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Karissa Mace

Literature Review

Dr. Swenson-Lepper

CMST 380 Communication Research Methods

02/03/17

The Use of Social Media has A Negative Impact on Ones Self-Image

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Social medias influence on teenagers and young adults is an important topic to

study because millennials of this age are in the stage of life where they are

developmentally sensitive (Ramasubbu, 2016). Teenagers and young adults are also

known to be the group who actively use social media the most. Since this age group is

sensitive during this developmental stage, teenagers are more influenced by peer

pressure. This can lead to depression, participation in cyber bullying or sexting

(Ramasubbu, 2016).

As of March 31, 2016, Facebook reported 1.65 billion monthly active users and an

average 1.09 million daily active users. It was reported that 82 % of a young adults ages

18-29 use Facebook. Additionally, 50% of 18-24 year olds log onto Facebook when they

wake up and 28% check Facebook before they get out of bed (Cramer, Song, & Drent,

2016, p.1).

With social media consumption increasing immensely, not only in young adults

but the younger and older generations as well, social media is easily influential on ones

self-image. A study done on how much individuals use social media found there was a

significant increase within the past couple of years. Today, 90% of young adults use

social media, compared with 12% in 2005, a 78-percent increase (Perrin, 2015, para 10).

Social media allows people to readily access pictures, videos, and blogs about having the

ideal body image. A recent report from the United Kingdom found that social media

usage among teenage girls was the result of low-self esteem. The report found that two

thirds of 15 year old girls stated they were too fat and 41% said they did not have
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anything to eat or drink for breakfast (Granata, 2016, para 4). The report also found that

53% of 12-13 year old girls and a third of 10-11 year old girls said they wanted to lose

weight (Granata).

Not only is social media use increasing but the purchases of smartphones are

increasing as well. The majority of people in todays society own smartphones, which

correlates to the increase of accessibility to go on different social media platforms

whenever they please (this is my own words). The purpose of this review is to discuss

the following research question:

H1: The more young adults use social media the lower their self-esteem.

H2: Exposure to idealized body images will lead to lower self-esteem.

Social Media or Social Networking Sites (SNSs) is conceptually defined as web-

based services which allows an individual to compose a public profile and connect with

other users and share content (Steinfield, Ellison, &Lampe, 2008). Self-image is

conceptually defined as an individuals feelings, attitudes, and perceptions about their self

(Schenk & Holman, 1980, par. 6). Research and literature from the following areas will

be examined: (1) social media consumption, (2) Social Comparison Theory, (3) factors

that increase or decrease ones self-image, (4) the role social media plays on a persons

self-image.

Social Comparison Theory

A theory relevant to comparing oneself to others is known as Social Comparison

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Theory. Social Comparison Theory states that we seek to compare ourselves to others

we believe are similar to ourselves, particularly to determine our own levels of abilities

and successes (Bennsenoff, 2006, pp. 239-240). There are two types of social

comparison, downward social comparison and upward social comparison. Downward

social comparison is when we feel better about ourselves when we perceive someone else

to be less worthy. Upward social comparison is when we view someone else to be more

socially acceptable than us, which tends to make us question our self-worth (Bennsenoff).

Those who feel motivated to meet the ideal body image will fall into upward social

comparison. They will seek out others who are better than themselves to maintain that

ideal body (Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015). Taylor and Lobel (1989) found when people

tend to prefer downward comparison to help build self-esteem but also choose upward

comparison in hope to achieve the ideal body image, the drive is self-enhancement.

The Rise of Social Media Consumption

Throughout the last decade the use of the Internet has skyrocketed. A variety of

social media platforms have been created to keep consumers more involved and help

users stay connected with friends and family. According to King (2015) mobile

technology has provided us with a way to connect to the web and social media almost

anywhere, instead of only connecting via a desktop computer with a wired Internet

connection. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are known to

allow users to upload photos or write about themselves on their profiles, which allows

other users to comment on a particular post or picture (Nesi & Prinstein, 2015).
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The variety of features captures the audiences attention and people throughout all

generations are becoming hooked on social media.

According to Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, and Zickuhr (2010) rates of wireless

Internet use are very high in young adults. Choices of computers are also changing to the

wireless, portable version instead of the stationary desktop computer. Amongst the

younger generations, adolescents and young adults, cell phone ownership has escalated to

be the universal source of communication. It is known that within the past decade the

young adult population has been the most likely to access the Internet, with

approximately 93% of 12-17 year olds and roughly 93% of 18-29 year olds going online

(Lenhart, et al., 2010).

Self-Image

Similar to the social comparison theory, body image dissatisfaction (BID) is the

negative evaluations of ones physical body, shape, and weight. BID has consistently

been implicated in the aetiology and maintenance of eating disorders (Cohen &

Blaszczynski, 2015, p. 1). Appearance comparison (AC) is the link for comparison

between societys standards and ones own standards of body image. The connection of

BID and AC has consistently shown in the conventional media images of the ideal body.

Females caught up in these images tend to compare themselves to that particular image

and struggle with body image dissatisfaction (2015). Those with low self-esteem who are

uncertain about their self-image usually rely on social comparison information for a

better understanding about themselves (2015). Being uncertain about oneself can
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develop a lot of unwanted emotions. Multiple studies have found a range of negative

emotions, like envy, jealousy, and unhappiness, to increase after participants were

negatively compared to targets who outperformed them on relevant dimensions (Nabi &

Keblusek, 2014, p. 210)

Lee, S.Y (2014) found that higher use of comparing oneself on Facebook resulted

in lower self-esteem. Self-discrepancies are representations in the self-concept of ways

in which one falls short of some important standard (Bessenoff. 2006, p. 240). High

levels of self-discrepancy have been know to cause different types of negative emotions,

which includes feeling inferior, dissatisfaction with oneself, or feeling mortified, which

could lead to depression (Bessenoff, 2006). To fully understand why this occurs, the

Self-discrepancy theory (SDT) suggests that perceived inconsistencies or discrepancies

between the actual self and either the ideal self or the ought self result in specific negative

effects that, over time, develop into patterns of emotional distress (Nabi & Keblusek,

2014, p. 212).

Wheeler and Miyake (1992) asked 39 men and 55 women enrolled in the

University of Rochester to keep records of social comparisons everyday for two weeks.

After the records, each participant was given a postexperimental questionnaire. They

found that exposure to someone who is either inferior or superior could lead to either

negative or positive feelings. Being exposed to someone who is inferior makes one feel

better about themselves because they see themselves as more blessed than the other

person but know that could change. After being exposed to someone who is superior,
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people then to feel negative about themselves but it gives them motivation to strive to be

better.

Social Media influences Self-Image

Social media is easily accessible and has over a billion users. It allows people to

become friends or follow those they have no interpersonal relationship with. There

is growing evidence that following strangers on SNS and comparing oneself to others

have important implications for well being (Lup, Trub, & Rosenthal, 2015, p. 248).

When people browse through attractive peoples profile pictures it causes people to

experience more negative emotions than looking at an individual's photos they view as

unattractive, this could eventually lead to depression (Lup, et al., 2015, p. 248).

Throughout the years of social media, a word has been created for the constant reminder

women receive daily, thinspiration. Thinspiration is a term for pictures, videos, quotes,

songs, or other forms of media that inspire girls who are trying to lose large amounts of

weight or maintain an anorexic or bulimic lifestyle (Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015, pp 1).

An experimental study conducted by Groesz, Levine, & Murnen (2001) used a

meta-analysis approach to find the effects of the thin ideal images of female bodies

shown throughout mass media had on women. To conduct their research, the researchers

collected data from 25 different studies relevant to the topic. From the 25 studies, they

looked at the main effect of media images of slender, flawless womens bodies. Also,

they controlled for the effect of former body dissatisfaction problems, the age of the

participants, the amount of stimulus presented to each participant, and research design
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used (Groesz, et al., 2015). The results of this study showed that body image is

extremely negative after participants viewed the ideal body images than after images of

oversized models or average sized models (Groesz, et al., 2015).

Cohen and Blaszczynski (2015) compared the effects of Facebook and

conventional media on body image satisfaction. They randomly sampled 193 females

who were first year psychology undergraduate students; these students received course

credit for participating in the study. The participants were randomly put into two different

groups; to view a set of either Facebook or conventional media thin-ideal images (2015).

Participants were given pre-and post-image exposure questionnaires that measured ideal

thin body society puts a big emphasis on, appearance comparison, self-esteem, Facebook

use and eating disorder risk (2015). They found according to exposure type, Facebook or

conventional media, appearance comparison only showed body image dissatisfaction

change for those exposed to Facebook. Facebook was also associated with higher eating

disorder risk (2015). Implications with this study failed to demonstrate that the

relationship between AC and

Vogel, Rose, Okdie, Eckles, and Franz (2015) wanted to see the effect of social

comparison orientation on social media use. To get a better understanding of what the

study entailed, they divided up the research into three mini-studies. Study 1a and 1b

focused on the relationship between social comparison orientation and social media use.

Study two examined the differential effects social comparison occurring on social media

for people high and low in social comparison orientation (SCO) (Vogel, et al., 2015,

p.250). Study 1a included 145 undergraduate participants (106 female) and looked at

frequency of Facebook use and psychological involvement. Participants completed a set

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of questionnaires involving social media use for exchange of course credit (2015). The

researchers measured two different ideas: the frequency of Facebook use and

psychological involvement. For Facebook use, participants were asked questions like,

How often do you use Facebook? (1=never, 5=very often), or How often do you

comment on others Facebook profiles? (1= never or almost never, 2=once a year,

3=once a month, 4=once a week, 5=once a day, 6=multiple times a day) (Vogel, et al.,

2015, p.250). Results of study 1a concluded that individuals who reported they tend to

compare themselves to others daily also tend to use Facebook more often (2015).

Study 1b included 275 undergraduate students who participated for course credit

(157 female), which looked at psychological involvement and intensity of Facebook use

(Vogel, et al., 2015). Participants were asked questions about their psychological

involvement and how involved they are in Facebook (2015). For psychological

involvement in Facebook was assessed using the same scale used in study 1a, a 5-point

Likert-type scale. To measure intensity of Facebook use, researchers used the Facebook

Intensity Scale; six items were measured by 1-5 Likert-type scale. Samples included

Facebook is part of my everyday activity or I feel I am part of the Facebook

community (2015). Results of study 1b found their passion of Facebook use and

involvement were strongly correlated (2015).

Study 2 included 120 undergraduate students (92 female) which looked at the

consequences of Facebook use for self-evaluation and affect differ for those high versus

low in SCO (Vogel, et al., 2015, p. 251). Participants came to the lab for a study on

social media use in college students, and were randomly assigned to one of three

conditions. Facebook Experimental, Facebook Control, or Non-Facebook Control. For

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the Facebook Experimental group, they looked at a high school friends Facebook page

that was the same age and sex as them. In the Facebook Control group, they were told to

view their own Facebook profile, and the Non-Facebook Control group looked at

unrelated matters to the topic, which included reading cell phone reviews. Each group

had five minutes to review the material they were assigned to.

Results across measures suggest a consistent influence of SCO on the effects of

social media use. These results showed participants who were high in social comparison

orientation had lower self-esteem and were more negatively affected when browsing an

acquaintance's Facebook profile, than those who were low in social comparison

orientation. (Vogel, et al., 2015, p.253).

After examining the research, it was found that a majority of the studies that have

been conducted primarily focused on women and how easily they are affected by the

ideal body image they see on social media websites. There is little research on how

social media impacts males self esteem and if it correlates with females. This study aims

to fill this gap by including both genders in the study to see if social media has the same

negative impact on males as it does on females. This study will be analyzing the

following research question:

H1: The more young adults use social media the lower their self-esteem.

H2: Exposure to idealized body images will lead to lower self-esteem.

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