Personality and Social Media Use Patterns
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Psychology
Minor
Social Work
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Sean Rife
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Social media usage has become an everyday activity in today’s society, as online platforms have become one of the most popular ways to exchange information and socialize with others (Hughes, Rowe, Batey & Lee, 2012). There has been a discussion about the negative effects of social media use on mental health; previous research findings support the idea that social media use is correlated with a reduction in an individual’s mental well-being (Lin, Sidani, Shensa, Radovic, Miller, Colditz, Hoffman, Giles, & Primack, 2016). A high correlation between social media usage and depression and anxiety has sparked interest in investigating social media usage with neuroticism. Past studies have measured the correlation between neuroticism and social media usage, however, prior studies have not looked at the correlation between neuroticism and how individuals use social media. Taking the project a step further, we wish to investigate all of the Big Five personality factors and determine if there are any possible correlations between an individual’s personality and how they use social media. The five factors included in this theory are extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, continuousness, and openness to new experiences. Social media usage can be divided into two broad categories: active and passive. Active social media use can be defined as creating and posting content, while passive social media use can be defined as consuming the content on social media platforms. This study will look at this association between the Big Five personality traits and how likely individuals are to use social media in a more passive or active manner. Any associations will be found by running a correlational study. Personality traits and social media usage will be measured by survey packets completed by participants. The hypothesis is that individuals who score higher in openness to new experiences and extraversion will tend to use social media more actively, while individuals who score higher in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism will tend to use social media more passively. Previous studies have suggested that passive social media use may be associated with the individual’s decreased well-being (Aalbers, Heeren, McNally, Wit, & Fried, 2018). Therefore, the implications of this research include finding personality traits that are associated with passive social media usage, a possible predictor of decreased well-being.
keywords: social media, personality, passive, active
Fall Scholars Week 2019 Event
Psychology: Projects In-Progress
Personality and Social Media Use Patterns
Social media usage has become an everyday activity in today’s society, as online platforms have become one of the most popular ways to exchange information and socialize with others (Hughes, Rowe, Batey & Lee, 2012). There has been a discussion about the negative effects of social media use on mental health; previous research findings support the idea that social media use is correlated with a reduction in an individual’s mental well-being (Lin, Sidani, Shensa, Radovic, Miller, Colditz, Hoffman, Giles, & Primack, 2016). A high correlation between social media usage and depression and anxiety has sparked interest in investigating social media usage with neuroticism. Past studies have measured the correlation between neuroticism and social media usage, however, prior studies have not looked at the correlation between neuroticism and how individuals use social media. Taking the project a step further, we wish to investigate all of the Big Five personality factors and determine if there are any possible correlations between an individual’s personality and how they use social media. The five factors included in this theory are extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, continuousness, and openness to new experiences. Social media usage can be divided into two broad categories: active and passive. Active social media use can be defined as creating and posting content, while passive social media use can be defined as consuming the content on social media platforms. This study will look at this association between the Big Five personality traits and how likely individuals are to use social media in a more passive or active manner. Any associations will be found by running a correlational study. Personality traits and social media usage will be measured by survey packets completed by participants. The hypothesis is that individuals who score higher in openness to new experiences and extraversion will tend to use social media more actively, while individuals who score higher in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism will tend to use social media more passively. Previous studies have suggested that passive social media use may be associated with the individual’s decreased well-being (Aalbers, Heeren, McNally, Wit, & Fried, 2018). Therefore, the implications of this research include finding personality traits that are associated with passive social media usage, a possible predictor of decreased well-being.
keywords: social media, personality, passive, active