Family communication patterns and networking behavior: A moderated mediation model

ABSTRACT Objective Drawing on family communication patterns theory, introducing psychological capital and liking of school, this study explores the effect of family communication patterns on university student networking behavior. Background Individuals can establish, maintain, and develop social networks through a series of proactive networking behaviors, effectively leveraging their position within these social networks. In terms of resource acquisition, the utility of networking behaviors is not inferior to an individual's social network position. Therefore, networking behaviors have received extensive attention from scholars, but research on networking behaviors of college students on campus is limited. Method Multiwave data were collected from 191 Chinese university students. Path analysis and bootstrapping methods were used to analyze data. Results and Conclusion We found that conversation orientation positively related to psychological capital. Psychological capital is positively related to networking behavior and mediates the effect of conversation orientation on networking behavior. Furthermore, liking of school moderates the effect of psychological capital on networking behavior and the indirect effect of conversation orientation on networking behavior through psychological capital, whereby the two effects are stronger when liking of school is high. Implications The conclusion expands the research on family communication patterns and networking behavior on campus and provides practical enlightenment for parents and universities to improve college students' networking behavior on campus.