The relationship between social network opinions and relationship attribution: Independent reactance as a moderator

The current study is to investigate the effect of social network opinions on relationship attribution and also the moderating effect of independent reactance between social network opinions and relationship attribution in Chinese context. Participants were 235 college students in Guangdong Province (mean age = 21.89) who completed questionnaires through online survey website (Sojump website). The questionnaires included a scenario story, a psychological reactance scale and a relationship attribution measure. Results showed that 1) when network opinions are from parents, there is no effect of network opinions on relationship attribution; 2) When network opinions are from friends, there is an interaction between network opinions and independent reactance on relationship attribution. Low independent reactance is more likely to be influenced by network opinions than high independent reactance. Findings suggest that independent reactance has played the role as moderator between social network opinions and relationship attribution. Moreover, friends’ opinions are more influential on young adults’ romantic relationship than parents’ opinions. All rights reserved.