The present study aims to explore the relationship between social loneliness and online interaction through WhatsApp addiction among a sample of Indian and Fijian respondents. Based on the responses of 202 Indian and 73 Fijian respondents, the present research study validated the mediating role of WhatsApp addiction, revealing that social loneliness increased the possibility of preferring to interact online through increased WhatsApp addiction. The empirical results showed that the underlying mechanism of social loneliness might indirectly influence consumers’ preference for online social interaction (POSI). The study further assessed the moderating role of culture in the association between social loneliness and POSI. Findings of the moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that, the association between loneliness and preference to socialize online differed, based on the identified cultural differences between Indian and Fijian groups.
Abu-SalihB., WongthongthamP., ChanK. Y., & ZhuD. (2019). CredSaT: Credibility ranking of users in big social data incorporating semantic analysis and temporal factor. Journal of Information Science, 45(2), 259–280.
2.
AdhikariK., & PandaR. (2019). The role of consumer-brand engagement towards driving brand loyalty: Mediating effect of relationship quality. Journal of Modelling in Management, 14(4), 987–1005.
3.
AgarwalV., SahooR., & AgarwalA. (2019). A study on factors affecting mobile phone buying behavior in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack. Indian Journal of Marketing, 49(11), 20–38.
4.
AizenkotD. (2017). WhatsApp cyberbullying among children and adolescents in Israel: A pilot research study. Educational Counseling, 20, 363–389.
5.
AizenkotD., & Kashy-RosenbauG. (2018). Cyberbullying in WhatsApp classmates’ groups: Evaluation of an intervention program implemented in Israeli elementary and middle schools. New Media and Society, 20(12), 4709–4727.
6.
Al OmoushK. S., YaseenS. G., & Alma’AitahM. A. (2012). The impact of Arab cultural values on online social networking: The case of Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2387–2399.
7.
AlhassanA. A., AlqadhibE. M., TahaN. W., AlahmariR. A., SalamM., & AlmutairiA. F. (2018). The relationship between addiction to smartphone usage and depression among adults: A cross sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 18(1), 1–8.
8.
Al-KadiA. (2018). A review of technology integration in ELT: From CALL to MALL. Language Teaching and Educational Research (LATER), 1(1), 1–12.
9.
AlkhalafA. M., TekianA., & ParkY. S. (2018). The impact of WhatsApp use on academic achievement among Saudi medical students. Medical Teacher, 40(suppl 1), S10–S14.
10.
AndersonC. A. (1999). Attributional style, depression, and loneliness: A cross-cultural comparison of American and Chinese students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 482–499.
11.
AndersonJ. C., & GerbingD. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423.
12.
AndreassenC. S., TorsheimT., BrunborgG. S., & PallesenS. (2012). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 501–517.
13.
AngC. S., TalibM. A., TanK. A., TanJ. P., & YaacobS. N. (2015). Understanding computer-mediated communication attributes and life satisfaction from the perspectives of uses and gratifications and self-determination. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 20–29.
14.
BakeerA. M. (2018). Effects of information and communication technology and social media in developing students’ writing skill: A case of Al-Quds Open University. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 8(5), 45–53.
15.
Ball-RokeachS. J., & DeFleurM. L. (1976). A dependency model of mass-media effects. Communication Research, 3(1), 3–21.
16.
BarrettH. C. (2020). Towards a cognitive science of the human: Cross-cultural approaches and their urgency. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24(8), 620–638.
17.
BeardK. W. (2005). Internet addiction: A review of current assessment techniques and potential assessment questions. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 8(1), 7–14.
18.
BensonV., HandH., & HartshorneR. (2019). How compulsive use of social media affects performance: Insights from the UK by purpose of use. Behaviour & Information Technology, 38(6), 549–563.
19.
BodilyR., LearyH., & WestR. E. (2019). Research trends in instructional design and technology journals. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 64–79.
20.
BouhnikD., & DeshenM. (2014). WhatsApp goes to school: Mobile instant messaging between teachers and students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 13, 217–231.
21.
BrennerV. (1997). Psychology of computer use: XLVII. Parameters of Internet use, abuse and addiction: the first 90 days of the Internet Usage Survey. Psychological Reports, 8(3), 879–882.
22.
BulutZ. A., & DoganO. (2017). The ABCD typology: Profile and motivations of Turkish social network cites users. Computers in Human Behavior, 67, 73–83.
23.
CaplanS. E. (2003). Preference for online social interaction: A theory of problematic Internet use and psychosocial well-being. Communication Research, 30(6), 625–648.
24.
CaplanS. E. (2005). A social skill account of problematic Internet use. Journal of Communication, 55(4), 721–736.
25.
CaplanS. E. (2010). Theory and measurement of generalized problematic Internet use: a two-step approach. Computers in Human Behavior. 26, 1089–1097. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.012
26.
CaplanS. E., & HighA. C. (2012). Online social interaction, psychosocial well-being, and problematic internet use. Internet Addiction, 35–53.
27.
CardonM. S., WincentJ., SinghJ., & DrnovsekM. (2009). The nature and experience of entrepreneurial passion. Academy of Management Review, 34 (3), 511–532.
28.
CetinkayaL. (2017). The impact of Whatsapp Use on success in education process. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7). https://www.learntechlib.org/p/181992/
29.
ChanM. (2013). Mobile phones and the good life: Examining the relationships among mobile use, social capital and subjective well-being. New Media & Society, 17(1), 96–113.
30.
ChandraA., MartinezG. M., MosherW. D., AbmaJ. C., & JonesJ. (2005). Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of US women; data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Statistics, 23(25), 1–160.
31.
ChenW., & LeeK. (2013). Sharing, liking, commenting, and distressed? The pathway between Facebook interaction and psychological distress. Cyber psychology, Behavior, Social Networking, 16, 728–734.
32.
ChoiJ., JohnsonD. W., & JohnsonR. (2011). Relationships among cooperative learning experiences, social interdependence, children's aggression, victimization, and prosocial behaviors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41 (4), 976–1003.
33.
ChughR., & RuhiS. (2018). Social media in higher education: A literature review of Facebook. Education and Information Technologies, 23(2), 605–616.
34.
CoyneS. M., Padilla-WalkerL. M., & HowardE. (2013). Emerging in a digital world: A decade review of media use, effects, and gratifications in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 1(2), 125–137.
35.
DasP. P. P., & MishraC. (2013). Adolescent’s loneliness: Effect of gender and internet use. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 3(9), 232–242.
36.
DavisR. A. (2001). A cognitive–behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17, 187–195.
37.
DouglasA. C., MillsJ. E., NiangM., StepchenkovaS., ByunS., RuffiniC., LeeS. K., LoutfiJ., LeeJ.-K., AtallahM., & BlantonM. (2008). Internet addiction: Meta-synthesis of qualitative research for the decade 1996–2006. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(6), 3027–3044.
38.
DunneÁ., LawlorM. A., & RowleyJ. (2010). Young people's use of online social networking sites—A uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 4(1), 46–58.
39.
EhrenbergA., JuckesS., WhiteK. M., & WalshS. P. (2008). Personality and self-esteem as predictors of young people’s technology use. Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 11(6), 739–741.
40.
FischerY. (2013). The Facebook is dead–long live WhatsApp. De Marker. http://www.themarker.com/technation/1.2126492
41.
FokkemaT., de Jong GierveldJ., & DykstraP. A. (2012). Cross-national differences in older adult loneliness. The Journal of Psychology, 146, 201–228.
42.
FornellC., & LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
43.
GanC., LiangX., & YuX. (2017). Continuance intention on mobile social networking service: Examine the effects of habit and gratifications. In Wuhan International Conference on e-Business. Association for Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439318806853
44.
GhassemzadehL., ShahrarayM., & MoradiA. (2008). Prevalence of Internet addiction and comparison of Internet addicts and non-addicts in Iranian high schools. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 11(6), 731–733.
45.
GinterE. J., GlauserA., & RichmondB. O. (1994). Loneliness, social support, and anxiety among two South Pacific cultures. Psychological Reports, 74 (3, Pt 1), 875–879.
46.
GowenK., DeschaineM., GruttadaraD., & MarkeyD. (2012). Young adults with mental health conditions and social networking websites: Seeking tools to build community. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(3), 245.
47.
GuoF., YiW., ZhouM., & GuoA. (2011). Go signaling in mushroom bodies regulates sleep in Drosophila. Sleep (Rochester)34 (3), 273–281.
48.
GriffithsM. D. (1999b). All but connected (Online relationships). Psychology Post, 17, 6–7.
49.
HofstedeG. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Sage Publications.
50.
HofstedeG. H. (2001). Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Behavior Research and Therapy, 41 (7), 861–862.
HormesJ. M., KearnsB., & TimkoC. A. (2014). Craving Facebook? Behavioral addiction to online social networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits. Addiction, 109(12), 2079–2088.
53.
HoughtonD., PresseyA., & IstanbulluogluD. (2020). Who needs social networking? An empirical enquiry into the capability of Facebook to meet human needs and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 106153.
54.
HuangX., ZhangH., LiM., WangJ., ZhangY., & TaoR. (2010). Mental health, personality, and parental rearing styles of adolescents with Internet addiction disorder. Cyber Psychology Behavior and Social Networking, 13(4), 401–406.
55.
JacksonL. A., & WangJ. L. (2013). Cultural differences in social networking site use: A comparative study of China and the United States. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 910–921.
56.
JinB., & ParkN. (2013). Mobile voice communication and lone-liness: Cell phone use and the social skills deficit hypothesis. New Media & Society, 15(7), 1094–1111.
57.
KaplanA. M., & HaenleinM. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
58.
KatzE., BlumlerJ. G., & GurevitchM. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. In:BlumlerJ. G. and KatzE.(Ed.). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 19–31). Sage Publications.
59.
KerestešG., & ŠtulhoferA. (2020). Adolescents' online social network use and life satisfaction: A latent growth curve modeling approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 106187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106187
60.
KerestešG., & ŠtulhoferA. (2020). Adolescents’ online social network use and life satisfaction: A latent growth curve modeling approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 1–9.
61.
KesiciS., SahinI., & AkturkA. O. (2009). Analysis of cognitive learning strategies and computer attitudes, according to college students’ gender and locus of control. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(2), 529–534.
62.
KhanM. L. (2017). Social media engagement: What motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube? Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 236–247.
63.
KlineR. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
64.
KodvanjiB., ChathothV., KumarN. A., KiniR. D., & PaiS. R. (2014). Impact of Internet use on lifestyle in undergraduate medical students. International Journal of Biomedical Research, 5(3), 190–192.
65.
KrautR., KieslerS., BonevaB., CummingsJ., HelgesonV., & CrawfordA. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 49–74.
66.
KubeyR., & CsikszentmihalyiM. (2002). Television addiction is no mere metaphor. Scientific American, 286, 74–80.
67.
KussD. J., & GriffithsM. D. (2011a). Addiction to social networks on the internet: A literature review of empirical research. International Journal of Environment and Public Health, 8, 3528–3552.
68.
KussD. J., & GriffithsM. D. (2012a). Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: A review of empirical research. Journal of Behavioural Addiction, 1(1), 3–22.
69.
LariscyR. W., TinkhamS. F., & SweetserK. D. (2011). Kids these days: Examining differences in political uses and gratifications, internet political participation, political information efficacy, and cynicism on the basis of age. American Behavioral Scientist, 55(6), 749–764.
70.
LazarsfeldP. F. (1940). Radio and the printed page. Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
71.
LeungH., PakpourA. H., StrongC., LinY. C., TsaiM. C., GriffithsM. D., LinC.-Y., & ChenI. H. (2020). Measurement invariance across young adults from Hong Kong and Taiwan among three internet-related addiction scales: Bergen social media addiction scale (BSMAS), smartphone application-based addiction scale (SABAS), and internet gaming disorder scale-short form (IGDS-SF9) (study Part A). Addictive Behaviors, 101, 105969.
72.
LingR. (2008). New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social Cohesion. MIT Press.
73.
LiuL. T. Xu. HuM. L. (2009). A study on relationship between loneliness and internet addiction disorder of college students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 17, 59–60.
74.
LykesV. A., & KemmelmeierM. (2014). What predicts loneliness? Cultural difference between individualistic and collectivistic societies in Europe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(3), 468–490.
75.
MancaS. (2020). Snapping, pinning, liking or texting: Investigating social media in higher education beyond Facebook. The Internet and Higher Education, 44, 100707.
76.
MarshallB. A., CardonP. W., NorrisD. T., GorevaN., & D’SouzaR. (2008). Social networking websites in India and the United States: A cross-national comparison of online privacy and communication. Issues in Information Systems, 9(2), 87–94.
77.
McCraeR. R., & CostaP. T. (1997). Personality trait structure as human universal. American Psychologist, 52, 509–516.
78.
McKennaK. Y., GreenA. S., & GleasonM. E. (2002). Relationship formation on the Internet: What’s the big attraction?Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 9–31.
79.
McKennaK. Y., & BarghJ. A. (2000). Plan 9 from cyberspace: The implications of the Internet for personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 57–75.
80.
McKennaK.Y.A., GreenA.S., & GleasonM.E.J. (2002). Relationship formation on the internet: What's the big attraction?J. Soc. Issues, 58, 9–31.
81.
MeschG., & TalmudI. (2006). Online friendship formation, communication channels, and social closeness. International Journal of Internet Science, 1, 29–44.
82.
Morahan-MartinJ., & SchumacherP. (2000). Incidence and correlates of pathological Internet use among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 16, 2–13.
83.
Morahan-MartinJ., & SchumacherP. (2003). Loneliness and social uses of the Internet. Computers in Human Behavior, 19(6), 659–671.
84.
MorioH., & BuchholzC. (2009). How anonymous are you online? Examining online social behaviors from a cross-cultural perspective. Ai & Society, 23(2), 297–307.
85.
MushtaqR., ShoibS., ShahT., & MushtaqS. (2014). Relationship between loneliness, psychiatric disorders and physical health? A review on the psychological aspects of loneliness. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 8(9), WE01.
86.
NalwaK., & AnandA. P. (2004). Internet addiction in students: A cause of concern. Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 6(6), 653–656.
87.
Nielsen Company. (2010). State of the media: The social media report. http://cn.nielsen.com/documents/Nielsen-Social-Media-Report_FINAL_090911.pdf
88.
O’DayE. B., & HeimbergR. G. (2021). Social media use, social anxiety, and loneliness: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 3, 100070).
89.
PerseE. M., & RubinA. M. (1990). Audience activity and satisfaction with favourite television soap opera. Journalism Quarterly, 65, 368–375.
90.
PodsakoffP. M., & OrganD. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12, 69–82.
91.
RasmussenS. A., SmulianJ. C., LednickyJ. A., WenT. S., & JamiesonD. J. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and pregnancy: What obstetricians need to know. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 222(5), 415–426.
92.
ReidD. J., & ReidF. J. (2007). Text or talk? Social anxiety, loneliness, and divergent preferences for cell phone use. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 10(3), 424–435.
93.
RokachA., & HeatherB. (1997). Loneliness: A multidimensional experience. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 34, 1–9.
94.
RokachA. (2007). The effect of age and culture on the causes of loneliness. Social Behavior and Personality:An International Journal, 35(2), 169–186.
95.
RospigliosiP. (2019). The role of social media as a learning environment in the fully functioning university: Preparing for generation Z. Interactive Learning Environments, 27(4), 429–431.
96.
RossiniP., Érica BaptistaA., Veiga de OliveiraV., & Stromer-GalleyJ. (2021). Digital media landscape in Brazil: Political (Mis) information and participation on Facebook and WhatsApp. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, 1, 1–27.
97.
RubinA. M. (2002). The uses-and-gratifications perspective of media effects. In Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 525–548). L. Erlbaum Associates.
98.
RussellD. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 20–40.
99.
ShaP., SariyskaR., RiedlR., LachmannB., & MontagC. (2019). Linking internet communication and smartphone use disorder by taking a closer look at the Facebook and WhatsApp applications. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 9, 100148.
100.
ShawL. H., & GantL. M. (2002). In defense of the Internet: The relationship between Internet communication and depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and perceived social support. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 5(2), 157–171.
101.
SheldonK. M., AbadN., & HinschC. (2011). A two-process view of Facebook use and relatedness need-satisfaction: Disconnection drives use, and connection rewards it. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(4), 766.
102.
ShensaA., Escobar-VieraC. G., SidaniJ. E., BowmanN. D., MarshalM. P., & PrimackB. A. (2017). Problematic social media use and depressive symptoms among US young adults: A nationally-representative study. Social Science & Medicine, 182, 150–157.
103.
ShottonM. A. (1991). The costs and benefits of ‘computer addiction’. Behaviour & Information Technology, 10(3), 219–230.
104.
SongH., Zmyslinski-SeeligA., KimJ., DrentA., VictorA., OmoriK., & AllenM. (2014). Does Facebook make you lonely? A meta analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 446–452.
105.
SpielbergerC. D., & Diaz-GueneroR. (1976). Cross-culturul anxiety. Hemisphere/Wiley.
106.
SteafnoneM. A., HuangY. C., & LackaffD. (2011). Negotiating social belonging: Online, offline, and in-between. In 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 1–10). IEEE.
107.
SultanA. J. (2014). Addiction to mobile text messaging applications is nothing to ‘lol’ about. The Social Science Journal, 51(1), 57–69.
108.
SureshA. S., & BiswasA. (2019). A study of factors of Internet addiction and its impact on online compulsive buying behavior: Indian millennial perspective. Global Business Review, 21(6), 1448–1465.
109.
ThomasL., OrmeE., & KerriganF. (2020). Student loneliness: The role of social media through life transitions. Computers & Education, 146, 103754.
110.
ThorneS. L., SauroS., & SmithB. (2015). Technologies, identities, and expressive activity. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 215–233.
111.
TokunagaR. S., & RainsS. A. (2010). An evaluation of two characterizations of the relationships between problematic internet uses, time spent using the internet, and psychosocial problems. Human Communication Research, 36(4), 512–545.
112.
TosunL. P., & LajunenT. (2010). Does Internet use reflect your personality? Relationship between Eysenck’s personality dimensions and Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2), 162–167.
113.
TrepteS., ReineckeL., EllisonN. B., QuiringO., YaoM. Z., & ZiegeleM. (2017). A cross-cultural perspective on the privacy calculus. Social Media+ Society, 3(1), 2056305116688035.
114.
TriandisH. C. (1996). The psychological measurement of cultural syndromes. American Psychologist, 51, 407–415.
115.
Van DeursenA. J., BolleC. L., HegnerS. M., & KommersP. A. (2015). Modeling habitual and addictive smartphone behavior: The role of smartphone usage types, emotional intelligence, social stress, self-regulation, age, and gender. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 411–420.
116.
VeltriN., & ElgarahW. (2009, March). The role of national culture differences in user adoption of social networking. In Proceedings of Twelfth Annual Conference of the Southern Association for Information Systems (SAIS) (pp. 169–174).
117.
VerduynP., YbarraO., RésiboisM., JonidesJ., & KrossE. (2017). Do social network sites enhance or undermine subjective well-being? A critical review. Social Issues and Policy Review, 11, 274–302.
118.
WaheedA., FarrukhM., ZameerH., & KhanS. Z. (2019). Understanding the impact of social apps and social network sites on consumer’s online purchase intention. Global Business Review, 22(3), 634–649.
119.
WangS., & WangH. (2018). Social-media-based knowledge sharing: A qualitative analysis of multiple cases. International Journal of Knowledge Management (IJKM), 14(1), 19–29.
120.
WeiR., & LoV. H. (2006). Staying connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness. New Media & Society, 8(1), 53–72.
WhittyM. T., & McLaughlinD. (2007). Online recreation: The relationship between loneliness, Internet self-efficacy and the use of the Internet for entertainment purposes. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(3), 1435–1446.
123.
WidyantoL., & GriffithsM. D. (2006). Internet addiction: A critical review. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 4, 31–51.
124.
YadavP., BanwariG., ParmarC., & ManiarR. (2013). Internet addiction and its correlates among high school students: A preliminary study from Ahmedabad, India. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 6(6), 500–505.
125.
YangK., & VictorC. (2011). Age and loneliness in 25 European nations. Ageing & Society, 31(8), 1368–1388.
126.
YeY., & LinL. (2015). Examining relations between locus of control, loneliness, subjective well-being, and preference for online social interaction. Psychological Reports, 116(1), 164–175.
127.
YooS.J., & HuangW.h.D. (2011). Comparison of web 2.0 technology acceptance level based on cultural differences. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 14 (4), 241–252.
128.
YoungK. S. (1998). Caught in the Net: How to recognize the signs of lnternet addiction—And a winning strategy for recovery. John Wiley.
129.
YumY. O. (2003). The relationships among loneliness, self/partner constructive maintenance behaviour, and relational satisfaction in two cultures. Community Studies, 54, 451–467.
