Proceedings of the Positive Technology International Conference 2023 Positive Technology: Possible Synergies between Emerging Technologies and Positive Psychology (PT 2023)

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The Influence of Social Media Engagement on Social Desirability and Empathy of Chinese Youth in Hong Kong

Authors
Raymond Chi Fai Chui1, *, Isaac Ip2
1Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, HKSAR, China
2Ph.D. Candidate, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China
*Corresponding author. Email: cfchui@hksyu.edu
Corresponding Author
Raymond Chi Fai Chui
Available Online 19 February 2024.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_11How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Social Media Engagement; Social Desirability; Empathy; Chinese Youth
Abstract

Limited previous studies have focused on the benefits of social media engagement on psychosocial well-being. The present study explores the relationship between social media engagement, social desirability, and empathy. It is hypothesised that social media engagement enhances empathy directly and indirectly via its positive influence on social desirability. The present study obtained 224 samples of Hong Kong Chinese youth (mean age = 20.24; 70 males and 168 females). The short form of the Social Media Engagement Scale (SMES), the Chinese Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability – Short Form (MCSD-SF-C) and the Empathy sub-scale of the Chinese Interpersonal Reactivity Index (C-IRI) were adopted in this study. The mediation model of this study was examined by the macro “PROCESS” for SPSS. Social desirability was added as a mediator to the relationship between social media engagement and empathy. The results of the study revealed that social media engagement is negatively related to social desirability (t = -3.33, p = .001) but positively related to empathy (t = 2.79, p = .01). Moreover, social desirability is positively related to empathy (t = 4.95, p < .001). The direct effect of social media engagement is significant (t = 2.80, p = .01) but the total effect of social media engagement on empathy is not significant (t = 1.67, p = .10). In line with the hypotheses, the direct effect of social engagement on empathy is positive. However, the negative indirect negative effect of social media engagement on empathy via social desirability suppresses the direct positive effect of social media engagement on empathy. Further study can be conducted to examine further the relationship between social media engagement and social desirability.

Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the Positive Technology International Conference 2023 Positive Technology: Possible Synergies between Emerging Technologies and Positive Psychology (PT 2023)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
19 February 2024
ISBN
10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_11
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_11How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Raymond Chi Fai Chui
AU  - Isaac Ip
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/02/19
TI  - The Influence of Social Media Engagement on Social Desirability and Empathy of Chinese Youth in Hong Kong
BT  - Proceedings of the Positive Technology International Conference 2023 Positive Technology: Possible Synergies between Emerging Technologies and Positive Psychology (PT 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 167
EP  - 178
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-378-8_11
ID  - Chui2024
ER  -