Entertainment and Social Media Use During Social Distancing: Examining Trait Differences in Transportability and Need for Social Assurance

This study (N = 348 students and 468 adults) examines whether the associations between increased media use during social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and negative emotional states (negative affect, boredom, and depression) depend on individual differences. Transportability is the trait likelihood of becoming mentally and emotionally immersed in story worlds, and need for social assurance is the tendency to rely on others for affiliation and companionship. Theoretically, higher transportability may lead to greater benefits from using entertainment media, whereas need for social assurance has previously been linked with negative outcomes of social media use. In addition, we explored whether media use and its associations differ between college students and older adults. Results suggest that social media use and entertainment media use increased during social distancing, particularly for students. Moreover, increased use of both types of media was associated with more negative emotional states. In particular, those high in need for social assurance used social media more often and reported more negative feelings. In addition, contrary to expectations, the association between entertainment media and depression appeared to be increased by transportability, particularly in older adults.