scholarly journals Objective, subjective, and accurate reporting of social media use: No evidence that daily social media use correlates with personality traits, motivational states, or well-being.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Johannes ◽  
Thuy-vy Nguyen ◽  
Netta Weinstein ◽  
Andrew K. Przybylski
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Motivational States ◽  
Accurate Reporting

scholarly journals Objective, subjective, and accurate reporting of social media use: No evidence that daily social media use correlates with personality traits, motivational states, or well-being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Johannes ◽  
Thuy-vy Thi Nguyen ◽  
Netta Weinstein ◽  
Andrew K Przybylski
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Measurement Error ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Motivational States ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Lively Debate

There is a lively debate on the effects of social media use, shaped by self-reported measurements of social media use. However, self-reports have been shown to suffer from low accuracy compared to logged measures of social media use. Even though it is unclear how problematic that measurement error is for our inferences, many scholars call for the exclusive use of ‘objective’ measures. But if measurement error is not systematic, self-reports will still be informative. In contrast, if there is systematic error, associations between social media use and other variables, including well-being, are likely biased. Here, we report an exploratory five day experience sampling study among 96 participants (435 observations) to understand factors that could relate to low accuracy. First, we asked what stable individual differences are related to low accuracy. Second, we explored what daily states relate to accuracy. Third, we explored whether accuracy relates to well-being. Although we did find evidence for a systematic tendency to overestimate social media use, neither individual differences nor daily states were related to that tendency. Accuracy was also unrelated to well-being. Our results suggest that blindly calling for objective measures foregoes a responsibility to understand measurement error in social media use first.

scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship between Social Media Use, Big Five Personality, and Well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Bunz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Big Five Personality Traits ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Personality Variable ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigates the relationship between social media use, Big Five personality traits, and subjective well-being to determine how different personality traits relate to different measures of social media use and well- being, and which variable influences well-being the most. Participants completed established measures for the Big Five personality traits, social media engagement, social media intensity, satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, and depression. Results showed that extraversion predicted social media engagement and intensity, and social media time. Conscientiousness predicted spending less time on social media. In addition, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism predicted positive well-being stronger than did social media use. When conducting five separate regression analyses with a social media use variable and a different personality variable each time, four times (conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) the personality variable predicted negative well-being more strongly than did the social media use variable. However, negative well-being was predicted more strongly by social media use than by the fifth personality variable, openness to change. Results are discussed and possible future investigations are suggested.

The effect of social media use on empathy and welling: a personality perspective in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mousa Albashrawi ◽  
Yousef Asiri ◽  
Muhammad Binsawad ◽  
Latifah Alqahtani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media use on both empathy and well-being through using a five-factor model (FFM) of personality in the context of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the 13 regions in Saudi Arabia. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the reliability and validity of the study’s constructs and a structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the study hypotheses. Findings With a sample of 450 users, the regression results indicate a less significant relationship between personality and social media use, as well as between personality and affective empathy, while a more significant relationship between personality and cognitive empathy. Also, individuals’ well-being are influenced directly by the heavy use of social media. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design used in this research may not be able to provide the true essence of the hypothesized relationships compared to the cause-effect design. This study furthers the understanding of the role of personality on empathy and well-being in social media among Saudis from one side and provides insights to professionals for better improvement of social media and so better individuals’ well-being from the other side. Originality/value This paper fills an untapped gap in a developing country context by exploring the relationship between the usage of social media and the two dimensions of empathy, which, in turn, influence well-being under the theoretical lens of an FFM personality.

scholarly journals Multi-Platform Social Media Use: Little Evidence of Impacts on Adult Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Lohmann ◽  
Emilio Zagheni
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Using Data

Social media have become a near-ubiquitous part of our lives. The growing concern that their use may alter our well-being has been met with elusive scientific evidence. Existing literature often simplifies social media use as a homogeneous process. In reality, social media use and functions vary widely depending on platform and demographic characteristics of users, and there may be qualitative differences between using few versus many different social media platforms. Using data from the General Social Survey, an underanalyzed data source for this purpose, we characterize intensive social media users and examine how differential platform use impacts well-being. We document substantial heterogeneity in the demography of users and show that intensive users tend to be young, female, more likely to be Black than Hispanic, from high SES backgrounds, from more religious backgrounds, and from families with migration background, compared to both non-users and moderate users. The intensity of social media use seemed largely unrelated to well-being in both unadjusted models and in propensity-score models that adjusted for selection bias and demographic factors. Among middle-aged and older adults, however, intensive social media use may be slightly associated with depressive symptoms. Our findings indicate that although mediums of communication have changed with the advent of social media, these new mediums are not necessarily detrimental to well-being.

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