Is Instagram behavior motivated by a desire to belong?

New Rochelle, NY, July 23, 2019–Does a desire to belong and perceived social support drive a person’s frequency of Instagram use? The relationship between these motivating factors as predictors of Instagram use are published in a new study in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website through August 23, 2019.

“Desire to Belong Affects Instagram Behavior and Perceived Social Support” was coauthored by Dorothy Wong, Krestina Amon, and Melanie Keep, University of Sydney (Australia). The researchers found that a desire to belong was a significant positive predictor of more frequent Instagram use and perceived social support in general and from friends and significant others. However, frequency of Instagram use did not predict perceived social support, and therefore it did not mediate the relationship between motivation and social support.

“In his well-known ‘Hierarchy of Needs,’ Abraham Maslow found the need to belong is one of the five innate human needs,” says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. “Understanding how Instagram and other image-based SNS may help individuals fulfill this need is important as more of our lives are played out online.”

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Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.