Online Prosocial Behaviour Predicts Well-Being in Different Cultures: A Daily Diary Study of Facebook Users

Abstract

Almost two billion people use Facebook every day, but relatively few studies have examined the ways that culture shapes its use, and in turn, its associations with well-being. Our 1-week daily diary study sought to extend this literature by comparing prosocial uses of Facebook in a collectivist culture, Thailand (N = 169), and in an individualist culture, Canada (N = 131). We found that, relative to Thais, Canadians more frequently engaged in knowledge-sharing prosocial Facebook behaviour (i.e., providing useful information to Facebook friends), which was mediated by their more independent self-construal, stronger motivation to use Facebook for spreading information, and weaker motivation to use it for belongingness. Only Canadians reported higher life satisfaction on days they engaged in more prosocial knowledge-sharing. However, Thais and Canadians were equally likely to engage in emotionally-supportive prosocial Facebook behavior, which was associated with higher positive affect and life satisfaction in both groups.