Exploring the beneficial effects of social networking site use on Chinese students' perceptions of social capital and psychological well-being in Germany

The objective of this exploratory research is to investigate whether and how different types of social networking site (SNS) interactions are related to Chinese international students' various dimensions of social capital and perceived psychological well-being. Based on a sample of 206 Chinese international students in Germany, findings indicate that after controlling for demographic characteristics, social use of SNS is positively associated with improvements in users' well-being while entertainment use is not. Additionally, using SNS for entertainment proposes is a significant predictor of users' bridging social capital. However, bridging social capital on SNS is not related to the perceived psychological well-being. Furthermore, the study demonstrates a positive indirect effect mechanism by which social use of SNS would influence and psychological well-being through bonding and maintained social capital. Therefore, these empirical results offer significant implications for a more nuanced understanding of the crucial role of social media in sojourners' social connectedness as well as quality of life in an intercultural context.