Abstract
As individuals increasingly write about their distressing experiences online, it is important to understand how perceived online audiences influence the effects of self-disclosure. In an experiment, participants wrote about recent breakups for online audiences purportedly varying in 1) whether they shared recent breakup experiences and 2) their ability to leave comments. Participants perceiving audiences with shared experience showed more cognitive processing in their writing and reported increased post-traumatic growth at follow-up than participants perceiving general audiences. Those anticipating comments wrote less about emotions than those who did not. Mechanisms accounting for the benefits of shared experience warrant further investigation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 277-297 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2020 |
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [T32 MH 115882]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors thank Alexandria Cull and Lillie Levin for assistance in carrying out this research.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication