Accepted Manuscript

Beyond Touchdown: College Students’ Sports Participation, Social Media Use,

College Attachment, and Psychological Well-Being

Yonghwan Kim, Yiben Liu, Zhou Shan

PII: S0736-5853(16)30582-2
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.03.006
Reference: TELE 926

To appear in: Telematics and Informatics

Received Date: 1 November 2016

Revised Date: 13 February 2017
Accepted Date: 30 March 2017

Please cite this article as: Kim, Y., Liu, Y., Shan, Z., Beyond Touchdown: College Students’ Sports Participation,
Social Media Use, College Attachment, and Psychological Well-Being, Telematics and Informatics (2017), doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.03.006

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

Beyond Touchdown:
College Students’ Sports Participation, Social Media Use, College Attachment, and
Psychological Well-Being

Yonghwan Kim, Ph.D.

(Corresponding Author)
Assistant Professor
Department of Media and Communication
Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
yhkim17@gmail.com

Yiben Liu
Doctoral Student
College of Communication and Information Sciences
University of Alabama

Zhou Shan
Doctoral Student
College of Communication and Information Sciences
University of Alabama

Running head: SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

Beyond Touchdown:

College Students’ Sports Participation, Social Media Use, College Attachment, and

Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

This study investigated how college students’ sports participation and social media use relate to

college attachment and their psychological well-being. An online survey was administered to 580

undergraduate students. Findings revealed that sports participation was positively related with

social media use and college attachment, which in turn increases individuals’ psychological

well-being. This study offers empirical evidence of the mediating role social media use plays in the

relationship among sport participation, college attachment, and well-being. The findings

contribute to further understanding about the mechanisms by which sports participation leads to

well-being through social media use.

Key words: social media, sports participation, college attachment, psychological well-being

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

Beyond Touchdown:

College Students’ Sports Participation, Social Media Use, College Attachment, and

Psychological Well-Being

1. Introduction

Social media have emerged as an important tool for social interaction. According to the

Pew Research Center (2017), the proportion of the American population engaging in social media

increased from 5% in 2005 to 69% in 2016. Young adults are not only the earliest adopters of

social media but also use social media at high levels: 86% of adults aged from 18 to 29 visit at least

one social media platform regularly in 2016 (Pew Research Center, 2017). Stimulated by the

increasing dependence on social media, studies have demonstrated that college students’ social

media use is associated with their psychological outcomes. For instance, their use of social media

platforms and their engagement in various activities on social media affect their psychological

well-being, anxiety, and depression (e.g., Eagan et al., 2014).

Social media use and its possible consequences have garnered intense research interest, but

studies have yielded conflicting results. Some studies show negative consequences of social media

use. For example, surveillance use of Facebook triggers feelings of envy and ultimately results in

depression (Tandoc, Ferrucci, & Duffy, 2015), number of Facebook friends negatively correlates

with academic adjustment, and time spent on Facebook negatively correlates with self-esteem

(Kalpidou, Costin, & Morris, 2011). However, other studies show positive consequences of social

media use. For instance, Guo, Li, and Ito (2014) found that social media use for social and

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

information functions increased bridging social capital and perceived life satisfaction. In addition,

some research demonstrates that social media use is not associated with individuals’ life

satisfaction (Park & Lee, 2014). These conflicting results suggest that individuals’ offline

activities or social relationships through face-to-face communication need to be simultaneously

considered when it comes to examining the relationship between social media use and

psychological well-being (see e.g., Park & Lee, 2014). This acknowledgement invites us to

explore whether and how individuals’ activities in real life are associated with their social media

use, which consequently influences psychological well-being.

In particular, this study focuses on college students’ sports participation that may lead to

increased use of social media, which in turn strengthens their sense of college attachment, and

eventually contributes to their overall psychological well-being. Both social media use and sports

participation are particularly high among college students. For instance, college students are the

major population of the users of social media platforms among American people, and social media

have become integrated into their everyday life in many aspects on and off campus (Pew Research

Center, 2016). Sports participation and fanship among college students are also common. As

evidenced by a recent poll, college football ranked as the third most popular sport in U.S. after

professional football and professional baseball, and college football has been rounding out the

top three for at least two years in a row (Harris Poll, 2016). Another reason for this study’s focus

on college students is that they are at a critical phase of life in the transition from adolescence to

adulthood and from school to society, where attitudes and behaviors are consolidated and

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

continued into adult life. Social media may play significant roles in college life as an information

gateway and tools to maintain and expand social networks and social capital. It may also influence

various psychological outcomes including life satisfaction and psychological well-being (Park &

Lee, 2014; Valenzuela et al., 2009). These cases make college students the ideal group for studying

sports participation and its related social media use as well as psychological outcomes.

Studies have shown that sports participation improves subjects’ mood and self-perception,

leading to mental well-being, and can even be an effective treatment for depression and anxiety

(Fox, 1999). A growing body of literature indicates that sports participation contributes to higher

quality of life (Huang & Humphreys, 2012) and psychological well-being (Downward, Rascuite,

& Pawlowski, 2010; Ruseski, 2014)), as well as serves as a release for socioemotional difficulties,

especially for young people (Booker, Skew, Kelly& Sacker, 2015). Moreover, such positive effects

are enlarged when sports participation involves social interaction (Downward & Rasciute, 2011).

For sports fans, engaging with their favorite athletes and sports teams on social media

makes it more convenient to follow the latest news, post comments or even interact with athletes

or managers as well as share enthusiasm with other fans (Wang, 2013). While viewing mediated

sporting events, 83% of sports fans use social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) for

commenting and interacting (KT Tape, 2012). According to Nielsen’s Year in Sports Media

Report, sports events made up 49.7% of TV programming conversations in 2015 (Nielsen, 2016).

These trends indicate a substantial shift in audience market from traditional media consumption

to new platform usage in that more and more sports fans use social media platforms while

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

watching sports. This means that the need to understand audience activities within social media

has also become more important.

This study, therefore, aims to advance social media research by testing a mechanism in

which social media use links to the effects of sports participation on individuals’ psychological

outcomes. While some prior studies have examined the direct relationships between sports

participation and subjective well-being (Downward & Rasciute, 2011; Ruseski, Humphreys,

Hallman, Wicker & Breuer, 2014) or between social media use and well-being (Brooks, 2015),

there has been little examination of the mediating mechanism by which sports participation

indirectly influences individuals’ psychological well-being via mediated communication activities

such as social media use. In particular, for the special case of college students, this study also

introduces the variable of college attachment, which comes into play as a mediating variable in the

relationship between sports participation, social media use, and psychological well-being. In sum,

this study investigates how college students’ sports participation is associated with their social

media use, which in turn leads to their college attachment and consequently influences their

psychological well-being.

2. Related Literature and Hypotheses

2.1 Sports participation and social media use

Sports participation includes not only playing organized sports (Allender, Cowburn, &

Foster, 2006; Messner & Musto, 2014), but also watching, listening to, reading about, and

discussing sports or sporting events (Branscombe & Wann, 1991; Lim, Hwang, Kim, & Biocca,

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

2015). Before, during and after sports participation, audiences normally experience the urge to

obtain, share, and discuss sports information, which can potentially trigger them to actively use

social media platforms. For example, Sutera (2013) described how fans utilize online services and

mobile devices to enhance their sports experience. Before the widespread availability of the

Internet, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television dictated the dissemination of sports events

and athletes. In the Internet era, the use of social media has become a prominent way for sports

fans to get connected to sports and other fans. By heightening the ability of the audiences to get

engaged in sports participation more effectively and efficiently, social media platforms also trigger

more frequent use among sports fans when they feel the need to obtain or share sports information.

Sports fans are likely to use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for various

reasons, including information and entertainment purposes as well as for developing and

maintaining fanship (Witkemper, Lim & Waldburger, 2012). Stavros, Meng, Westberg, and

Farrelly (2014) brought up passion, hope, esteem, and camaraderie as four key motives

underpinning the desire of National Basketball Association (NBA) fans to communicate on the

Facebook sites of their supported teams. In addition, Clavio and Walsh (2014) argued that people

use social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) more often when they are motivated by the

need for interaction and communication. After conducting a comparative study between the usage

of social media and television by audiences when watching mediated sports events, Gantz and

Lewis (2014) also indicated that although audiences still chose television as their main channel to

watch live sports, they preferred the interactivity and affordance of agency of social media to

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

enhance and supplement their watching experiences.

College students use social media for assorted purposes. Research on the motivations of

social media use have utilized the framework of uses and gratification theory (e.g., Chen, 2011;

Krause, North, & Heritage, 2014). The main established gratifications sought include

entertainment (escapism, mood management, achievement, and competition),

information/surveillance (information seeking, information learning), socialization (interpersonal

communication, peer acceptance, relationship maintenance, social support, sense of community),

and self-status seeking (self-expression, self-presentation) (Anderson, 2011; Chen, 2011; Chiu,

Hsu, & Wang, 2006; Lampe, Wash, Velasquez, & Ozkaya, 2010; Lin, Salwen, & Abdulla, 2005;

Sanderson, 2010; Vorderer, Klimmt & Ritterfeld, 2004). In order to address the call for studies on

specific motives for a more profound understanding of the relationships between specific motives

and social media use (Sundar & Limperos, 2013), the current study expands the literature by

focusing on the relationship between sports participation and social media use. Based on the

previous research, we propose the following hypothesis:

H1: Sports participation will be positively associated with social media use related to

sporting events.

2.2 Sports participation and college attachment

Out-of-class activities, especially sports participation, provide social interaction which is

highly associated with a sense of community and belonging for college students. Kuh et al. (2005)

stated that “what students do during college counts more for what they learn and whether they

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

will persist in college than who they are or even where they go to college” (p. 8). The theory of

student involvement (Astin, 1984, 1993, 1999) suggests that students’ development and

achievement in school are proportional to their engagement and involvement with campus

community activities, including recreational sports participation. In particular, higher

participation rates and higher participation quality in sports associations bring increased

development of the students. Astin (1999) emphasized that “the greater the student’s involvement

in college, the greater will be the amount of student learning and personal development” (p. 13).

Greater development is perceived to bring about enhanced satisfaction and stronger attachment

to the school.

Similarly, Tinto’s student integration model (1975) indicates that students’ sense of

belonging in school can be predicted by the degree of their social and academic integration. Tinto

stressed that the peer culture in college strongly influences students’ engagement and

commitment to the school. Researchers exploring the reason why undergraduate students drop

out of college also found that not being involved with the “social fabric” of the university

community is a strong predictor of quitting college (Swail, Redd, & Perna, 2003).

Extracurricular sports participation increases social tie building, peer interaction (Watson et al,

2006), and campus social integration (Kilchenman, 2009) as well as boosts students’ sense of

belonging and sense of community (Hall, 2006), all augmenting the overall quality of life in

college.

A considerable amount of empirical research provides evidence of the positive effects of

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

sports participation on a variety of aspects in students’ lives. For instance, more recreational and

intramural sports participation, as well as other campus community activities, would lead to better

learning (Astin, 1984) and higher grade point averages (Gibbison, Henry, & Perkins-Brown, 2011),

cultivate students’ persistence (Kennedy, Sheckley & Kehrhahn, 2000), develop “physical health

and attainment of a bachelor’s degree” (Astin, 1993, p. 386), and increase overall satisfaction with

the campus life in college (Lindsey & Sessoms, 2006). These effects seem to be long-term (Elkins,

Forrester, & Noël-Elkins, 2011). Under such positive influences, students are more likely to feel

cared for, valued as an individual, and accepted as part of the community, all of which constitute

the sense of community (Cheng, 2004) and would further lead to stronger attachment to the college.

The extent of social network involvement (Thomas, 2000) and the frequency of participation

(Elkins, Forrester & Noël-Elkins, 2011) are also positively related to the sense of campus

community. This leads to our second hypothesis:

H2: Sports participation will be positively associated with college attachment.

2.3 Social media use and attachment

The use of social media has been shown to be positively related to college students’ sense

of belonging and satisfaction with their campus lives (Park & Lee, 2014). Researchers in the

field of social psychology have recognized attachment as a form of investment towards a social

object (Parsons, 1959); more specifically, college attachment is defined as the “degree to which

students feel they belong in the institutional environment and students’ institutional and goal

commitments” (Hurtado, Carter, & Spuler, 1996, p. 141). Researchers have found two ways that

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) may be positively related with attachment. The first is that

online social networking (Facebook use in particular) may offer advantages over offline

interactions for individuals who have attachment anxiety or avoidance by enabling them to

carefully manage their self-presentation and control the time and pace of interactions

(Oldmeadow, Quinn, & Kowert, 2013). The other way that SNS use enhances attachment is by

providing a sense of belonging to social networks (Sheldon et al., 2011). For example, Facebook

enables individuals to stay in touch with what others are doing, to monitor interpersonal

relationships, and to maintain one’s own presence within the network (Oldmeadow, Quinn, &

Kowert, 2013).

Kalpidou, Costin, and Morris (2011) found that the number of Facebook friends was

positively related to college attachment (a feeling of fitting in with the college community),

institution attachment, and general satisfaction with the college. This suggests that Facebook as a

venue for improving social networks not only creates new and maintains old relationships, but

also informs students of on-campus social events. Similarly, Park and Lee (2014) found a

positive relationship between intensity of Facebook use and sense of belonging. These findings

can be explained by Baumeister and Leary’s (1995) argument that individuals develop and

maintain social relationships in order to fulfill the need to affiliate/belong. Moreover, in addition

to maintaining and developing social interactions, SNSs can also be used to share collective

experiences (in this case, sports events), which can increase feelings of attachment and

membership as well. Therefore, we specifically propose the following hypothesis:

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

H3: Social media use about sporting events will be positively related to college attachment.

2.4 Attachment and psychological well-being

We argue that college students’ attachment to the college can be positively associated with

their psychological well-being. Subject well-being encompasses multiple constructs such as life

satisfaction, self-esteem, anxiety and so on (Andrews & Withey, 1976). Theoretical and empirical

studies have linked individuals’ attachment to psychological well-being (Brown & Perkins, 1992),

as the environment, be it large or small, plays an important role in daily life, identity, and ability to

maintain a sense of well-being (Manzo, 2003). For example, Harris et al. (1995) found a positive

relationship between residents’ neighborhood attachment and their quality of life. Brown et al.

(2003) noted that residents who have higher city attachment perceived fewer incivilities and

greater pleasantness, health, and safeness, which ultimately contributed to a higher level of

well-being.

Some research has demonstrated that attachment increases one’s subjective well-being by

promoting individuals’ ability to positively resolve distress (Fraley & Davis, 1997). Kenny and

Perez (1996) found that during college life, students with lower levels of distress feel higher levels

of psychological well-being, while attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were negatively

related to psychological well-being (Lane, 2016). Therefore, it is plausible to expect that college

attachment positively affects college students’ psychological well-being, leading to the following

hypothesis:

H4: College attachment will be positively related to college students’ perceived

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

well-being.

2.5 Mediating pathway to psychological well-being

Based on and beyond the direct relationships proposed, the present study investigates the

mediating mechanism by which sports participation positively influences individuals’

psychological well-being through social media use and college attachment. Combined with the

discussion about the positive associations among sports participation, social media use related to

sporting events, college attachment, and psychological attachment, we argue a mediating role of

social media use and college attachment in the relationship between sports participation and

psychological well-being. As people participate in university sporting events, they are likely to

share and talk about their experiences on social media by posting photos or comments related to

these events. As they do so, college students may have greater levels of college attachment, which

consequently influences their psychological well-being. In sum, the pathway we propose in this

study is that sports participation predicts social media use related to sporting events and that social

media use related to university sporting events increases college attachment, which consequently

leads to increased levels of psychological well-being. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis:

H5: The effect of sports participation on psychological well-being will be mediated by

social media use and college attachment.

3. Methods

3.1 Sample

The current study employed an online survey at a large public university in the

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

Southeastern United Sates. The university is classified as Division I by the National Collegiate

Athletic Association (NCAA), providing an ideal case for investigating college students’ sports

participation and its influence on social media activities and psychological outcomes.

Undergraduate students in communication courses registered for the participation pool system

were recruited to participate in the survey that was created on Qualtrics. A total of 580

undergraduate students completed the survey in return for course extra credit.

3.2 Measures

3.2.1 Sports participation

Respondents were asked how frequently they participated in the following sporting

events: (1) “attended college football games,” (2) “participated in sports activities/events such as

sports club,” (3) “went to activities/events at the University Student Recreation Center with their

friends,” (4) “watched sports games on TV or online with friends,” (5) “participated in sports

ceremonies/events held by university,” and (6) “participated in sports activities held by the

university sports organizations.” The items were anchored by a 5-point scale ranging from never

to very frequently. The six items were averaged to create an index (M = 3.13, SD = 1.04,

Cronbach’s alpha = .83).

3.2.2 Social media use

The survey measured respondents’ social media use related to sporting events.

Participants were asked to report how frequently they use social media for the following

activities: (1) “sharing or “liking” photos, videos, or comments related with the university

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

sporting events,” (2) “posting photos or videos related with university sporting events such as

games and sporting events attended,” (3) “commenting on others’ photos, videos, or posts related

with university sporting events,” (4) “joining or following the university sports teams on social

networking sites,” (5) “tagging someone or being tagged in photos related with sporting

activities,” (6) “posting information about university sporting events,” and (7) “sharing

experiences about university sporting events or activities.” A 5-point scale, ranging from 1 =

never to 5 = very frequently, was used. The seven items were averaged to create an index of

social media use (M = 3.25, SD = .93, Cronbach’s alpha = .91).

3.2.3 College attachment

Respondents’ college attachment was measured with three items adopted from previous

research (Hurtado et al., 1996): (1) “I am pleased about attending this university,” (2) “I am

satisfied with programs and activities at this university,” and (3) “I am proud of this institution’s

history, heritage, and atmosphere.” Items were ranked with a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 =

strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. These items were averaged to create an index (M = 4.17,

SD = .83, Cronbach’s alpha = .86).

3.2.4 Psychological well-being

We adapted five items by Diener et al. (2009) to measure psychological well-being.

Respondents were asked to report their level of agreement (from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 =

strongly agree) to five questions: (1) “In general, I’m a happy person,” (2) “My social

relationships are supportive and rewarding,” (3) “I am engaged and interested in my daily

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

activities,” (4) “I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others,” and (5) “I am a

good person and live a good life.” The responses were averaged to create an index of

psychological well-being (M = 4.23, SD = .68, Cronbach’s alpha = .90).

3.2.5 Demographics

Respondents’ demographic features of age and gender were measured and entered as

control variables in the analysis. These features were used as control variables in this study. The

average age of the respondents was 19.50 (SD = 1.78), and 76.4% were female.

4. Results

A set of regression analyses and bootstrapping mediation tests was performed using the

PROCESS macro provided by Hayes (2013). The results of the regression analyses are

summarized in Figure 1. It was expected that sports participation would be positively associated

with social media use (H1) and college attachment (H2). The results showed that respondents’

sports participation was significantly and positively related to their social media use about

sporting events (b = .41, p < .001) and college attachment (b = .16, p < .001). Those who

participated in sports more often were more likely to use social media for posting/sharing their

experience in sporting events and felt greater attachment. Thus, both H1 and H2 were supported.

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

***
Social Media .17 College
Use Attachment
.39***
.41***
.16***
.05
Sports
Participation Well-Being
.05

Figure 1. Results of the relationships between sports participation, social media use, college
attachment, and perceived well-being.
Note: Control variables (i.e., age and gender) are included in the analysis.
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. R2 = .29

H3 predicted a positive relationship between social media use about sporting events and

college attachment. This hypothesis was also supported. The results demonstrated that the more

respondents used social media about the university sporting events they participated in with their

friends, the greater their college attachment was (b = .17, p < .001).

The next hypothesis, H4, proposed that college attachment would be positively related to

college students’ perceived well-being. The result indicated that respondents with greater college

attachment were more likely to feel psychological well-being (b = .39, p < .001). Therefore, H4

was supported.

Our last hypothesis, H5, proposed that the effect of sports participation on perceived

well-being would be mediated by social media use and college attachment. The results of

bootstrapping mediation analysis are presented in Table 1. The bootstrapping analysis

demonstrated that the indirect effect of sports participation on psychological well-being via

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

social media use and college attachment was significant (b = 03, SE = .01, CI = [.01, .04]). This

suggests that respondents who participate in sporting events more often tend to use social media

to share that experience with others, which in turn leads to greater levels of college attachment,

which consequently positively influences their psychological well-being. Thus, H5 was

supported.

Table 1 Indirect effects of sports participation on perceived well-being through social media use
and college attachment

95% Bootstrap
CI
Indirect Paths b SE Lower Upper
limit limit

Sport participation
Social media
Well-being .02 .01 -.01 .05

Sport participation
College Attachment
Well-being .06 .02 .03 .09

Sport participation
Social media
College Attachment .03 .01 .01 .04

Well-being

Note. Estimates were calculated using the PROCESS macro developed by Hayes (2013). CI =
confidence interval. CIs are based on the bootstrapping of 5,000 samples. N = 580.

In addition, it turned out that sports participation did not have a direct effect on
psychological well-being, and there was no significant direct relationship between social media
use and psychological well-being. Furthermore, the indirect effect of sports participation on
psychological well-being via college attachment was significant (b = 06, SE = .02, CI =
[.03, .09]), but there was no significant indirect effect of sports participation on psychological
well-being through social media use (b = .02, SE = .01, CI = [-.01, .05]).

5. Discussion

The current study examined associations among sports participation, social media use, and

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

psychological outcomes including college attachment and psychological well-being. The findings

generally showed that college students’ sports participation indirectly affected psychological

well-being through their social media use and college attachment.

Our first hypothesis about the positive relationship between sports participation and social

media use among college students was supported. Not only are the students who attend sports

activities more frequently more engaged in social media use, but this correlation appears to be, in

this case at least, relatively strong. Reasons for this situation could be that our measurements for

“sports participation” are all related to group involvement and inter-personal interaction which

possibly have extended into the social media sphere. In other words, real-life social activities could

trigger social media use, or even more likely, interacting with friends on social media has already

become a part of people’s social activities.

Social presence theory can explain this finding. The concept of social presence was

originally developed from interpersonal interactions, referring to the degree of mutual awareness

among entities and the attention paid to each other (Goffman, 1963). Currently, the meaning of

social presence has evolved to refer to the degree to which a medium allows individuals to build

interpersonal bonds with each other (Choi, Lee, & Kim, 2011), and it is associated with

psychological closeness (Pavlou, Liang, and Xue, 2007). Interaction between individuals could

be enhanced when shared meaning (e.g., words and vocabulary) exists between parties (Wasko

& Faraj, 2005). In the context of computer-mediated communication, in particular, social

presence has come to be viewed as the way individuals present themselves in online activities

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

such as posting messages and responding to others (Kehrwald, 2008). To extend that logic into

the social media context, it is reasonable to believe that shared enthusiasm for college sports

could facilitate one’s need to interact with others about their experiences and thoughts as well as

seek support from others on social media platforms (Liang, Ho, Li, & Turban, 2012). This may

be because the increased interactions as well as intimate and immediate communication with

friends or colleagues on social media might yield a greater sense of social presence of others,

which in turn could lead to a greater efficiency and satisfaction in communication (Kehrwald,

2008; Lim, Hwang, Kim, & Biocca, 2015).

H2 was brought up to examine the relationship between sports participation and the sense

of college attachment among college students. As supported by the results, sports participation is

positively related to college attachment such that students who participate in campus sports

activities feel more attached to and satisfied with the university. The benefits of students’ getting

involved in recreational sports on campus related to both their personal success and their sense of

belonging to the school are well documented in the literature. Aligning with prior studies (e.g.,

Cheng, 2004; Elkins, Forrester & Noël-Elkins, 2011; Thomas, 2000), we also found a positive

relationship between sports participation and the sense of college attachment. Moreover, college

attachment appeared to be positively associated with perceived well-being (H4), demonstrating the

theoretical potential for participation in sports to serve as an engagement platform that can

augment the influence of attachment on the physical and psychological benefits of sports. As to

practice implications, universities are encouraged to engage more of their students and faculty in

20
SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

sports participation to build a sense of community.

As expected in H3, social media use is also a strong predictor of college attachment. In

accordance with previous findings that certain kinds of SNS use can help students accumulate and

maintain bridging social capital and become more integrated into the college community (Ellison,

Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007), our study also finds that sharing and commenting on sports activities

play an important role in the process by which students develop attachment to their colleges. This

finding adds to the literature on the relationship between social media use and sense of belonging.

In particular, apart from interactions with friends (Park & Lee, 2014), sharing and commenting on

sports events on social media can also lead to an increased sense of belonging and satisfaction with

campus life. Cheng (2004) described eight factors that constitute campus community: Teaching

and Learning, Residential Experience, Diversity and Acceptance, History and Tradition,

Loneliness and Stress, Socialization across Backgrounds, Open Environment, and Friendship.

Social media is well known for its inclusiveness, equality, interactivity, and versatility, which are

characteristics that enhance the formation of the sense of college attachment in terms of several of

Cheng’s factors. This perspective could help us understand more of the important role social media

plays among college students in establishing attachment.

In addition, this study found a positive relationship between college attachment and

students’ perceived well-being. Taken together, the positive relationship between social media use

related to sports events, sports participation, college attachment, and well-being confirmed the

previous theorization that attachment is dynamic, changes accordingly with changes in activities,

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

and is enhanced through events that reaffirm people’s relations with their environment (Brown &

Perkins, 1992).

More importantly, the current study aims to extend the current literature by proposing a

mediating mechanism by which sports participation influences individuals’ psychological

well-being through social media use and college attachment. Specifically, we proposed social

media use and college attachment as mediators in the relationship between sports participation and

psychological well-being. This study found that college students’ participation in sporting events

positively influences their social media use related to university sporting events and that such

social media use increases college attachment, which consequently led to levels of psychological

well-being.

The results of the present study offer some theoretical implications. The study sought to

investigate real-life activities such as sports participation as a catalyst for social media use and

found an indirect effect of sport participation on psychological well-being via social media use and

college attachment. In accordance with the uses and gratifications approach (Maxwell, 2012;

Sangwan, 2005), sports participation as an off-line social activity may motivate people to use

social media for social interactions and sharing their everyday life, and hence promote the level of

psychological gratification or psychological well-being.

The findings also suggest that social media use may not be alone in influencing individuals’

psychological well-being. Rather, everyday activities such as sports participation or social

interaction in real life should be simultaneously considered in terms of understanding people’s

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

psychological outcomes. Therefore, the findings of the current study provide an empirical

explanation for some research that demonstrated a non-significant direct influence of social media

use on individuals’ life satisfaction or perceived well-being (e.g., Park & Lee, 2014).

5.1 Limitations and directions for future research

Some limitations and suggestions for future research should be noted. First, this study

uses cross-sectional survey data that measured all variables at the same point in time, which

would limit the causality of relationships in the model. Future researchers can introduce

sequential observations and more accurate inferences of model parameters by using panel data

analysis. Secondly, future researchers could examine the relationships among social activities

other than sport participation, social media use, attachment, and perceived well-being in other

social institutions such as corporations in order to generalize the proposed model. Thirdly,

variables that might influence the relationship between social media use, attachment, and

well-being, such as social capital, network size, and personality traits (e.g., extrovert vs. introvert)

should be controlled for to enhance the internal validity of the findings. Another point that should

be noted is that it would be difficult to generalize the findings from students at one college to

students at all colleges. In particular, the sampled school in this study is a NCAA Division I

institution where sports, especially college football, is very competitive and popular, and these

factors might influence the findings of the current study. Therefore, future researchers may need

to replicate the model tested in this study with other schools, such as Division II colleges.

In addition, it is important to note that the current study could not confirm a significant

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

direct influence of sports participation on psychological well-being, though this has been found

to be an essential factor to predict psychological well-being in previous studies (Donaldson &

Ronan, 2006; Fox, 1999). This may be because our measures of sports participation focus more

on university sports events, whose nature is more social than physical like the activities

measured in previous research. Given our measurement, sports team identification, winning or

losing of the identified team may have complicated effects on perceived well-being (i.e.

self-concept may be enhanced when the identified team wins and lowered when the identified

team loses) (Wann, 2006). It is also possible that the discrepant findings in the relationship

between sport participation and psychological well-being may be a result of our survey methods.

Previous experimental research measured individuals’ well-being right after subjects took part in

sports activities and found that increased levels of physical activity had a positive relationship

with aspects of self-concept, self-esteem, and subjective well-being at all ages (Alfermann &

Stoll, 2000; Donaldson & Ronan, 2006; Fox, 1999; Hassmen, Koivula, & Uutela, 2000). Future

researchers should take this into consideration to better understand the role of sports participation

in influencing individuals’ psychological status by taking diverse measures of sports activities

and psychological outcomes.

5.2 Conclusion

Notwithstanding, the current study offers contributions to the current literature. Ever

since the emergence of social media, researchers have examined its effects on users’ attitude,

behavior, and psychological attributes. However, certain discrepancies have been detected in the

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SPORTS PARTICIPATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND WELL-BEING

literature in that some studies support the positive influences of social media use on the

audience’s psychological well-being (e.g., Kalpidou, Costin, & Morris, 2011), while others fail to

discover any direct, significant positive correlation between social media use and perceived

well-being (e.g., Park & Lee, 2014). Hence, it is reasonable to assume that merely using social

media contributes a limited amount to people’s well-being and that real sources of happiness

remain in people’s actual, in-person social lives. Because it is integrated into users’ daily lives,

social media could have been playing a mediating role in the whole process. Sports participation

could also be a representative real-life source of happiness, especially for college students, as we

have discussed before that both sports participation and social media use are particularly popular

among college students. The model proposed in this study indicates that offline sports

participation leads to more social media use as well as a sense of college attachment. With these

two factors as mediators, offline sports participation ultimately increases psychological

well-being. The critical role of offline activities also has considerable theoretical implications for

social media effect studies. The effects of social media as a mediating factor still require further

studies.

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Highlights
·College survey data of 580 participants manifests that sports participation is significantly and
positively related to their social media use about sporting events and college attachment.
·A positive relationship between social media use about sporting events and college attachment
is found.
·College attachment is positively related to students’ perceived well-being.
·Mediating effect of social media use and college attachment on the relationship between sports
participation and perceived well-being is confirmed by bootstrapping.

33