International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) 10.30845/ijhss

Are Lonely Undergraduate Students Avoiding Communicating in Real Life but Vigorous in Facebook?
Kai Yee Hon, Bee Seok Chua

Abstract
The emergence of the social networking sites (SNSs), especially Facebook as a new communication tool has changed the way of communication today. However, little is known about the impact of using Facebook for communication and the psychology attribute. The present study aimed to examine: 1) the differences between lonely students and not lonely students in Facebook use, unwillingness-to-communicate, and 2) the effect of Facebook use and loneliness on unwillingness-to-communicate among undergraduate students. A total sample of 468 undergraduate students (age 19 to 25) was participated in this study. Facebook Use Measure, Unwillingnessto- Communicate Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale were used to measure the variables. Overall, results showed that: 1) lonely students were more likely to fear and perceived less reward in communicating face-to-face and 2) loneliness was more dominant to predict face-to-face communication instead of Facebook use.

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