Running head: THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND

EMPATHY TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT

The Effects Social Media Usage has on Empathy Levels Toward Victims Surrounding Sexual

Assault

Holly Blackstead, Caitlyn Bashara, Makenna Brooks, Daniel Brown

Bryant University

Abstract
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
1

This study looked at the relationship between the amount of time an individual spends

using social media, and how that affects the empathy levels he or she has toward victims of

sexual assault. Participants were asked to complete a Qualtrics survey asking them a variety of

questions to measure the amount of time they spend on social networking sites, their level of

issue engagement on important social issues, and their level of empathy expressed toward sexual

assault victims. This study disproved findings from a different study stating that there is a

significant relationship between issue engagement and social media usage. In no condition does

time spent using social media increase empathy toward sexual assault victims.

Keywords: social media, social networking sites, issue engagement, empathy, sexual assault

victims

Introduction

The ever-expanding world of social media has created an online universe providing users

with a platform to share their opinions, stories, and pictures at the click of a button. Not only has

social networking sites allowed users to connect with those all over the world, but it has created a

platform for justice. With research that has found it is a place for public discussion, it has paved

the way for social movements such as #MeToo, which focuses on raising awareness on sexual

assault and violence. With 81% of the United States population on social media (Edison

Research 2017), countless citizens have made their voices heard regarding their experiences

surrounding the issue of sexual assault on Facebook and Twitter. The exposure to these

movements through the use of social media allows users to increase their own awareness and

engagement of these social issues. This increase in issue engagement potentially changes the
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
2

amount of empathy and understanding a social networking site user has toward victims of sexual

assault. For this study, we explored whether individuals who are engaged on social media have

an increased level of empathy toward victims of sexual assault.

Review of the Literature

Social Media Usage

According to Boyd and Ellison (2007) social media is a web-based service that allows

individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, create a list of

other users with whom they share a connection, and view and go through their list of connections

and those made by others within the system. Some of the most popular social media sites include

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A more professional term for social media is “social

networking sites”. Social Networking Sites (SNSs) allow users to interact virtually with others.

Some of the features of the SNSs include profiles, friends, comments, and private messaging; the

network sites are constructed as personal or “egocentric”, with the individual as the center of

their own community (2007). The SNS being “egocentric” creates more motivation for the user

to visit the site. Oh and Syn (2015) found that motivation can focus on rewards, either internal

rewards for self-ego or incentives given by the external community. In regard to social media

usage, “likes” and comments would be the reward given by the online community.

We believe that individuals are navigating social media sites to fulfill their own needs

and wants. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helps to explain why users are motivated to use SNSs.

Cao, Jiang, Oh, Li, and Lia (2013) conducted a study to analyze users’ continuance intention of

social networking services. The researchers developed and assessed a Maslow needs-based SNS

continuance intention model. Their findings state that “fulfillment of self-actualization needs,
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
3

and fulfillment of social needs are found to have a significant impact on satisfaction. Among

these constructs, confirmation appears to be the strongest factor, followed by fulfillment of social

needs and fulfillment of self-actualization needs. The results indicate that users' satisfaction with

SNSs typically comes from adjustments of their expectations” (2013). The results indicate that

SNSs can contribute to self-actualization fulfillment which will in turn contribute to the user’s

continuance intention. When an individual’s need is satisfied, they will continue performing a

behavior thus leading to an increase in social media usage.

The way individuals interact with others help to fulfill their social need because they are

seeing what their friends are doing and liking, and therefore feel more connected to them.

Recently on these sites individuals are beginning to express their political and social justice ideas

and views to their friends. In 2012, 60% of adults in the United States used some sort of social

media sight, and of those, 66% have posted “about civic and political issues, react to others’

postings, press friends to act on issues and vote, follow candidates, ‘like’ and link to others’

content, and belong to groups formed on social networking sites” (Rainie, Smith, Scholzman,

Henry, Verba, 2012). This attributes to individuals becoming aware of issues due to what those

who they are connected with post and share. A national survey by the Pew Research Center

looked at how American adults use SNS sights. Among those who were surveyed, “31% of

social media users have used the tools to encourage other people to take action on a political or

social issue that is important to them” (Rainie, Smith, Scholzman, Henry, Verba, 2012).

Additionally, “21% of those who use SNS or Twitter belong to a group on a social networking

site that is involved in political or social issues, or that is working to advance a cause” (Rainie,

Smith, Scholzman, Henry, Verba, 2012). Theses statistics help to understand how social media

leads to issue engagement.

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
4

We argue that if an individual sees their friend share a post about sexual assault they

become engaged in the topic and begin to think about the issue more. With more individuals

posting about sensitive issues and their own opinions regarding them, public discussion around

the issue may occur. It could also be argued that seeing a friend post such content would make

the individual feel more connected and involved with the issue of sexual assault. In turn, when

the individual is more engaged they should experience higher levels of empathy regarding the

topic.

Issue Engagement of Sexual Assault

According to the 2016 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), “Aggravated

assault (58 percent) and robbery (54 percent) were more likely to be reported to police than

simple assault (38 percent) and rape or sexual assault (23 percent).” Through the decades there

have been numerous studies conducted looking at the number of sexual assaults that go

unreported and reasons why. One of the biggest reasons found is due to victim blaming. In 1990,

Lake conducted a study on whether rape victims’ names should be published in the newspaper.

Lake (1990) concluded that “media reportage of rape victims’ names, when the stigma attached

to rape and resultant pleas for secrecy endure, clearly discourages the reporting of rape to the

police by victims.” This is because he claimed many victims felt responsible for the crime due to

public stigma. Interestingly now in 2017, a study by Li, Kim, and O’Boyle called for further

research in hope of reducing victim blaming. They said, “Given that social media use can

enhance college students’ perceived importance, it is likely that they can also contribute, at least

indirectly, to eradicating victim-blaming perceptions and myths about sexual assault victims”

(2017).
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
5

The basis of the research by Li, Kim and O’Boyle (2017) was to “investigate whether

mass media can influence perceptions of who is primarily responsible for the crime.” They found

that that there were significant correlations between social media use and issue engagement

variables. The researchers defined issue engagement as “the extent to which a student engages

himself or herself in the issue of sexual assault” (2017). In their study they broke down the issue

engagement variable by using knowledge, attitude, and behavior principles focusing on

perceived importance, perceived risk, and perceived involvement. Issue engagement is overall

how much an individual is aware and engaged in the issue of sexual assault.

In regards to sexual assault, increase in issue engagement could be due to an increase in

public discussion about the issue. Park, Kee and Valenzuala conducted a study examining

college students and social media and found that, “social media seem to play a particularly

important role among college students, allowing them to gather information, elaborate on the

issue, and receive mobilizing information that can in turn help students engage more actively in

relevant discussions and activities” (2009). This statement is also related to a study by Brush and

Saye (2008) who said the more students think and elaborate on a topic the more he or she is

engaged with the issue.

An increase in public discussion and issue engagement would mean more individuals are

aware of the issue, and may be more apt to be empathetic toward individuals dealing with the

issue. Brush and Saye (2008) posed a question whether issue engagement would lead to an

increase in empathy, and was tested in regards to historical context. They stated that “The

concepts of historical empathy as caring and engagement are also related. One could argue that

learners must be engaged in the topic under study in order to demonstrate both caring and

perspective taking” (Brush&Sage 2008). Therefore we believe that when an individual is

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
6

exposed to sexual assault information on social media they become more engaged in the topic;

thinking and possibly expressing his or her own opinion. The result of the engagement would

lead to an increase in empathy toward sexual assault victims.

Empathy

Whenever someone goes through a traumatic experience, they are in need and search of

support. As social media rapidly became popular in recent years, people quickly turned to using

social networking sites (SNSs) to find the support, empathy, and encouragement they needed.

SNSs, such as Facebook and Twitter, are typically the two most popular platforms people turn to

when looking for a social support group. A research article mentioned that, “although prior

research displayed positive relationships between social media use and social capital or

perception of social support, whether the use of social media directly affects supportive

interactions has not been thoroughly examined.” (Heewon, 2014). “Support” is a very diverse

category that can be interpreted in multiple ways. For our research, we are focusing on the

amount of empathy one expresses toward a victim of sexual assault, and if the amount of time

they spend on SNSs influences their level of empathy.

“Aronson (1995) considers empathy to be our ability to experience pain after seeing

someone else in pain. This ability, Aronson continues, determines whom we help and in what

situations we assist others” (Collins, 2014). Our project was inspired because we noticed that

campaigns such as #MeToo have gained an incredible amount of attention, resulting in a chain

reaction of multiple people sharing their own personal sexual assault stories and others

expressing their love and empathy toward the victims. “Emotional support, as described earlier,

generally occurs when sympathy or empathy is expressed or exchanged” (Myrick, Holton,

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
7

Himelboim, & Love, 2016). To further explain empathy, it is the ability to know and understand

how another is feeling, and to express your compassion because you have also felt that way

before.

“There are both affective and cognitive components to empathy” (Collins, 2014).

Affective empathy relates more to the emotional understanding and response one person has

toward another person’s feelings. Cognitive empathy, is described as “the comprehension,

understanding and prediction of someone else’s mental state” (Collins, 2014). Previous studies

have found that, “when individuals perceive that an issue may have direct impact on their own

lives or that the outcomes of the issues may be highly personally-relevant, they become more

involved with the issue.” (Li, Kim, & O’Boyle 2016). For example, a study was conducted by

Myrick, Holton, Himelboim, and Love looking at the functionality of online spaces for health-

related issues, in particular, the social groups formed online for people suffering from cancer.

One thing they discovered was, “While reading a tweet containing social support might not fully

engage a user who is just browsing through the website and incidentally encounters a cancer

related message, there exists the opportunity (encouraged by site features) to reply to or share the

tweet containing social support elements, thereby adding an element of action to previous

conceptualizations of support reception as passive.” (Myrick, Holton, Himelboim, & Love,

2016). In their paper, they analyzed how people utilize SNSs to give and receive emotional

support by expressing their empathy.

Two of the most widely used social networking sites are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook

provides a platform for the creation of “groups”, making it more accessible for people to be

included in an online social support community, and Twitter is very popular with hashtags which

organizes similar posts together into one category if it is used. Hashtags may be used on most
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
8

forms of social media, and the chance of a post or video appearing on one’s newsfeed is

increased if it has a hashtag in the caption that is popular. To use the #MeToo campaign as an

example, victims shared their traumatic stories on social media and included the hashtag

“#MeToo” within their caption. This hashtag became very popular, and was increasingly used by

sexual assault victims. As a result, the chance that these stories would appear and be seen on a

user’s newsfeed increased. We assume that users who spend more time on social media are more

likely to come across these stories. Furthermore, we are interested to discover if the more time

one uses social media has an affect on their empathy levels toward victims of sexual assault.

For our research, we are interested in testing to see if there is a relationship between the

amount of time one spends on social media and if that affects how empathetic the users are

toward victims of sexual assault. We are particularly interested in researching this because sexual

assault is a very controversial topic, yet movements such as the #MeToo campaign have received

a lot of momentum in recent years, and it was greatly due to the increased use and popularity of

social networking sites. Previous studies have already concluded that there is a relationship

between social media use and issue engagement. Furthermore, other studies have examined the

relationship between issue engagement and empathy level. Considering the fact that sexual

assault is a growing issue that social media users have been engaging in through social

movements such as #MeToo, we decided to test whether or not there is a relationship between

social networking site usage and empathy levels because both variables were found to have a

relationship with issue engagement.

Rationale
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
9

Social networking sites have played an imperative role in the perceived acceptance and

support for those who are experiencing difficult times. Twitter and Facebook, among other sites,

have given their users the ability to reach out to millions of people and offer words of

encouragement through factors including comment sections, likes, and hashtags. When social

media campaigns like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter arise, we see the courageousness of those

who step up and share their stories and preach for justice. Due to the popularity of social

networking sites, and the fact that anybody can have their own platform online, it has paved the

way for the exposure of injustices to a vast online population. The social injustice we want to

focus on is sexual assault, and how social media can help increase empathy towards victims of

sexaul assault.

Previous research found that individuals are motivated to continuously use social media

to fulfill their own needs, and many individuals choose to post about social injustices. We

believe that the more time people spend using social media, the more they come in contact with

the issue of sexual assault. Therefore with increased exposure to sexual assault content, the

individual will be more engaged with the topic; engaged attributing to perceived importance,

perceived risk, and perceived involvement. As mentioned in the literature review, a relationship

between social media usage and issue engagement has been proven along with a relationship

between issue engagement and empathy.

Having said this, we hypothesize

H1: There is a positive relationship between social media usage and empathy towards

sexual assault victims.

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
10

Our group believes that these users who are constantly engaging online with others,

whether they are experiencing the same issues or not, are going to be more empathetic, as whole,

toward victims of sexual assault.

Methods

Procedure and Sample

Each team member was instructed to send a survey out to participants on Qualtrics that

contained 40 different questions. The survey recorded 130 responses. However, a manipulation

check was done showing that 31 surveys were left incomplete. Thus, they were taken out of our

analysis, leaving us with 99 surveys. Of the 99 participants, 25 were male and 74 were female,

with a mean age of 29.19. Question items included topics of sexual assault attributing to the

subject’s perceived issue importance, the perceived risks, and their own involvement with the

topic. Additionally, the participants were asked to fill out Likert type scales on empathy and their

social media habits.

Measurement and Analysis

Social Media: Our research will measure the amount of time individuals spend on SNSs

using a social networking time use scale (SONTUS). This scale was constructed by researchers

at Kware State University. The researchers used exploratory and confirmatory studies to prove

that SONTUS can be used as a standardized instrument for measuring time spent on sites

(Olufadi 2015). Many researcher have tested the SONTUS scale in previous studies, but on a

single- item scale (Ellison et al., 2007; Joinson, 2008; Pempek et al., 2009; Valenzuela et al.,

2009). The research at Kware State provide a deep conceptualization of SNS usage time. The
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
11

multidimensional questionnaire focuses on items related to time spent on social media during

relaxation and free periods, academic-related periods, public-places related use, stress related

periods, and motives for use (2015). The higher the score the more time individuals spent using

SNSs. We modified the survey by taking out questions that applied to motives of use because we

are focusing on the time spent on the network.

This 17-item Likert scale focuses on time spent on SNSs during relaxation and free

periods, academic-related periods, and public-places related use. The scale asks respondents to

rate how much time they spent on Social Networking Sites during the past week in the particular

situations and places. (1 = Not applicable to me during the past week or I never used it during the

past week. 2 = I used it once during the past week. 3= I used it between 2 and 3 times during the

past week. 4= I used it more than 3 times during the past week). Cronbach’s Alpha for this was

.866.

Issue Engagement: Our second independent variable measured questions surrounding

individuals’ perceived importance of sexual assault, their own perceived risks, and involvement

with the issue. We adapted our measurement from a previous survey on issue engagement by Li,

Kim, and O’Boyle (2017). Their survey also looked into media exposure, but focused more on

responsibility of sexual assault. The sample for their survey focused solely on college students,

and put emphasis on the issue at college campuses whereas our study is looking at the issue in

regards to the whole population. (𝛼 .843).

Perceived importance was measured by asking respondents to determine their opinion of

the seriousness of sexual assaults, their concerns about the issue, the need to improve the

situation, and the need for individuals to pay more attention to the issue (𝛼 = .901).
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
12

Perceived risk was measured by asking respondents to measure the percentage of

individuals in the United States and people they know who have experienced sexual assault or an

attempted assault (𝛼 =.740).

Involvement was measured with three questions about how much individuals were

affected, connected to, or involved with an issue of sexual assault. This 9-item Likert Scale was

measured on a 5 point scale. Each question had its own scale wording, for example involvement

with the issue of sexual assault (1=not at all; 5= very much). Cronbach’s alpha for this was

𝛼= .819.

Empathy. The scale we used to measure empathy levels is called the Rape-Victim

Empathy Scale (REMV). The REMV is a revision of the Rape Empathy Scale (RES). The RES

was created by Deitz and his colleagues in 1982, but it had many weaknesses. In 2003, Smith

and Frieze, “adopted a revised approach and developed two gender neutral scales to measure

empathy for the rape victim and the perpetrator: Rape-Victim Empathy Scale (REMV) and

Rape-Perpetrator Empathy Scale (REMP). These scales have a parallel structure, and reflect

emotional and cognitive aspects regarding the rape victim and the perpetrator, measuring

empathy during (the during subscale) and after rape (the post subscale).” (Ferrão, Gonçalvesab,

Parreiraa, Christophe Giger, 2013). We used the questionnaire provided in the REMV scale and

removed questions accordingly to fit our study.

The REMV (Smith and Frieze, 2003) assesses how participants feel about a rape victim

and consists of 13 questions that measure empathy. Participants are asked to rate their agreement

on each item based on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree), (Ferrão,

Gonçalvesab, Parreiraa, Christophe Giger, 2013). A higher score indicates higher empathy

toward the victim. (𝛼 =.843).

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
13

Results

Our hypothesis predicted that there would be a positive relationship between social media

usage and the empathy shown toward victims of sexual assault. Linear correlation tests were run

to determine whether there was a relationship between time spent using social media and

empathy levels expressed toward victims of sexaul assault. The results show that there is not a

strong relationship between social media use and empathy [r=.02, p=.844]. In previous research

there was a relationship between social media use and issue engagement. However, we did not

find a relationship between social media use and issue engagement [r=.183, p=.071]. We did find

that there was a relationship between issue engagement and empathy [r=.312, p=.002]. An

increase in social media use did not lead to an increase on empathy shown toward victims of

sexual assault.

Discussion

Through a linear correlation of the relationship between social media usage and empathy

toward sexual assault victims, we tested our hypothesis. Our hypothesis predicted that there is a

positive relationship between social media usage and empathy toward sexual assault victims.

We believed the more time an individual spent using social media, the more he or she would

come in contact with sexual assault topics and discussions on their newsfeeds, thus leading to

higher levels of empathy toward sexual assault victims. The results indicated that there is no

relationship between social media usage and empathy toward sexual assault victims. Our results

also show there is a lack of a relationship between overall issue engagement and social media

usage. This was unexpected because in previous research (Li, Kim, O’Boyle 2016) a relationship
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
14

was proven between the two. We believe that due to issue engagement being a major indicator of

empathy, it could be the reason our results indicated no relationship between social media usage

and empathy.

The results of our study, however, did show a relationship between issue engagement and

empathy, which was also previously studied (Bush & Saye 2008). Therefore, we believe our

results were insignificant because the social media usage we focused on did not attribute to issue

engagement. We believe had there been a significant relationship between social media usage

and issue engagement in our study; our results for social media and empathy would have been

significant. The reasoning behind this is that individuals must think critically about the issue in

order to be fully engaged, and therefore empathetic towards victims of sexual assault.

The reason for this could be due to the fact that our study focused on overall time spent

on social media rather than time spent searching for news or information. We believe a limitation

of our study was the scale we used to measure social media. The scale did not measure how often

the individual came in contact with information regarding sexual assault on social media; had the

scale included questions regarding what information individuals looked for, and came in contact

with, our results may have turned out differently.

Another possible limitation to our results could be due to the social desirability bias.

Social desirability bias is when respondents answer questions in a way that they think would

make them seem more favorable to others. Even though our survey was anonymous, some of the

questions asked, such as time spent on social media or their empathy toward rape victims, could

have been answered untruthfully in an attempt for them to feel like they are improving their own

self image. Our survey had very personal questions that could could have made someone feel

guilty for not answering a certain way. If in fact respondents did unintentionally lie on any
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
15

question in the survey as a result of the social desirability bias, our results would have been

affected and therefore invalid.

We highly recommend that future research includes gender as a variable. We noticed a

trend in our results that had significant differences when comparing the responses of males

versus females. One important difference that our results found was that females spend more

time on social media in comparison to males. This could be really helpful information for future

studies because there is the potential for more significant results. Another important discovery

our results stated was that females tend to express more issue engagement towards sexual

assault.Our results showed a difference in females perception of importance, risk, and

involvement with sexual assault This is likely due to the fact that there are more female sexual

assault victims than male sexual assault victims. Future research should looking into the

differences in issue engagement between males and females, and possible reasons behind it.

Secondly, future research should use a different social media scale that focuses more on

the specifications of news that appear on user’s newsfeeds, articles they read, and social

movement posts that they are exposed to. The scale we used focused on how much time people

spent on social media rather than what they actually spent their time doing on social media. Our

results would have been much more significant if our scale asked specifically whether or not a

user spent the time and effort involving themself with sexual assault awareness posts or the

#MeToo campaign. It would be interesting to see research on the effects the #MeToo campaign

has directly had on individuals’ perception of sexual assault and empathy towards victims.

One thing we can tell from this study is that there is a relationship between issue

engagement and empathy. We were unable to prove that social media usage increases issue

engagement with sexual assault, and therefore social media usage does not increase empathy.
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
16

Preexisting attitudes and beliefs toward the issue may account for this, along with what

individuals are focusing on while on the networking sites. Social media may not provide the

problem solving and learning factors needed to increase issue engagement as mentioned in the

research by Bush and Saye. We now believe individuals may decide what they want to engage

themselves in online; and future research could focus on how pre existing attitudes affects an

individual’s engagement with certain topics.

References

Aronson, E. (1995). The social animal (7th ed.). NY: Worth/ Freeman.

Best, P., Manktelow R., Taylor,B., (2014). Online communication, social media and adolescent

wellbeing: A systematic narrative review, Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 27-36

Bureau of Justice Statistics, (2016). National Crime Victimization Survey.

Brush, T. , & Saye, J. (2008). The Effects of Multimedia-Supported Problem-based Inquiry on

Student Engagement, Empathy, and Assumptions About History. Interdisciplinary

Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 2(1). Doi: 10.7771/1541-5015.1052

Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L., Li, H., Liao, X., & Chen, Z. (2013). A maslow's hierarchy of needs

analysis of social networking services continuance. Journal of Service Management,

24(2), 170-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09564231311323953

Collins, F. M. (2014). The Relationship between Social Media and Empathy. The Relationship

between Social Media and Empathy, 1-65.

Danah M. Boyd, Nicole B. Ellison; Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship,

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 13, Issue 1, 1 October 2007,

Pages 210–230
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
17

Edison Research (2018). Percentage of U.S. population who currently use any social media from

2008 to 2017.

Ferrão, M. C., Gonçalves, G., Parreira, T., & Giger, J. (2013). Rape-Victim Empathy Scale

(REMV): An Exploratory Study in a Portuguese Sample. Rape-Victim Empathy Scale

(REMV): An Exploratory Study in a Portuguese Sample, 283-295.

Hether, J. H., Murphy, T. S., Valente, W. T. (2016). A Social Network Analysis of Supportive

Interactions on Prenatal Sites, Digital Health, 0(0), 1-12.

KIM, H. (2014). Enacted Social Support on Social Media and Subjective Well-Being.

International Journal Of Communication (19328036), 82201-2221.

Lake, J. B. (1991). Of Crime and Consequence: Should Newspapers Report Rape Complainants'

Names?. Journal Of Mass Media Ethics, 6(2), 106.

Li, J., Kim, S., & O’Boyle, J. (2017). "I Believe What I See": College Students' Use of Media,

Issue Engagement, and Perceived Responsibility Regarding Campus Sexual Assault.

Journal Of Health Communication, 22(9), 772-782.

doi:10.1080/10810730.2017.1355419

Myrick, J. G., Holton, A. E., Himelboim, I., & Love, B. (2016). #Stupidcancer: Exploring a

Typology of Social Support and the Role of Emotional Expression in a Social Media

Community. Health Communication, 31(5), 596-605.

doi:10.1080/10410236.2014.981664

Oh, S., & Syn, S. Y. (2015). Motivations for sharing information and social support in social

media: A comparative analysis of Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Youtube, and Flickr.

Journal Of The Association For Information Science & Technology, 66(10), 2045-2060.

doi:10.1002/asi.23320
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ISSUE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY
TOWARDS VICTIMS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT
18

Ofaladi, Y. (2015). Social networking time use scale (SONTUS): A new instrument for

measuring the time spent on the social networking sites. Telematics and Informatics

Park, N., Kee, K. F., & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking

environment:

Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. CyberPsychology &

Behavior, 12(6), 729–733.

Rainie, L. Smith, A. Scholzman, L. K. Henry, B. Verba, S. (2012). Social Media and Political

Engagement. Pew Internet and American Life Project. 1-13.