The always-on, always-available nature of digital life means almost constant connection and availability between romantic partners, family members, and close friends. Being tethered to one another can give people a sense of security, while simultaneously causing more stress. In this article, we fifind that keeping a romantic partner constantly within a (digital) arm’s reach promotes better well-being for oneself. In addition, keeping a romantic partner always available also predicted better well-being for the romantic partner. Further, the analysis did not show added stress for the partner.
- Research Background
- Theoretical Research
- Experimental Method
- Experimental procedure description
- Results Study and Discussion
Research Background
With the development of technology in the Internet , the Internet has deeply influenced all aspects of social life. Digital media are constantly changing the conditions of human interaction, and people are deepening their use of mobile Internet and relying on cell phone terminals. In intimate relationships, people are gradually moving from offline to online. From face-to-face communication as the main medium to communication through multimedia, how the use of mobile Internet is related to intimate relationships and their satisfaction, and what factors influence the creation and maintenance of such intimate relationships are of concern to society today.
Theoretical Research
Media multiplexity is the totality of communication across a dyad’s media ecosystem, and the construct can be described by several subdimensions. Number of media—the sum of communication channels used within a dyad for communication. Multimedia frequency—the total frequency of a dyad’s communication across all media. And Multimedia disclosure—the aggregated amount of intimate self-disclosure to a partner across all media.The perception of continuous and constant communication access to an attachment figure and the expectation they can provide security, regardless of location, time of day, or current activity, as connected availability，It is the ability to easily achieve communication. To unpack dyadic connected availability, we turn to the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model(APIM). APIM is a dyadic data analysis method that presents a way of modeling how a dependent variable, such as SWB, is affected by a person and their partner. APIM is comprised of actor effects and partner effects. An actor effect refers to the effect of a person’s independent variable on their own dependent variable.A partner effect models how a person’s independent variable is associated with their partner’s reported dependent variable.
Experimental Method
This experiment use a method called experience sampling measures.It is a method of collecting instantaneous assessments of events people experience in their lives over a relatively short period of time multiple times and recording them. It uses repeated sampling to collect information that is susceptible to change over time and individual factors. Its most important feature is that it collects individual instantaneous responses at multiple points in time.
Experimental Procedure Description
One hundred fourteen romantic couples in long-term relationships were recruited to participate in this study, Surveys arrived via text message for 7 consecutive days five times per day. Surveys arrived at random within five equal time windows. The dimensions of SWB, positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction, were measured on a 10- point scale. They are also asked about the amount of multimedia used, how often it is used, what is shared (disclosure), and whether it is easy to reach a partner through multimedia (accessibility). Connected availability was measured using three questions capturing the idea that the participant could connect with their partner at any moment in time, regardless of time or location, and their partner could answer.
Results Study and Discussion
The H1 is Actor (a) number of media, (b) multimedia frequency, (c) multimedia disclosure, and (d)accessibility is positively associated with actor connected availability. H3: Actor (a) number of media, (b) multimedia frequency, (c) multimedia disclosure, and (d)accessibility is positively associated with their partner’s connected availability.From number of media perspective, Lower availability without media connections compared to using multiple media, Supporting H1a. When a person reported communication on 1–3 media in the last hour, their partner reported greater connected availability, supporting H3a. From Multimedia communication perspective, when a person reported greater communication across media with their partner in the last hour, they felt a higher degree of connected availability throughout the day,supportinf H1b. Higher amounts of the multimedia frequency also predicted greater connected availability in their partner,supporting H3b. when a participant reported high accessibility from the media landscape, their connected availability that day was higher.,supporting H1d. Actor accessibility shared a positive association with connected availability, but there was no significant partner effect for accessibility, H3d can not be identified. While H1c and H3c showed in the test, Greater disclosure across all media predicted more negative affect that day, but it was not mediated through connected availability since multimedia disclosure was not associated with connected availability.
- R1:Actor (a) number of media, (b) multimedia frequency, (d)accessibility is positively associated with actor connected availability.
- R3: Actor (a) number of media, (b) multimedia frequency is positively associated with their partner’s connected availability.
The H2 is Actor connected availability is (a) positively associated with actor positive affect, (b) negatively associated with actor negative affect, and (c) positively associated with actor life satisfaction.H4: Actor connected availability is (a) negatively associated with their partner’s positive affect, (b) positively associated with their partner’s negative affect, and (c) negatively associated with their partner’s life satisfaction.H5 is Media multiplexity has an indirect effect on SWB through connected availability.From number of media perspective. when a person reported greater connected availability, they also reported high positive affect across a given day, supporting H2a.In contrast to H4a, when a participant (actor) reported more connected availability, their partner reported higher daily positive affect.TestingH5, indirect effects for multimedia frequency were as follows: (a) actor–actor and (b) partner–actor.These indirect effects indicate that life satisfaction is associated with multimedia frequency through both actor connected availability and partner connected availability. From Multimedia communication perspective，Consistent with H2b, actor connected availability had a negative association with negative affect. Life satisfaction was positively related to actor reports of connected availability,supporting H2c， Contrary to H4c.
- R2: Actor connected availability is (a) positively associated with actor positive affect, (b) negatively associated with actor negative affect, and (c) positively associated with actor life satisfaction.
- R4:Connection availability did not predict any negative association between media multiplexity and subjective well-being. Rather than being harmful, connection availability predicted improvements in partners’ subjective well-being on a given day.
- R5: Media multiplexity has an indirect effect on SWB through connected availability.
We discuss the implications of these findings for communication theory and the debate around digital media and well-being. The quick, mundane text message exchange or phone call that occurs in a long-term relationship has a key relationship function. The always on, always available connection was associated with improved well-being, and keeping a romantic partner constantly connected was found to have reciprocal beneficial effects for the partner.
永远在线，永远都有陪伴：从亲密关系的角度看移动电话和社交媒体对主观幸福感的影响
数字媒体生活的永远在线、永远可用的性质意味着伴侣、家庭成员和亲密的朋友之间几乎是持续的连接和可用性。彼此之间的联系可以给人一种安全感，同时也会造成更大的压力。在这篇文章中，我们发现，保持一个伴侣始终在一定媒体的范围内，会给自己带来更好的幸福感。保持一个伴侣总是可以联系的到，也预示着伴侣会有更好的幸福感。此外，此分析并没有显示出伴侣的压力增加。
- 研究背景
- 理论研究
- 实验方法
- 实验过程阐述
- 结果研究及讨论
研究背景
随着互联网时代技术的发展，网络深入影响到了社会生活中的方方面面。而亲密关系作为人类满足情感需求的一种关系，也因为媒介的日新月异而产生了变革，数字媒体在不断改变着人类交往的条件，人们对移动互联网的应用程度不断深化，对移动手机端的依赖程度也不断地加深。在亲密关系中，也逐渐开始由线下转至线上。从以往以面对面交流为主要媒介转变成了通过多媒体沟通，当下移动互联网的使用与亲密关系及其满意度有何联系，有哪些因素影响了这种亲密关系的产生、维持等问题都是社会所关注的。
理论研究
媒体多元化理论提供了一种理解人际关系如何通过多媒体所组织在一起以创建几乎恒定的方法，他是两者关系媒体生态系统中通信的整体，由几个子维度来描述：多媒体数量，即为一对亲密关系中通讯渠道的总和；多媒体频率，即为一对亲密关系中使用多媒体进行沟通交流的频率。多媒体披露，即为在所有媒体上对伴侣进行自我表达的程度。经常在事后讨论的一种媒体可供性是可访问性，是能够轻松实现通讯的能力。而持续和持续的对伴侣的通信访问的感知以及他们可以提供安全感的期望被称为连接可用性。连接可用性是两者之间的,我们使用了行动者-伴侣相互依赖模型（APIM），APMI由行动者效应和伴侣效应组成，行动者效应是指一个人的自变量对自己因变量的影响；伴侣效应是指一个人的自变量对他们伴侣的因变量的影响。
实验方法
本实验采用经验取样法，此方法是多次收集人们在较短时间内对生活中经历的事件的瞬时评估，并对其进行记录的一种方法。它采用重复抽样的方式，收集易受时间和个体因素影响而变化的信息，其最大的特点就是在多时间点搜集个体的即时性反应。
实验过程阐述
我们招募了14对关系较为稳定的情侣参与本次研究，他们需要连续7天每天通过短信收到五次调查，媒体多元化的影响由主观幸福感、积极影响、消极影响和生活满意度以10分制衡量，也会被问到使用的多媒体数量、频率、分享了什么（披露量），以及是否很容易通过多媒体联系到伴侣（可访问性）。连接可用性使用三个问题捕捉行动者可以无论时间和地点随时和伴侣联系，并且伴侣可以给予答复。
研究结果及讨论
我们假设H1:行为者的（a）媒体数量（b）多媒体频率（c）多媒体披露（d）可访问性与行为者的连接可用性呈正相关。H3:行为者（a）媒体数量（b）多媒体频率（c）多媒体披露（d）可访问性与其伴侣的连接可用性呈正相关。从多媒体数量的角度来说，与使用多种媒体相比，没有使用媒体预测的连接可用性更低，支持H1a；当一个人在过去一小时内在多个媒体上报告通信时，他们的伴侣报告了更高的连接可用性，支持 H3a。从多媒体通讯的角度来说，当一个人在最后一小时报告与他们的伴侣通过媒体进行了更多的交流时，他们会感受到更高程度的全天连接可用性，支持H1b；更高数量的多媒体频率也预示着他们伴侣的连接可用性更高，支持H3b；当行动者报告媒体环境的高可访问性时，他们当天的连接可用性更高，支持H1d；行动者可访问性与连接可用性呈正相关，但对可访问性没有显着的伴侣效应（H3d无法确定）。而H1c 和 H3c 在测试中显示，所有媒体的更多披露预测当天会产生更多负面影响，但它并没有通过连接可用性调节，因为多媒体披露与连接可用性无关。
- 结论1:（a）媒体数量（b）多媒体频率（d）可访问性与行为者的连接可用性呈正相关。
- 结论3:（a）媒体数量（b）多媒体频率与其伴侣的连接可用性呈正相关
我们假设H2:行为者连接可用性（a）与行为者的积极情感正相关（b）与行为者的消极情感负相关（c）与行为者的生活满意度正相关；H4：行为者连接可用性（a）与其伴侣的积极情感呈负相关（b）与其伴侣的负面情感正相关（c）与其伴侣的生活满意度呈负相关；H5：媒体多元化通过连接可用性对 SWB 产生间接影响。从媒体数量来说，行为者连接可用性与积极影响呈正相关，对于伴侣，连接可用性也与积极影响呈正相关，支持 H2a；当行为者报告更多的连接可用性时，他们的伴侣报告更高的每日积极影响。当行动者报告更多的连接可用性时，他们的伴侣报告更高的每日积极影响，与H4a相反；在控制连接可用性之后，这表明所有四种类型的行动者 – 伴侣的间接影响，支持H5，多媒体频率的间接影响如下：（a）行动者-行动者和（b）伴侣-行动者。这些间接影响表明，生活满意度通过行动者连接可用性和伴侣连接可用性与多媒体频率相关；从多媒体通讯的角度来说，行动者连接可用性与负面影响呈负相关，支持H2b；与 H4b 的预测相反，连接可用性的伴侣效应也与负面影响呈负相关；生活满意度与行动者报告的连接可用性报告的连接可用性呈正相关，支持H2c，与H4c相反。
- 结论2:行为者连接可用性（a）与行为者积极情感正相关（b）与行为者消极情感负相关（c）与行为者生活满意度正相关。
- 结论4:连接可用性并没有预测媒体多重性和主观幸福感之间的任何负面关联。连接可用性不是有害的，而是预测了伴侣在某一天的主观幸福感的改善。
- 结论5:媒体多元化通过连接可用性对 SWB 产生间接影响。
我们讨论了这些发现对传播理论和围绕数字媒体和幸福的影响。在长期恋爱关系中发生的快速、平凡的短信交流或电话具有关键的关系功能，始终在线，始终可用的联系与改善幸福感有关，并且发现保持伴侣不断联系对伴侣具有互惠互利的影响。
信息可视化图（infographic)
感想
作为一个艺术与设计学科专业的学生，在上大学后就一直以实践为主要目标，别说是论文了，连书刊都看的少之又少。当一直认为实践大于理论的我加入了这个课程后，我才意识到我的读书能力是在直线下降的，习惯了看图形和色彩的我很难再像高中时候一样不浮躁认真的看文字，总是会看不进去或者走神。这篇文章似乎才是我大学第一篇认认真真钻研的论文。当静下心来好好读书的时候才可以体会到什么是站在巨人的肩膀上，自己之前一直自闭着埋头苦干或许不是最好的进步方法。这也是我第一次尝试阅读全英文的文章，很多地方翻译成中文反而看不懂了，只有英文为主的阅读才可以更好的理解整片文章的内容，这个课程总体来说过的很愉快，从看不进去到深入了解的变化是令人惊喜的！或许我以后还要读的英文论文还有很多很多，这仅仅只是一个开始，也希望以后阅读这类论文可以障碍越来越少，越来越顺利。老师感觉非常幽默有趣，能将很枯燥的东西讲的栩栩如生，我每次早上8点都是很困的，上完课反而都不困了，也希望今后也能和老师多多讨论学术问题！
原文
Taylor, S. H., & Bazarova, N. N. (2021). Always Available, Always Attached: A Relational Perspective on the Effects of Mobile Phones and Social Media on Subjective Well-Being. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 26(4), 187–206.
