Digital Relationships: The Associations of Adult Attachment Style with Relational Motives, Activities, and Outcomes of Social Network Site Use

Abstract

Since the rise of social network sites (SNSs) beginning in the early 2000s, their popularity has steadily increased. Today, SNSs are an obligatory tool in the field of interpersonal relationships. They expand the possibilities for interaction through a variety of different functions. The wide range of uses allows for a highly individualized user experience, depending on personal preferences. Regarding interpersonal relationships, such needs and behaviors derive from attachment style. A growing body of studies is capturing SNSs engagement depending on individual characteristics. Due to the dynamic development of SNSs over the last two decades and their complexity, a patchwork of findings exists on different aspects of SNS usage. Understanding the role of SNSs in interpersonal relationships requires a comprehensive model that considers all facets of SNS use. This dissertation project developed and tested such a model based on the uses and gratifications approach. Study 1 reviewed the current literature on the associations between attachment style and SNS use. We derived a model comprising the three components according to the uses and gratifications theory (motives, activities, and outcomes) and corresponding categories of attachment-related SNS use. In the second study, based on this model, we applied structural equation modeling to identify individual usage patterns associated with attachment style. In the third study, we validated a German Version of the State Adult Attachment Measure (DE-SAAM), which we applied in our last study. We showed that individual SNS usage patterns effect state attachment. Our research contributed to the comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamics of attachment-related SNS use and methodological peculiarities in measuring SNS use, which provide numerous perspectives for future research. Moreover, our studies provide practical implications in the field of mental-health associated with SNS use.