Sugitani Yoko

Abstract As a countermeasure to the increased loneliness induced by the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related university closures, universities provided students with online interaction opportunities. However, whether these opportunities contributed to reducing loneliness during the university closures remains unclear, as previous studies have produced contradictory findings. We conducted a nationwide cross‐sectional survey. Data were collected on demographics, social environment, social support, interactions, health and loneliness from 4949 students from 60 universities across Japan. We used psychological network and Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) to examine the effect of online interactions on loneliness during university closures during COVID‐19. The results showed that the frequency of online interactions with friends did not exert a significant influence on loneliness during university closures. A comparative examination of the DAGs further illuminated that the social environment exhibited fewer pathways for interpersonal interactions and social support during these closure periods. The psychosocial pathways influencing young adults' loneliness show variations contingent on the university's closure status. Notably, the impact of heightened online interactions with friends on loneliness appears to be less pronounced among young adults in the context of university closure.

The purpose of this study was to verify that people feel more at ease using Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) compared to other media because of higher self-presentation efficacy. The reason for this may be the lack of nonverbal cues in CMC: it can help people present themselves in a preferred way. To test this hypothesis, I conducted two experiments. The experimental hypothesis of Study 1 was as follows: when people strongly want to make a good impression on others, they feel it is easier to communicate without nonverbal cues than with them. Conversely, when people are unconcerned about the impression they make on others, the amount of nonverbal cues does not influence the level of ease that people feel. The results partially supported the hypothesis. In Study 2, I scrutinized the process of the phenomenon observed in Study 1. The model was: the lack of nonverbal cues in CMC raises self-presentation efficacy, therefore, people feel more at ease during CMC. The result of path analysis significantly supported this assumption.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pictures in advertisements on the evaluation of products. In Studies 1 and 2, the following hypotheses were verified. H1: When consumers watch advertisements without pictures, their evaluation of the product would be more easily biased according to their preconceptions about the company as compared to when they watch advertisements with pictures of products. H2: This bias of product evaluation would arise only when consumers elaborate the advertisement messages, and not when they fail to do so. The effects of nonverbal elements including pictures, music, and images in the advertisements were also discussed.