The Motivation for Facebook Use - Is it a Matter of Bonding or Control over Others? Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Study

In the present study, we investigated individual differences in the motivation for Facebook use. In total N = 736 participants from Europe and Asia took part in the study. They filled in the Facebook questionnaire (FQ), including the two factors Attitude toward Facebook and Online Sociability, and the Unified Motive Scale (UMS-3), measuring the motives Achievement, Affiliation, Intimacy, Power, and Fear. The results showed that the Attitude toward Facebook was more positive in the subsample from Asia, but no differences could be found between the Asian and European sample with respect to the frequency of use of different activities on Facebook. The motives Fear, Power, Affiliation, and Intimacy significantly predicted the FQ factor Attitudes. Furthermore, the Attitude toward Facebook mediated the associations between the motives Power/Affiliation and Online Sociability. However, these results were only found for the European sample. The associations found suggest the important role of different motives such as Power/Affiliation for the study of Facebook use. The present work shows the possibility of motivational factors for Facebook use to differ depending on the culture. The study adds to the literature by investigating a classic motivation theory in the context of Facebook use.