scholarly journals White Beauty: The Moderating Role of Social Media Addiction on Social Comparison and Skin Tone Satisfaction

Author(s):  
Azeera Azlin Rohimi ◽  
Salami Mutiu Olagoke ◽  
Wan Nurul Izza Wan Husin

Aims: To examine the prevalence of skin tone dissatisfaction among Malaysian young adults and to explore the associations between social media addiction, social comparison, and skin tone satisfaction. Study Design:  Cross-sectional survey design. Place and Duration of Study: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Perak, Malaysia, between December 2019 to January 2020 Methodology: Around 414 university students have partaken in an online survey consisting of a demographic questionnaire, Skin Colour Satisfaction Scale (SCSS), Upwards/Downwards Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (UPACS/DACS) and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Results: Descriptive analysis shows that the prevalence of skin tone satisfaction among Malaysian young adults is on a moderate level (M = 5.791, SD = 1.630), and there is a significant difference in satisfaction level among those who never tried using skin lightening products versus those who have experience in using those products, t (410.808) = -3.850, p < .001. Multivariate analysis shows that skin tone satisfaction is significantly associated with upwards social comparison (β = -.45), but not with downwards social comparison and social media addiction. Multigroup invariance analysis showed that social media addiction significantly weakens the relationship between upwards social comparison and skin tone satisfaction but has no effect on the relationship between downwards comparison and skin tone satisfaction. Conclusion: Malaysian young adults are moderately satisfied with their skin tone, and upwards comparison can significantly influence skin tone satisfaction. The implications of this study are discussed in light of recommendations for policymakers to control the marketing of harmful skin lightening products online.

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Delia Cristina Balaban ◽  
Dorin Francisc Spoaller

"During the Spring of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries ordered lockdowns. The limitations of movement contributed to the rise of social media activity. The present research focused on how the active use of Instagram had an impact on well-being during the first lockdown in Romania. Aiming to explore how active Instagram use contributes to users' self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and loneliness during an unprecedented situation of a lockdown, we conducted an online survey in April 2020 on young adults (N=411) in Romania. Findings showed that actively using Instagram during the lockdown did not have a significant direct impact on self-esteem and satisfaction with life, but significantly decreased loneliness. Upward comparison of Instagram active users contributed to the increase in self-esteem but decreased the values of satisfaction with life and increased loneliness. The downward comparison had no significant impact on self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and loneliness. Keywords: social media, well-being, Instagram, social comparison, COVID-19 pandemic. "


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Recep Cengiz ◽  
Batuhan Er

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between university students free time management, social media addiction and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic.The sample group of the study consists of 114 female and 291 male university students. Free Time Management Scale, Social Media Addiction Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale were used as data collection instruments in the research. SPSS 25 package program was used in the analysis of the data; In their statistical representations, arithmetic mean, standard deviation and frequency values are presented. For analysis to the data set; T-Test for Independent Samples, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson Correlation Test were applied.When the T-Test results for Independent Samples are examined; In terms of gender variable, a significant difference was found in favor of women in the “goal setting and method” sub-dimension of the Free Time Management Scale. When the results of Multivariate Analysis of Variance MANOVA test were examined; In terms of daily social media usage times, a significant difference was found in the sub-dimensions of preoccupation, mood regulation, repetition and conflict of the Social Media Addiction Scale.As a result, it is seen that there is a relationship between university student participants’ free time management and social media addiction. However, no relationship was found between life satisfaction and social media addiction. While a low negative correlation was found between the total score of life satisfaction and the free time management programming sub-dimension, no correlation was found between the sub-dimensions of goal determination and method, assessment and free time attitude.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 514-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tricia Padoa ◽  
David Berle ◽  
Lynette Roberts

Social media is thought to communicate idealized images and discourses of motherhood. As such, it may present as a risk factor for poor mental health in mothers who strive for perfection and compare themselves to the ideals presented on social media. The present study examined the influence of Facebook and In-stagram on the relationship between perfectionism in mothers and their mental health. A sample of 201 mothers completed an online survey. Two dimensions of perfectionism were assessed: Self-Orientated Parenting Perfectionism (SOPP) and Societal-Prescribed Parenting Perfectionism (SPPP). Mediation models were conducted to examine social media frequency and social comparison respectively on the relationship between perfectionism and maternal mental health. Results revealed that for mothers with SOPP, the process of social comparison with other mothers on social media contributed to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The amount of time engaging in social media however, had no impact. In contrast, for mothers with SPPP, the amount of time spent on Facebook contributed to symptoms of depression and anxiety, while the process of social comparison led to anxiety symptoms alone. Social comparison appears to be important for perfectionistic mothers who use social media, as this may contribute to negative mental health outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddharth Garg

Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between income, subjective wellbeing, and culture among people from a higher socio-economic class across the world. Rationale: Ed Diener proposed the law of diminishing marginal utility as an explanation for differences in subjective wellbeing among different income groups across different countries (Diener, Ng, &amp; Tov, Balance in life and declining marginal utility of diverse resources, 2009). Thus, people with higher incomes would experience less subjective wellbeing due to income, and culture should emerge as a significant predictor. Method: Data from this study came from another study (https://siddharthgargblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/14/love-for-money/). I used an online survey to collect data on annual income in US dollars, subjective wellbeing (WHO-5), and country of residence (Indicator of Culture). 96 responses (Indians = 24, Foreigners = 72) were entered in IBM SPSS and a regression analysis was conducted. The raw dataset used in this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8869040.v1Results: ANOVA showed a significant difference (p &lt; 0.05) between Indians and foreigners on levels of subjective wellbeing. Linear regression shows the regression coefficient of culture to be significant (Beta = -.254, p = .014) but the regression coefficient of income was not found to be significant. The overall model was found to explain 8.2% of the variance in wellbeing.Conclusion: The sample of this study is too small to make any kind of generalization; it does lend a little bit of support to the idea of diminishing marginal utility of income on subjective wellbeing and provides a rationale for further research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hee Yun Lee ◽  
Yan Luo ◽  
Cho Rong Won ◽  
Jiyoung Lee ◽  
Jeongwon Baik

BACKGROUND The use of social media or social networking sites (SNS) is increasing across all age groups, and one of the primary motives of using SNS is to seek health-related information. Although previous research examining the effect of SNS use on depression exist, studies regarding the effect of SNS use for health purpose on depression is limited. OBJECTIVE Our study aims to explore the relationship between SNS use for health purpose and depression across the four age groups (18-34 years old, 35-49 years old, 50-64 years old, and above 65 years old). METHODS A sample of 6,789 adults aged 18 and older was extracted from a 2017 and 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Univariate and bivariate analyses to examine the association between each variable and four age groups were conducted. Multiple linear regression analyses to predict depression level among participants with use of SNS for health purpose were conducted. RESULTS SNS use for health purpose and depression were positively associated for three age groups but not for those 65 years or older (=0.13, P<0.05; =0.08, P<0.05; =0.09, P<0.05). Income and self-reported health status indicated an inverse relationship for all age groups. The relationship with marital status differed based on age group with 18 and 34 years old showing an inverse relationship (=-0.13, P<0.01) while 65 years or older showing a positive relationship (=0.06, P<0.05). Gender was positively associated among those in the 35-49 years old (=0.09, P<0.05) and 65 years or older (=0.07, P<0.05). Being Non-Hispanic White was positively associated with depression among 50-64 years old (=0.07, P<0.001) and 65 years or older (=0.08, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Age-tailored education on determining accurate and reliable information shared via SNS is needed to reduce depressive symptoms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e000942
Author(s):  
Oliver G P Lawton ◽  
Sarah A Lawton ◽  
Lisa Dikomitis ◽  
Joanne Protheroe ◽  
Joanne Smith ◽  
...  

COVID-19 has significantly impacted young people’s lives yet little is known about the COVID-19 related sources of information they access. We performed a cross-sectional survey of pupils (11–16 years) in North Staffordshire, UK. 408 (23%) pupils responded to an online survey emailed to them by their school. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. Social media, accessed by 68%, played a significant role in the provision of information, despite it not being considered trustworthy. 89% felt that COVID-19 had negatively affected their education. Gaps in the provision of information on COVID-19 have been identified.


Author(s):  
Adrianos Golemis ◽  
Panteleimon Voitsidis ◽  
Eleni Parlapani ◽  
Vasiliki A Nikopoulou ◽  
Virginia Tsipropoulou ◽  
...  

Summary COVID-19 and the related quarantine disrupted young adults’ academic and professional life, daily routine and socio-emotional well-being. This cross-sectional study focused on the emotional and behavioural responses of a young adult population during the COVID-19-related quarantine in April 2020, in Greece. The study was conducted through an online survey. A total of 1559 young adults, aged 18−30 years, completed Steele’s Social Responsibility Motivation Scale and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and answered questions about compliance with instructions, quarantine-related behaviours and coping strategies. According to the results, participants displayed a relatively high sense of social responsibility (M = 16.09, SD = 2.13) and a trend towards moderate feeling of loneliness (M = 2.65, SD = 1.62); young women reported significantly higher levels of loneliness than men. The majority complied with instructions often (46.4%) or always (44.8%). Significantly more women created a new social media account and used the social media longer than 5 h/day, compared with men. Resorting to religion, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted higher levels of social responsibility; humour, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted lower levels of loneliness. Conclusively, COVID-19 is expected to have a significant psychological impact on young adults. Currently, Greece is going through the second quarantine period. This study raises awareness about loneliness in young adults during the COVID-19-related quarantine and highlights the importance of developing online programmes, attractive to younger people, to nurture adaptive coping strategies against loneliness.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089443932110329
Author(s):  
Paul Dodemaide ◽  
Mark Merolli ◽  
Nicole Hill ◽  
Lynette Joubert

There is a growing body of literature exploring the general population’s use of social media for assistance in dealing with stigmatized health issues. This study presents novel research examining the relationship between social media use and young adults. It utilizes a therapeutic affordance (TA) framework. Quantitative results from this study are complemented by qualitative data. The relationships between distinct social media and their TA (a–b) are presented to highlight their potential to impact positively on social and emotional well-being outcomes. Evidence includes broad support for “connection,” “narration,” and “collaboration” TAs in this context and the relationship between the use of distinct social media and perceived quality of life (QOL) outcomes (a–c). TA provides an appropriate and valuable theoretical framework which is useful for the development of an evidence-base from the analysis of young adult’s social media usage. An analysis of the association between social media and their QOL outcomes is presented according to the TA relationship pathway (a–c–b). The adoption of a TA framework enables a nuanced analysis of significant associations between specific social media, TA, and improved QOL outcomes. This study demonstrates the significant association between social media and perceived QOL outcomes in young adults.


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