The Relationship Between Network Social Exclusion And Network Deviation Behavior:A Moderated Mediation Model

In recent years,with the popularity of smart phones and other mobile Internet devices,the penetration of mobile Internet social network sites represented by Wechat,QQ and Weibo in people’s lives is getting higher and higher.Interaction with other social network sites have become one of the main social networking ways for college students.Although social network sites provide convenience for interpersonal communication,it also gives birth to a phenomenon-network social exclusion.That is,in the non-face-to-face network interaction,the individual does not get the expected communication and recognition within an acceptable time range,thus feeling the negative psychological experience caused by being excluded by others.According to the interpersonal relationship theory,individuals who encounter social exclusion on the Internet will experience the reduction of interpersonal needs and sense of belonging,and when the basic psychological needs can’t be fully satisfied in other places,it will lead to more deviant behavior on the Internet.In addition,being excluded by the network society means that the individual lacks social support.When the individual is excluded the network,they do not get it because they feel what they deserve,and experience the sense of relative deprivation,which leads to negative emotions.They may think the network is comfortable,while the uncertainty and unrestrained nature of the network can easily prompt college students to have network deviant behavior.Whether there are similarities and differences between network social exclusion and real social exclusion as an extension of real social exclusion.Research shows that when individuals face with threat situations and feel network social exclusion,the fear of negative evaluation urges them to choose a negative way to interpret social information,which is more likely to show deviation behavior.From the perspective of interpersonal relationship theory,generalized tension theory,social comparison theory,emotional security hypothesis and social compensation hypothesis,this study investigated more than 800 college students by using network social exclusion questionnaire,social exclusion questionnaire,relative deprivation scale,short version negative evaluation fear scale and network deviation behavior scale.This paper intends to explore the influence and specific mechanism of network social exclusion on college students’ network deviation behavior.The main results are as follows:(1)Network social exclusion can positively predict college students’ network deviation behavior.(2)Sense of relative deprivation plays a mediation role in the relationship between network social exclusion and network deviant behavior of college students.(3)The direct effect of network social exclusion on network deviant behavior and the latter half of the mediation effect of relative deprivation are moderated by fear of negative evaluation,specifically for individuals with a high level of fear of negative evaluation,the direct influence of network social exclusion on network deviant behavior and the influence through the second half of relative deprivation are more significant.(4)There is a significant difference in the frequency between social exclusion and network social exclusion.Social exclusion can directly lead to network deviation behavior,and it can also affect network deviation behavior indirectly through the mediation of relative deprivation.However,fear of negative evaluation only moderated the latter half of the mediation effect.The results of this study can promote our understanding of the interaction mechanism between online interpersonal communication and individual network deviant behavior.The investigation of relative deprivation and fear of negative evaluation also provides a unique perspective for exploring the impact of network interpersonal communication on non-adaptive behavior,and provides side evidence for clarifying the similarities and differences between network communication and real communication.At the practical level,it broadens the intervention perspective of network non-adaptive behavior,and can also provide some suggestions and guidance for educators and college students.