Research On The Relationship Among Online Self-disclosure,Interpersonal Trust And Social Support Of College Students

The agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution and the information revolutionare three great waves along with the process of human development. The product ofinformation revolution is the Internet which is closely related to our life. Unconsciously,the Internet has not only changed our life, but also changed ourselves. However, the valueof Internet is more and more about society, instead of information. Due to the anonymityand disinhibition, higher level of online self-disclosure appears in computer-mediatedcommunication, which contributes to social adaptation and less anxiety. Individuals couldgain online social support because of the reciprocity of interpersonal communication,which provides a sense of identity and belonging, thus enhances subjective well-being.Online interpersonal trust is also indispensable, which is in fact a kind of conceptualexpectation and a positive anticipation of others’ behavior. Individuals obtain online socialsupport from mutual cooperation, thus contributing to online interpersonal trust betweeneach other. The higher level of online interpersonal trust individuals obtain, the lessprotection of personal privacy will be. Therefore, online self-disclosure is more frequent incomputer-mediated communication. Contemporary college students who are highlyeducated grow up with the process of rapid development of digital technology and takedelight in new things. Therefore, they are chosen to be the experimental participants tomake sure that the study is of more significance. This study discussed the relationshipamong online self-disclosure, online interpersonal trust and online social support, in orderto enrich the theoretical framework and provide support for individual psychologicaldevelopment and social stability.The present study investigated428college students by the questionnaire surveymethod, aiming to explore the relationship among online interpersonal trust, online socialsupport and online self-disclosure. The results are as follows:（1）Online interpersonal trust of college students is significantly different in major and there are no differences in gender and grade. Students majoring in science have higheroverall level of online interpersonal trust than those majoring in art. In the dimension ofgeneral trust, emotional trust and reliability, higher online social support was observed inthe students majoring in science than those majoring in art.（2）Online social support of college students is significantly different in major andgrade, and there are no differences in gender. Students majoring in art have higher overalllevel of online social support than those majoring in science. In the dimension ofinformation support, affection support and peer support, students majoring in art have ahigher level of online social support than those majoring in science. In the dimension ofinstrumental support, no difference was found in major. Differences in grade wereobserved in the dimension of information support and affection support. Post-hoccomparisons showed that online social support of senior was higher than sophomore in thedimension of information support and that of freshman was higher than the other threegrades in the dimension of affection support. In the overall level of online social support,freshman had higher level than sophomore and senior had higher level than junior.（3）Online self-disclosure is significantly different in gender, and there are nodifferences in major and grade. Male have higher overall level of online self-disclosurethan female. In the dimension of private attitude, emotional state and online gamesdisclosure, male have higher level of online self-disclosure than female. In the dimensionof online shopping disclosure, female have higher level of online self-disclosure than male.In the dimension of personal information and interest disclosure, no differences wereobserved in gender.Positive correlation was obeserved among online self-disclosure, online interpersonaltrust and online social support. Through statistical tests, the conclusion is as follows:Online interpersonal trust is a mediator between online social support and onlineself-disclosure.