{"title":"When Self-Disclosure Promotes the Psychological Ownership of Virtual Communities: The Role of Self-Uncertainty.","authors":"Guofang Liu, Qingxuan Meng, Qian Su","doi":"10.1111/sjop.70020","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Virtual communities play an important role in the digital economy and individuals' daily lives; therefore, both researchers and managers have endeavored to improve users' psychological ownership of virtual communities. This research aimed to examine the proposal that users' self-disclosure in virtual communities is an important influencing factor in their psychological ownership and that users' self-uncertainty plays a moderating role. Two studies were conducted to examine the proposals. To establish the causal relationship, Study 1 conducted a 2 (self-disclosure: high vs. low) × 2 (self-uncertainty: high vs. low) experimental design in which participants' self-uncertainty and self-disclosure in virtual communities were manipulated. To enhance ecological validity, Study 2 used a daily diary method that surveyed 102 college students for a week. The participants reported their daily experiences with actual virtual platforms, including self-uncertainty, self-disclosure, and psychological ownership. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the positive relationship between self-disclosure and the psychological ownership of virtual communities was moderated by self-uncertainty. For participants with higher levels of self-uncertainty, their self-disclosure in virtual communities is more likely to increase their psychological ownership. This study revealed the moderating role of self-uncertainty in the relationship between self-disclosure and psychological ownership, which contributes to the literature on virtual communities and psychological ownership and has substantial implications for users and managers of virtual communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":21435,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian journal of psychology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Scandinavian journal of psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.70020","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Virtual communities play an important role in the digital economy and individuals' daily lives; therefore, both researchers and managers have endeavored to improve users' psychological ownership of virtual communities. This research aimed to examine the proposal that users' self-disclosure in virtual communities is an important influencing factor in their psychological ownership and that users' self-uncertainty plays a moderating role. Two studies were conducted to examine the proposals. To establish the causal relationship, Study 1 conducted a 2 (self-disclosure: high vs. low) × 2 (self-uncertainty: high vs. low) experimental design in which participants' self-uncertainty and self-disclosure in virtual communities were manipulated. To enhance ecological validity, Study 2 used a daily diary method that surveyed 102 college students for a week. The participants reported their daily experiences with actual virtual platforms, including self-uncertainty, self-disclosure, and psychological ownership. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that the positive relationship between self-disclosure and the psychological ownership of virtual communities was moderated by self-uncertainty. For participants with higher levels of self-uncertainty, their self-disclosure in virtual communities is more likely to increase their psychological ownership. This study revealed the moderating role of self-uncertainty in the relationship between self-disclosure and psychological ownership, which contributes to the literature on virtual communities and psychological ownership and has substantial implications for users and managers of virtual communities.
期刊介绍:
Published in association with the Nordic psychological associations, the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology publishes original papers from Scandinavia and elsewhere. Covering the whole range of psychology, with a particular focus on experimental psychology, the journal includes high-quality theoretical and methodological papers, empirical reports, reviews and ongoing commentaries.Scandinavian Journal of Psychology is organised into four standing subsections: - Cognition and Neurosciences - Development and Aging - Personality and Social Sciences - Health and Disability