Online Prosocial Behaviour Predicts Well-Being in Different Cultures: A Daily Diary Study of Facebook Users

Abstract

<jats:p> Almost two billion people use Facebook every day, but relatively few studies have examined the ways that culture shapes its use, and in turn, its associations with well-being. Our 1-week daily diary study sought to extend this literature by comparing prosocial uses of Facebook in a collectivist culture, Thailand ( N = 169), and in an individualist culture, Canada ( N = 131). We found that, relative to Thais, Canadians more frequently engaged in knowledge-sharing prosocial Facebook behaviour (i.e., providing useful information to Facebook friends), which was mediated by their more independent self-construal, stronger motivation to use Facebook for spreading information, and weaker motivation to use it for belongingness. Only Canadians reported higher life satisfaction on days they engaged in more prosocial knowledge-sharing. However, Thais and Canadians were equally likely to engage in emotionally-supportive prosocial Facebook behavior, which was associated with higher positive affect and life satisfaction in both groups. </jats:p>