Social interactions of young adults in everyday life.

This research seeks to unveil the role of social interactions, whether mediated by technology or not, in the social life of young adults in Spain. This thesis explores the role of certain stable characteristics of individuals in their way of relating (extraversion, social support and need to belong). It also investigates the variations experienced in the person's day-to-day state (perception of closeness and loneliness, well-being, desire to interact, among others), as a result of the diversity of interactions (meaningful conversations, catching up, expressing affection, among others), and the context of these interactions. Special importance has been given to the quality of these communication episodes.

The thesis is designed in three parts, the first focusing on social interactions themselves; the second on how social interactions are associated with various mobile uses (recorded directly from the mobile); the third on the impact of a mobile use intervention on the quality of social interactions.

To carry out the above, the PhD student has conducted two intensive longitudinal programs of study . In the first study, 150 young people -mainly from Navarra- were asked about their social interactions, well-being and context, 10 times a day for two weeks. In the second study, carried out with funds obtained in a call for proposals from La Caixa Social Observatory, a similar study was conducted for 6 weeks with a sample of 290 young adults from all over Spain; in this second case an intervention was carried out on the use of the cell phone while interacting face-to-face. In both cases, objective information was collected on the cell phone use of the participants.

Directors of thesis
 

Charo Sádaba Chalezquer
csadaba@unav.es