The paradoxical story of the ‘good at’: Research on the relationship between new media literacy and digital hoarding behaviour of Chinese youth

What the paper says

Digital hoarding is a newly emerging phenomenon in academia, with researchers having explored it from multiple disciplinary perspectives in recent years. However, empirical research from the perspective of communication studies is limited. Notably, digital hoarding behaviours are closely linked to individuals’ media usage patterns. Accordingly, our research grounded in theories of Social Cognition and Overconfidence Bias, Technology Acceptance Model, investigates the relationship between new media literacy and digital hoarding behaviours among Chinese youth ( N = 399, M age = 27.5). We also introduce information overload and information anxiety as two mediating variables that may function as explanatory mechanisms. The findings indicate that higher levels of new media literacy are associated with more pronounced digital hoarding behaviour, while greater new media literacy is also linked to lower levels of information overload and information anxiety. Furthermore, higher levels of information overload and information anxiety correspond to more severe digital hoarding behaviours. In addition, a positive relationship exists between information overload and information anxiety. Information overload mediates the relationship between new media literacy and digital hoarding behaviour, reversing the relationship so that increased new media literacy leads to a reduction in perceived information overload, which subsequently results in less digital hoarding behaviour. Our study offers empirical evidence from a new media literacy perspective, contributing to the research on digital hoarding, providing insights into young people’s information management practices.