혼자여도 괜찮은 사람, 혼자라서 외로운 사람 : 일상 네트워크 구조·오락 미디어 이용 행태와 외로움 간 관계에서 여가 혼자 선호 성향의 조절효과를 중심으로

초록

Drawing on the social convoy model and the compensation-substitution framework of media use, this study examined how loneliness relates to daily network structure and recreational media use behaviors in the South Korean context where single-person households and digital transformation intersect, and how these relationships vary according to individuals' solitary leisure preference. Structural equation modeling was applied to online survey data collected from 300 adults aged 19 to 69 nationwide. In the full-sample analysis, living alone was positively associated with emotional-interpersonal and existential self-world relational loneliness, but not with physical-sensory interpersonal loneliness. In contrast, media addiction showed positive associations, and mediated communication (phone call frequency) negative associations, with all three types of loneliness experience (emotional-interpersonal, existential self-world relational, and physical-sensory interpersonal loneliness), with the strength of these associations varying across types. A moderation analysis using solitude leisure preference scores as a continuous moderator revealed significant interactions for wishful identification and immersive platform use. Notably, wishful identification was positively associated with all three loneliness dimensions at higher levels of solitude leisure preference, but showed no significant associations at lower levels. The associations of living alone with emotional and existential loneliness were likewise pronounced at higher solitude leisure preference, whereas the associations of media addiction with physical-sensory loneliness and of immersive platform use with all three loneliness types were significant only among those with stronger companionship preference. These findings suggest that the distinction among the three types of loneliness experiences is maintained at the level of antecedent relationships, and that the association between media use and loneliness should be interpreted in conjunction with users’ solitude leisure preference.

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