The Association Between Consideration Of Future Consequences And Online Social Capital Of College Students

Social capital is defined as actual or latent resources(e.g.,material or emotional support)which individuals capture from their social interactions and relationships.According to its source,social capital is divided into two types,namely bonding social capital and bridging social capital.With the rapid proliferation and development of social networking sites(SNS)around the China,a grow number of individuals conduct interpersonal communication and interaction on SNS,thus promoting the construction of online social capital.Online social capital has an important impact on the physical and mental development of individuals.On the one hand,it can provide diversified information for individuals,which is conducive to expanding their horizons and improving their social skills.On the other hand,it can provide emotional support and protect individuals from negative stressful events.Therefore,it is of great significance and value to explore the influencing factors of individual online social capital.Extant research on social capital building of individual has mainly focused on the use behavior of social networking sites,but fewer empirical studies have been conducted concerning the relationship between the personality traits and online social capital.The consideration of future consequences(CFC),reflects the degree to which individuals are thinking about the impact of current behavior on potential future outcomes,and the extent to which these potential outcomes affect current behaviors.It is a trait of individual differences,which can be divided into future orientation and immediate orientation.The existing studies have found that there are significant relationships between future orientation and social capital.Yet little is known about the link between CFC(future vs immediate orientation)and online bonding/bridging social capital and the underlying mechanism.Self-control and cooperation are important intra-individual variables,which are affected by the degree to which individuals consider the future outcomes of current behaviors.It plays an important role in individual development.The prior studies have shown that individuals with high self-control can not only suppress bad behaviors,but also develop good interpersonal relationships,thus promoting individual development.Individuals with high cooperation report high-quality friendship,which promotes online social capital and lays a foundation for the future development of individuals.Accordingly,our study primarily explores the relationship between CFC(future vs immediate orientation)and online bridging/bonding social capital,and the mediating role of self-control and cooperation in the relationship.In the present study,749 college students completed measures of CFC,self-control,cooperation,and online social capital.First,we used independent sample t test and ANOVA to analyze college students' basic characteristics of CFC,self-control,cooperation,and online social capital.Then,we used AMOS 24.0 to examine the structural equation models which investigate the relationship between college students' CFC and online social capital,and explore the mediating role of self-control and cooperation.The main findings are displayed as follows:1.College students ' future orientation can positively predict online bridging social capital and online bonding social capital respectively,but immediate orientation cannot significantly predict online social capital.2.Cooperation of college students mediated the relationship between the future orientation and online bonding social capital,and between future orientation and online bridging social capital.However,self-control has no mediating effect on the relationship between future orientation and online social capital.3.Self-control and cooperation are simultaneously serial multiple mediators of the association between future orientation and online bonding/ bridging social capital.4.Self-control and cooperation has the suppressing effects in the relationship between immediate orientation and online bonding/ bridging social capital;self-control had the suppressing effects in the association between immediate orientation and online bonding social capitalThus it can be seen that the results of our study show that future orientation not only directly predict online bridging/bonding social capital,but also be realized through mediation effect of cooperation or the serial mediation effect of self-control and cooperation.However,the individual's immediate orientation cannot directly predict online social capital.If individuals want to build online bonding/ bridging social capital to provide resources and help for their future development,they need to cultivate their future orientation rather than immediate orientation--When an individual encounters something,he or she should consider its future development trend and results,as well as the impact of future results on current events,so as to take reasonable actions instead of focusing on current results and interests,or improve selfcontrol and develop the ability to work with others.The findings of this study can provide a factual basis for how to build online social capital.