During COVID-19 outbreak, stay-at-home orders and physical distancing were among the main strategies adopted to contrast virus diffusion. As result, a global increase in Internet use has been reported and its impact on people well-being has been debated in research communities. Framed with a Semiotic Cultural Psychosocial Theory, the study aims to examine what kind of semiotic resources college students possess to represent the crisis and to use the Internet in a healthy manner. An anonymous online survey was available in the first period of imposed self-isolation in Italy. An open question – Being online in the time of COVID-19... – was chosen to gain access to the people’s subjective experience; furthermore, participants were asked to connotate their Internet use and to complete the Flourishing scale. A total of 323 questionnaires were collected among college students (Meanage=22.78; SD=2.70). An Automatic Content Analysis procedure (ACASM; Salvatore et al., 2017) was adopted to map main Dimensions of Meaning (DM) characterizing the texts of narrative responses; ANOVA was performed to examine differences between DM related to Internet connotations; Pearson’s correlations for the relationships between DM and well-being. Two factorial dimensions – corresponding to the DM – were extracted. Specifically, the first dimension represents the relationship between being online and the daily life context (Rupture vs Continuity); the second, the Internet functions during the pandemic (Health emergency vs Daily activity). Respondents that were positioned on Daily activity connoted Internet as resource and showed higher levels of well-being; whereas the ones positioned on Health emergency reported Internet as refuge and lower levels of well-being. Findings highlight that Internet use and its impact on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic might depend on the cultural, social and personal meanings attributed to being online that define a connotation and motivation for use.
The meaning of being online at the time of COVID-19 and its relationship with well-being. A qualitative study based on young adults’ narratives
Simone Rollo;
2021-01-01
Abstract
During COVID-19 outbreak, stay-at-home orders and physical distancing were among the main strategies adopted to contrast virus diffusion. As result, a global increase in Internet use has been reported and its impact on people well-being has been debated in research communities. Framed with a Semiotic Cultural Psychosocial Theory, the study aims to examine what kind of semiotic resources college students possess to represent the crisis and to use the Internet in a healthy manner. An anonymous online survey was available in the first period of imposed self-isolation in Italy. An open question – Being online in the time of COVID-19... – was chosen to gain access to the people’s subjective experience; furthermore, participants were asked to connotate their Internet use and to complete the Flourishing scale. A total of 323 questionnaires were collected among college students (Meanage=22.78; SD=2.70). An Automatic Content Analysis procedure (ACASM; Salvatore et al., 2017) was adopted to map main Dimensions of Meaning (DM) characterizing the texts of narrative responses; ANOVA was performed to examine differences between DM related to Internet connotations; Pearson’s correlations for the relationships between DM and well-being. Two factorial dimensions – corresponding to the DM – were extracted. Specifically, the first dimension represents the relationship between being online and the daily life context (Rupture vs Continuity); the second, the Internet functions during the pandemic (Health emergency vs Daily activity). Respondents that were positioned on Daily activity connoted Internet as resource and showed higher levels of well-being; whereas the ones positioned on Health emergency reported Internet as refuge and lower levels of well-being. Findings highlight that Internet use and its impact on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic might depend on the cultural, social and personal meanings attributed to being online that define a connotation and motivation for use.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
