| Popis: |
Social interactions abound in everyday life. Face-to-face interactions, in particular, catalyze the social connection necessary for psychological well-being. What happens, then, when a global pandemic disrupts normal patterns of social engagement? Starting in March 2020, the world uploaded much of its face-to-face interactions online, transitioning en masse to remote work, learning, and socializing. These circumstances provide a natural experiment for studying how virtual interactions—socialization mediated by digital devices—facilitate psychosocial well-being relative to face-to-face interactions. We conducted two studies measuring how seven types of virtual and face-to-face interactions impacted people’s feelings of positive affect and social connection. Study 1 longitudinally tracked virtual interactions and well-being (n = 999) in three waves from May 2020 to May 2021. Study 2 measured participants’ (n = 249) virtual interactions and well-being three times daily for two weeks. Both studies suggest that voice calling, group calling, and online messaging increased feelings of both social connection and positive affect in the short- and long-term. However, the benefits of face-to-face interactions consistently eclipsed all virtual surrogates under investigation. |
