The Effect of Social Media on Self Esteem
Date
2023-04-07
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Southern New Hampshire University
Abstract
One of the most relevant and present topics is social media because of its popularity and constant growth. Research shows social media impacts self-esteem. Additionally, there is a significant difference regarding gender, and how social media influences men and women differently. The purpose of this study is to analyze how beautiful models affect self esteem. Participants did the first three questionnaires before and after the task with the last study listed only before the task: the Rosenberg 10 Item Self Esteem Scale, Social Media Appearance Scale, Body, Weight, Image, Self Esteem Scale, Social Media Addiction Scale. Participants viewed photos of men and women, white individuals and individuals of color, between average attractiveness and extremely attractive. The experimental group rated each photo of a scale of 1-10, 1 being least and 10 being most, in comparison to themselves. The control group just rated stimuli on a scale of 1-10. Participants were chosen at random for the groups. The hypothesis was that the experimental group would rate themselves much lower than the models and have lower self esteem rates after the task on the questionnaires. Experimental group V3-1 showed the male block first, Experimental Group V3-2 saw female block second, Control group V3-3 saw the male block first, Control group V3-4 saw the female block second. The experimental group ended up rating attractive stimuli of individuals of color quicker overall, whereas the control group had a slower reaction time to rate attractive individuals of color. Both groups rated the average stimuli of individuals of color around the same reaction time. There was a three way intersection between group, ethnicity, and attractiveness: F(1,24) = 4.15, p. <.05. The control group had no difference when rating attractive or average white stimuli. The experimental group had a quicker reaction time to rate white stimuli independent of whether it was average or attractive. Overall, the task had no impact on the scores of the questionnaire, and it also had no impact on self esteem. Females showed a longer reaction time compared to males F(1, 24) = 8.88, p. < .007.
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