Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Inspiration On Social Media: Applying An Entertainment Perspective To Longitudinally Explore Mental Health And Well-Being, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Arthur A. Raney, Mary Beth Oliver, Katherine R. Dale, Danyang Zhao, Dominik Neumann, Russell B. Clayton, Alysia A. Hendry

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

The conditions under which social media use impacts well-being and mental health are complex. The current 10-day longitudinal quasi-experiment (student sample, N = 111) applied an entertainment theory lens to explore the effects of active posting and engaging with hedonic or inspiring Facebook content (vs. passive browsing) on young people’s eudaimonic well-being (levels of connectedness to humanity, love, compassion, presence of meaning) and mental health (anxiety and depressive symptoms). The results provide tentative evidence that finding and sharing inspiring content to a Facebook group increased love and compassion toward others over time. It also led to more compassion at the …

Self-Transcendent Emotions And Social Media: Exploring The Content And Consumers Of Inspirational Facebook Posts, Katherine R. Dale, Arthur A. Raney, Qihao Ji, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Joshua Baldwin, Jerrica T. Rowlett, Cen Wang, Mary Beth Oliver

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Although a great deal of research has examined the potential negative effects of Facebook, studies also show that Facebook use can lead to various positive effects. This study builds on this positive effects scholarship: together, the two studies presented herein aim to provide an understanding of the inspirational content available on Facebook and the way social media users in the United States encounter, recall, and interact with this content. Results from the quantitative content analysis in Study 1 show that inspirational Facebook posts contain similar frequencies of hope and appreciation of beauty and excellent elicitors when compared with other forms …

The Relationship Among Social Media, Interpersonal Relationships, And Self-Conscious Emotions, Mikayla Stone

McNair Scholars Research

This study examined the relationship among social media, interpersonal relationships, and self-conscious emotions. Participants responded to surveys that were distributed on Facebook and through email. The participants varied in age, gender, and ethnicity. Each participant responded to a four-part online survey. The survey contained the following scales: TOSCA (assesses the self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt-proneness), Social Media Use (measures the usage of social media of the individual), and Dispositional Authenticity and Relationship Authenticity (measures interpersonal relationship). These three variables were analyzed quantitatively and compared to find significant negative correlations.

Who Posts Selfies And Why?: Personality, Attachment Style, And Mentalization As Predictors Of Selfie Posting On Social Media, Nancy Adler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the phenomenon of selfie posting on social media and its relationship to narcissism, the Dark Triad, impulsivity, attachment style, rejection sensitivity, and reflective functioning. The sample was made up of 499 participants who completed an online survey consisting of personality measures and open- and closed-ended questions about selfie posting behavior. Data were analyzed using a negative binomial regression model.

Results: The study found that individuals with high levels of the Dark Triad trait of psychopathy post more selfies on social media than do individuals with low levels of the trait. The Dark Triad trait of narcissism was …

Do You “Like” Me?: Reassurance Seeking On Facebook And Depression, Callista Forchuk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The objective of this study was to expand interpersonal theories of depression by incorporating online social behaviour. This study assessed the influence of Facebook reassurance seeking on concurrent depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of attachment anxiety in this relation. A sample of 458 undergraduates (68% female; mean age 18.54) completed self-report computer-based questionnaires of offline reassurance seeking, Facebook reassurance seeking, attachment style, and depression. Contrary to hypotheses, Facebook reassurance seeking was not associated with depressive symptoms. However, there was an interaction whereby, for those higher in attachment anxiety, more Facebook reassurance seeking was associated with lessened depressive …

Social Networking: Creating A Society Of Narcissists Or Helping People Reach Self-Actualization?, Kris E. Munakash

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Social networking sites (SNSs) are growing in popularity and diversity. Prior research has shown that SNSs use is correlated with various personality traits including narcissism. To date, no work has examined the association between SNSs use and self-actualization. Given the potential overlap of narcissism and self-actualization, the goal of the present study was to first examine the conceptual overlap of these two intrapersonal characteristics. We then sought to examine the associations between SNSs use, narcissism, and self-actualization with an expectation that self-actualization would mediate the association between SNSs use and narcissism. One thousand six hundred and four adults completed an …

How Technology Interacts With Emerging Adulthood Psychosocial Developmental Tasks: An Examination Of Online Self-Presentation And Cell Phone Usage, Samantha Lynn Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation outlines three distinct, yet interrelated, projects aimed at understanding the role of technology in relation to emerging adulthood developmental tasks: individuation & identity development. The first paper provides a context for understanding the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, and the role that technology may serve in relation to those developmental tasks. This brief review of the literature on emerging adulthood developmental tasks provides a solid theoretical background and history for the theoretical premises proposed for the respective studies included in this dissertation. The second project is an empirical investigation that seeks to understand how the task of identity …

Correlates Of Social Anxiety, Religion, And Facebook, Lee Farquhar, Theresa Davidson

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This study examined how religiosity, network homophily, and self-monitoring relate to social and Facebook-specific anxiety, role conflict, and Facebook Intensity. Correlation analyses indicate a connection between Facebook use and anxiety, as well as a link between religiosity and anxiety. We found that Role Conflict correlates with Facebook Intensity, Facebook specific Anxiety, and Social Anxiety. Regarding religiosity, those who prefer aliteral interpretation of the Bible, attend church more frequently, and pray more often have higher anxiety. Facebookers who are higher self-monitors have a less homophilous Facebook network and are less likely to identifytheir religious views on Facebook.

Correlates Of Social Anxiety, Religion, And Facebook, Lee Farquhar, Theresa Davidson

Lee Farquhar

Every Breath You Take: An Examination Of The Natural Phenomenon Of Stalking, Gordon A. Crews, Sara K. Green, Paige A. Heinrich

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

Everyone is a potential stalker, given the right set of circumstances. There are a vast number of tools readily available—from social media networking to easily accessible websites that provide background checks for a minimal fee—that allow individuals to observe the life (or lives) of whomever they so desire. But what are the innate, essential traits and characteristics of an individual that extends beyond the more normative expression of romantic interest and the general curiosity that is a natural and accepted occurrence for anyone who has ever been infatuated with another? This paper will consider the intentionality and motivation behind stalking, …

Effects Of Gender And Facebook Use On The Development Of Mature Interpersonal Relationships, John D. Foubert, Ryan C. Masin

John D. Foubert

This study analyzed the effects of gender and the intensity of Facebook use on college students’ development of mature interpersonal relationships at a large Midwestern University. Small, significant negative relationships between the development of mature interpersonal relationships and Facebook use intensity existed, with slightly more negative correlations found when only peer relationships were considered. A two-way ANOVA revealed significant effects of both gender and Facebook use intensity on the development of mature interpersonal relationships. A significant difference was found between heavy and light Facebook users, with students who use Facebook more intensely having less developed mature interpersonal relationships than those …

Like Or Dislike: The Emotional Toll Of Being On Facebook, Lauren N. Weathers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the relationship between affect changes or lack thereof when one logs onto Facebook or Yahoo!. Facebook was specifically chosen for examination in the current study due to its widespread use, its vast effect on society, and its unique features that allow users to obtain information and have social interaction at the same time. Yahoo! served as a control due to the fact that it is a highly popular site that has similar features of Facebook without having the social functions. Both sites allow users to observe news that is pertinent and of interest to them and …

Putting Their Best Foot Forward: Emotional Disclosure On Facebook, Lin Qiu, Han Lin, Angela Ka Yee Leung, William Tov

Ka Yee Angela LEUNG

Facebook has become a widely used online self-representation and communication platform. In this research, we focus on emotional disclosure on Facebook. We conducted two studies, and results from both self-report and observer rating show that individuals are more likely to express positive relative to negative emotions and present better emotional well-being on Facebook than in real life. Our study is the first to demonstrate impression management on Facebook through emotional disclosure. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of our study.

Putting Their Best Foot Forward: Emotional Disclosure On Facebook, Lin Qiu, Han Lin, Angela K. Y. Leung, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Facebook has become a widely used online self-representation and communication platform. In this research, we focus on emotional disclosure on Facebook. We conducted two studies, and results from both self-report and observer rating show that individuals are more likely to express positive relative to negative emotions and present better emotional well-being on Facebook than in real life. Our study is the first to demonstrate impression management on Facebook through emotional disclosure. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of our study.

Correlation Between Facebook Usage And Loneliness And Depression, Jasmine (Chi Man) Tang, Michael Livingston

Psychology Faculty Publications

Facebook has emerged into our society within the last couple years as a powerful social phenomenon. 11.5% of the world population are active users of Facebook while there is a serious lack of psychological theory relating to functions or effects of Facebook. Researchers began realizing the importance of investigating the usage of Facebook and how that might be related to different personality traits. However, not much research has been done on how Facebook use could be related to our social well-beings.

The current study aims to investigate how the use of Facebook influences loneliness and depression. The results showed that …

Adolescent Use Of Social Networking Sites And Internet Safety, Mary Kate Whitcomb

Psychology and Child Development

The use of computers and the Internet continue to increase, especially by children and adolescents. Approximately 40% of adolescents access social networking sites in a typical day and spend on average 54 minutes on the sites (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Social networking sites, such as Facebook, allow users to provide personal information, continually update information, post images, and communicate with friends. Due to an increase in availability, media has become greatly related to the socialization of adolescents. Identity formation is a major component of adolescence and social networking sites are a realm in which adolescents can explore and express …