During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing is necessary to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. To compensate for the lack of social encounters, people have been advised to connect with others via digital communication channels. Drawing on a psychological framework combined with assumptions from communication science, we therefore investigated whether technology-mediated communication can actually meet individuals' social needs to foster compliance with distancing measures and whether there are differences between distinct communication channels. Based on an online survey (N = 301) during the first national lockdown in Germany, we found that the impact of audio-visual communication is limited. Instead, the data showed that text-based communication indirectly fostered willingness to adhere to physical distancing through the pathway of increased feelings of social support and life satisfaction. Three follow-up surveys (N = 180) revealed that while feelings of social support increased, people's technology-based communication and willingness to adhere to distancing measures decreased. Our results challenge the assumption that audio-visual communication compensates for lack of physical contact more effectively than text-based communication. This study highlights the potential of text-based communication to increase feelings of social support, which may be particularly important during a pandemic.

中文翻译：

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让社交回归物理距离：数字连接在大流行危机中的作用

在 COVID-19 大流行期间，保持身体距离对于减少冠状病毒的传播是必要的。为了弥补社交接触的不足，人们被建议通过数字通信渠道与他人联系。因此，我们利用心理学框架结合传播科学的假设，调查了以技术为媒介的传播是否真的可以满足个人的社会需求，以促进遵守距离措施，以及不同的传播渠道之间是否存在差异。基于在线调查 ( N = 301）在德国第一次全国封锁期间，我们发现视听交流的影响是有限的。相反，数据显示，基于文本的交流通过增加社会支持感和生活满意度的途径，间接培养了保持身体距离的意愿。三个后续调查（N = 180) 显示，虽然社会支持感增加，但人们基于技术的交流和遵守距离措施的意愿下降。我们的结果挑战了视听交流比基于文本的交流更有效地弥补身体接触不足的假设。这项研究强调了基于文本的交流在增加社会支持感方面的潜力，这在大流行期间可能尤为重要。