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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

When Looking Up Leads To Feeling Down: Situational Moderators Of The Effects Of Social Comparisons On Social Media, Madison L. Eamiello Aug 2023

When Looking Up Leads To Feeling Down: Situational Moderators Of The Effects Of Social Comparisons On Social Media, Madison L. Eamiello

Masters Theses

Social media use is ubiquitous, especially among young adults. Negative consequences of social media use has been associated with engaging in upward social comparisons with others on social media. The current paper presents a series of two studies that seek to understand the nuances of social comparisons as they occur while browsing social media. In Study 1 (N = 161) we tested whether upward social comparisons would be less harmful when the comparer focuses on the similarities, rather than differences, with the comparison target. We observed a marginal interaction indicating that when thinking about similarities with the target, upward …


Two Sides To Every Story: Investigating Changes In Cultural Attitudes Using Discourse Analysis In Computer-Mediated Infidelity Discussions, Michaela J. Dipillo May 2022

Two Sides To Every Story: Investigating Changes In Cultural Attitudes Using Discourse Analysis In Computer-Mediated Infidelity Discussions, Michaela J. Dipillo

Masters Theses

Despite overt cultural consensus on the reprehensible nature of infidelity, prevalence rates of infidelity behavior remain elevated— highlighting a substantial discrepancy between widely-accepted infidelity practices and actual behavior. To understand this incongruence and elucidate the cultural meaning of infidelity, communication surrounding infidelity warrants extensive scrutiny. The study employs methods of discourse analysis to investigate three Reddit threads from 2017, 2019, and 2021, that address infidelity. I make a case that recent changes in the discourse surrounding infidelity reflect changes in broader societal attitudes and accepted practices concerning infidelity. Using empirical methods of discourse analysis, I conducted three analytical procedures to …