Abstract:

Although the phenomenon of information narrowing (echo chamber effect) is becoming increasingly prominent and has negative consequences, people would engage in echo-adaptation to cope with or mitigate the effects of information narrowing. College students are at a critical period of role transition, and their engagement in echo-adaptation may be related to the level of development of their self-identity. This study explored this issue based on the assumptions of identity capital and the I³ behavioral framework. A questionnaire survey of 366 college students was conducted. The results showed that, the score of echo-adaptive behavior was highest for college students in the ego-identity completion state, then for the transformation, and was lowest for the diffuse state. The overload information and perceived utility explained the echo-adaptive behavior of college students in the diffuse state, while the identity bubble reinforcement and perceived utility explained the echo-adaptive behavior of college students in the transformation state. The results indicate that echo-adaptive behavior for individuals in a diffuse state may be associated with ineffective and overload information recommendation, while for individuals in a transitional state, it may be related to the effective information provided by information recommendation technologies that establishs an “identity bubble” mechanism for individuals.

Key words: ego-identity, echo-adaptive behavior, information overload, identity bubble reinforcement, perceived utility

摘要：

信息窄化(回音室效应)现象日益突出并带来消极影响，但人们会采取回音适应行为以应对或消除信息窄化的影响。大学生正处于角色转变的关键时期，回音适应行为表现可能与其自我同一性发展水平有关。研究基于身份资本假设与I³行为主义框架探究并解释这一问题。使用问卷法对366名大学生进行施测，结果发现：处于自我同一性完成状态的大学生，回音适应行为得分最高，转变状态下次之，弥散状态下最低；信息过载和感知效用解释了弥散状态大学生的回音适应行为；身份气泡强化和感知效用解释了转变状态下大学生的回音适应行为。结果表明，弥散状态个体采取回音适应行为可能与无效而过载的信息推荐有关；转变状态个体采取回音适应行为可能与信息推荐为建立“身份气泡”机制提供了有效信息有关。

关键词: 自我同一性, 回音适应行为, 信息过载, 身份气泡强化, 感知效用