnausenbergerGerald EchterhoffOne way in which people may cope with sadness is to seek positive social contact. We examined whether subtle reminders of Facebook increase positive mood and thus attenuate the interest in social activities that is typically enhanced by sad mood induction. Participants watched either a loss-related sad or neutral video and were afterwards presented with either a Facebook, positive (sun) or neutral (Word) icon. We then examined their mood and their desire to engage in social activities as well as their feeling of belonging. The presentation of the Facebook icon increased feelings of belonging, but it did not influence participants' other responses to the sad video. Participants reported more negative mood and a greater desire to engage in social activities after the sad (vs. control) video regardless of the icon condition. The results suggest that the activation of thoughts about Facebook can enhance users' feeling of belonging; however, this effect might not be sufficient to facilitate coping with loss-related sadness.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209889
spellingShingle Judith Knausenberger
Gerald Echterhoff
I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
PLoS ONE
title I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
title_full I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
title_fullStr I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
title_full_unstemmed I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
title_short I belong but I'm still sad: Reminders of Facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness.
title_sort i belong but i m still sad reminders of facebook increase feelings of belonging but do not facilitate coping with sadness
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209889
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