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What you don't know can hurt you: Social Comparison on Facebook
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Franz, Brittany |
| Copyright Year | 2014 |
| Abstract | Research indicates that people can be negatively affected by upward social comparisons. An upward social comparison involves comparing oneself to the positive evaluation of an external stimuli, that one perceives to be better in particular domains, and adjusting ones self-evaluation based on that comparison (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2010). Upward social comparisons made online may exacerbate this effect owing to the increased avenues for selective selfpresentation that most online communication offers. That is, most online venues such as Facebook allow people more opportunities to show the best side of themselves-flattering pictures or positive status updates-than the opportunities available in face-to-face interactions. The current study investigated whether an awareness of other’s ability to self-present online can attenuate the negative effects of upward social comparisons made on Facebook. The current study employed a 3 (Instruction type: Accurate vs. Inflated vs. Control) × 2 (Social Comparison: Upward vs. Downward) between-participants design. Participants in the Inflated Instruction condition, were informed that people self-present on Facebook while those in the Accurate Instruction condition were informed that self-presentation on Facebook is unlikely. An additional control condition did not include self-presentation information. Participants then rated a fictitious Facebook profile intended to induce either an upward or downward social comparison. Personal information— social relationships, monetary potential and intelligence—in the Facebook profiles was manipulated to emphasize a positive or neutral profile to induce the intended social comparison. After viewing the profile, all dependent measures including: state self-esteem, perceived fairness of life, and evaluations of the target and the subject were assessed. We hypothesized that participants aware that others are likely to self-present online will report greater positivity about themselves on all dependent measures than participants who are informed that self-presentation Facebook and Social Comparison online is unlikely or who are given no information about online self-presentation. We do not expect to find a significant difference between participants who were informed that selfpresentation is unlikely online and participants not given any self-presentation information. Making an upward social comparison on Facebook can lead to negative self-views in several domains including intelligence. The current study is one of the first studies to experimentally manipulate social comparison processes on Facebook and therefore shed light on how social comparison processes operate in online environments. Facebook and Social Comparison What you don’t know can hurt you: Social comparison on Facebook Communicating with peers online has become increasingly prevalent. Over fifty percent of people communicate with others online more often than face-to-face (Battishill, 2011) and the majority of this communication occurs on social networking web sites, such as Facebook (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010; Madden, 2010). Facebook, one of the largest social networking sites, has over 720 million users—over ten percent of the global population (Facebook, 2012)—that spend almost 60 minutes on Facebook per day (Facebook, 2010; Hepburn, 2010). Given the rise in online communication, understanding how social comparison processes online may differ from traditional face-to-face communication is paramount. Research indicates that comparing the self to others can affect one’s self-esteem and mood (Alicke & Zell, 2010; Gilbert, Giesler & Morris, 1995; Klien, 1997; Mussweiler, Ruter, & Epstude, 2004). However, little research has experimentally investigated how this comparison process may operate in online venues, such as Facebook, where opportunities for selfpresentation are increased. Due to the large number of users, extended amount of time each user spends on Facebook, and the increased self-presentation options, social comparisons taking place on these new media venues may operate differently compared to those occurring face-to-face. New technologies, such as Facebook, may be particularly well suited for self-presentation as they increase peoples’ ability to selectively self-present across multiple media modalities. Selective self-presentation is the idea that people choose to show only positive qualities of their lives. This can be done on Facebook through pictures, writing, and displayed preferences. As a consequence of this selective self-presentation, Facebook users may have a greater likelihood to make Facebook and Social Comparison inaccurate evaluations about others, potentially causing inappropriate upward social comparisons. The current study investigated whether an awareness of other’s opportunities for selfpresentation on Facebook attenuates the negative effects of upward social comparisons. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/60371/1/BrittanyFranz_ThesisProposal.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
