Is smartphone creating a better life? Exploring the relationships of the smartphone practices, social capital and psychological well-being among college students

摘要

Along with the development of wireless communication and the rapid diffusion of handset, mobile technologies have provided individuals with unprecedented new spaces for social interactions and multiple modes of expression, and as such, they are expected to enhance individual's social capital as well as psychological well-being. This empirical study investigates the relationship between the utilisation of smartphones and social capital's formation and maintenance with an emphasis on youth uses and practices. In addition, it also explores maintained social capital by evaluating how mobile communication influences one's individual capability to keep in touch with members of a formerly inhabited community. The results from a survey of college students ( N = 346) demonstrate a strong linkage between smartphone use and three different modes of social capital. The strongest relationship, revealed by Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, is between smartphone use and bridging social capital. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.