Social Isolation, Loneliness and Well-Being: The Impact of WeChat Use Intensity During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Abstract

This study is aimed to examine the impact of WeChat use intensity on social isolation, loneliness, and well-being during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the regulatory loop model of loneliness, the notions of Internet Paradox, the Time Displacement hypothesis and previous literature on WeChat use intensity, we propose that lockdown loneliness (partially) mediates the relationship between lockdown WeChat use intensity and well-being (i.e., lockdown stress and lockdown life satisfaction). Moreover, we assume that lockdown WeChat use intensity moderates the relationship between lockdown social isolation and well-being (i.e., lockdown stress and lockdown life satisfaction) in both a direct and in an indirect way, that is through lockdown loneliness. The results from our Structural Equation Modeling analyses, using a sample of 1,805 Chinese respondents, indicate that all of our research hypotheses are confirmed. From this empirical work, it becomes clear that online social interactions, which are believed by many people to be able to compensate for the lack of offline social interactions during the COVID-19 lockdown period, in fact are endangering their mental health and life satisfaction instead. This article concludes with theoretical and practical implications of our study, followed by its limitations and recommendations for future research.