SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

Investigating the Relationship Between Gender, Age, and Social media use frequency

related to Self-esteem in Community College Students.

Isabella Russo

Queensborough Community College

Social Science Department,

PSYCH 201: Research Methods

Prof. Robertson

May 15th 2022

SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between gender, age, and social media

use frequency related to self-esteem in Community College Students. Self-esteem is confidence

in the ability to think; confidence in the ability to cope with the challenges of life; and

confidence in the right to be happy, the feeling of being worthy, deserving, and entitled to assert

one's needs and wants (Branden, 1990, p.1). The notion of social media refers to digital

technologies emphasizing user-generated content or interaction (Carr & Hayes, 2015, p.48).

Fifty-five community college students were asked to complete an online questionnaire

investigating the relationship between gender, age, and social media use frequency related to

self-esteem in Community College Students with our hypothesis and the literature, correlational

analyses revealed a significant moderate positive correlation between n gender, age, and social

media and self-esteem. Younger college students reported significantly higher self-esteem

compared to older students. The nonsignificant findings for additional hypotheses will be

discussed. Further investigation is required.

Investigating the Relationship between gender, age, and social media use frequency related

to self-esteem in Community College Students.

One’s gender, age, and social media usage can be factor’s in how this affects one’s self-esteem.

Self-esteem is confidence in the ability to think; confidence in the ability to cope with the

challenges of life; and confidence in the right to be happy, the feeling of being worthy,

deserving, and entitled to assert one's needs and wants (Branden, 1990, p.1). The notion of social

media refers to digital technologies emphasizing user-generated content or interaction (Carr &

Hayes, 2015, p.48). Social media is a key component as we can see in this current age of

technology where coming into contact with anyone can happen in a click of a button. People
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

differ in their tendencies to engage in social comparison and in the psychological consequences

incurred (Vogel 2015) According to Jan & Ahmad (2017) The upward comparisons make people

envy others and their lifestyles and also feel less obliged and ungrateful for their bounties, As a

result, the self-esteem of such people gets negatively affected. A number of studies have

attempted to understand the relationship between one’s self-esteem and its impact on one’s

gender, age, and social media usage. For example, Steinsbekk, Wichstrøm, Stenseng, Nesi,

Hygen, & Skalická. (2021) examined how different types of social media engagement may

differently affect self-esteem in youth. The researcher found average levels of appearance self-

esteem significantly decreased over time Steinsbekk, Wichstrøm, Stenseng, Nesi, Hygen, &

Skalická. (2021). According to Steinsbekk, Wichstrøm, Stenseng, Nesi, Hygen, & Skalická.

(2021) Girls had significantly lower appearance self-esteem than boys at age 14.

People from all over the world may communicate, exchange ideas, language, and culture through

social media. Cellan (2017) investigated the use of social media in Kenyan youth and discovered

that there was a relationship between social media use and participants' geocentrism tendencies.

The study revealed mixed results. The type of individuals chosen to interact with and befriend on

social media (i.e., Facebook) determines our level of geocentrism (Collan, 2017). Using social

media over a long period is shown to decrease geocentrism in individuals (Cellan, 2017). Yet,

the frequency of the use of social media over a short period can increase one’s geocentrism,

because of one’s desire to communicate with like-minded people (Callan, 2017). Callan (2017)

concludes geocentrism reduces when social media does not promote inclusivity and cross-

cultural dialogue. Moreover, Callan (2017) found that there is a significant positive correlation

between age and geocentrism tendencies. Older individuals tend to be highly geocentrism

compared to younger individuals (Callan, 2017). This means that as older individuals became
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highly geocentrism their anxiety about cross-cultural dialogue grew. This is because as people

age, their memories of a common history get stronger, and as a result, their geocentrism attitudes

grow (Callan, 2017).

That when social media inhibits inclusivity and cross-cultural exchange, geocentrism increases

(Callan, 2017). Schwalbe, & Staples. (1991) conducted that there is a difference in the level of

self-esteem between males and females. Schwalbe, & Staples (1991) found men and women

differed in that women attached slightly more importance to reflected appraisals, whereas men

attached more importance to social comparisons. In another study, Mann, & Blumberg, (2022)

experimented with how social media affects adolescent self-concept development, particularly

through the lens of possible selves. This study was designed to address this gap through an

examination of the linkages between age, self-esteem, and frequency of social media use. The

findings of the studies have linked frequent usage of social media to a number of negative

outcomes, such as decreased self-reported values and diminished well-being in adolescent

populations. In another study, Schwartz, Eichstaedt, Kern, Dziurzynski, Ramones, Agrawal, &

Ungar, (2013). had a complete dataset consisting of approximately 19 million Facebook status

updates written by 136,000 participants. The findings of the study showed that emotionally

stable individuals wrote about enjoyable social activities that may foster greater emotional

stability, such as ‘sports’, ‘vacation’, ‘beach’, ‘church’, ‘team’, and a family time topic.

Additionally, results suggest that introverts are interested in Japanese media (e.g. ‘anime’,

‘manga’, ‘Japanese’, Japanese style emoticons: ˆ_ˆ, and an anime topic) and that those low in

openness drive the use of shorthands in social media (e.g. ‘2day’, ‘ur’, ‘every 1’) Schwartz,

Eichstaedt, Kern, Dziurzynski, Ramones, Agrawal, & Ungar, (2013). This study demonstrates

how emotional stability may be impacted by reduced neuroticism. As seen above, our emotional
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

stability can influence how we make use of social media, Schwartz, Eichstaedt, Kern,

Dziurzynski, Ramones, Agrawal, & Ungar, (2013).

Many people rely upon profile updating and receiving Likes may feel like a reward, and elicit

positive emotions, reinforcing the use of the platform, Marengo, Montag, Sindermann, Elhai, &

Settanni, (2021). Marengo, Montag, Sindermann, Elhai, & Settanni, (2021), study surveyed

university students who had accessed Facebook in which activity was administered

questionnaires by assessing demographic characteristics and study measures. The single

question, "In general, how happy are you these days?" was used to measure the participants'

current levels of pleasure. It was modified from the cross-country research by Hart and

colleagues (2018). A 5-point Likert scale with the options "very unhappy" to "very happy" was

used by participants to express their level of happiness. The frequency by which users posted

updates on their Facebook page showed a strong positive correlation with the frequency of users

receiving positive social feedback from their social network Marengo, Montag, Sindermann,

Elhai, & Settanni, (2021).

In a study by Schivinski, Brzozowska-Woś, Stansbury, Satel, Montag, & Pontes, (2020), A

cross-sectional study was done using an online survey was carried out to explore the role of

motives for using social media, positive and negative affect, psychological well-being, and self-

esteem. problematic users reported lower levels of psychological well-being (d = 0.61) and self-

esteem (d = 0.57), as compared to non-problematic users, Schivinski, Brzozowska-Woś,

Stansbury, Satel, Montag, & Pontes, (2020). Their hypothesis was to test the effect of major

psychosocial determinants on PSMU while taking into consideration any potential confounding

effects resulting from the frequency of social media usage and sociodemographic characteristics.
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

In another study conducted by Ma (2022), 193 students from two secondary schools in Hong

Kong who participated in online activities were assessed by eight items focusing on three areas:

information searching, entertainment, and social interaction. Results of an independent t-test

revealed no gender differences in any of the variables, with the exception of online entertainment

activities, Ma (2022). According to this survey conducted by Ma (2022), men and women used

social media in almost equal amounts for other online activities, but women were more prone

than men to use it for pleasure.

To date, many studies have been done to evaluate the relationship between gender, age, and

social media use to self-esteem in Community College Students. The current study is interested

in whether the factors of gender, age, and social media exist among students and affect their self-

esteem. Students need to learn in an environment where social compersion and not relying upon

profile updating and receiving likes as validation. It is important to study students' levels of self-

esteem based on gender, age, and social media because it affects the atmosphere in which

students learn. The following hypotheses were tested: H1: Male college students will experience

higher self-esteem compared to female college students. H2a: Male college students will

experience lower self-esteem compared to female college students.H2b: Younger college

students will experience Lower self-esteem compared to older students. H3a: Younger college

students will experience higher self-esteem compared to older students. H3b: Students who

identify themselves or their parents as immigrants score low in ethnocentrism. H4a: College

students who report using social media infrequently or not at all will report higher self-esteem

compared to students who report using social media frequently.

H4b: College students who report using social media infrequently or not at all will report lower

self-esteem compared to students who report using social media frequently

SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

Methods

Participants

Participants were recruited from a community college in New York. A total of 41 participants

from Psychology course sections in Psych-101, Psych-240, and Psych-201 taught by the same

instructor voluntarily completed the online questionnaire. They received one extra credit point in

their course from their instructor for their voluntary participation. Participants surveyed were

from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The ethnic/racial breakdown was as follows:

Black (Non-Hispanic/Latino) = 22% (9) White (Non-Hispanic/Latino) = 17% (7) Asian or

Pacific Islander = 17% (7) Hispanic/Latino = 34% (14) Other = 5% (2). The mean age of the

participants was 25.13 (SD = 9.58), and the age range was 18-53. The gender breakdown was as

follows: Female = 63% (37), Male = 29% (16), and Other/Prefer Not to Say = 4% (2). The

major/ QCC Academy breakdown was as follows: Health Related Sciences = 44% (18) Business

= 7% (3) Liberal Arts = 24% (10) STEM = 17% (7). Forty-one percent (17) of participants

disclosed being employed part-time, twenty-seven percent (11) were employed full-time, and

thirty-two percent (13) were unemployed. Seventy-three percent (30) disclosed frequently using

social media, and twenty-seven percent (11) have infrequently or not at all used social media.

Design

This study utilized a survey/questionnaire data collection technique to examine the relationship

between gender, age, and social media use frequency related to self-esteem in Community

College Students.. The dependent variable was the level of self-esteem.

Measures

The Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale was used to measure self-esteem in this study,

participants filled out a 10-items scale based on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

agree=1 to strongly disagree=4. The reliability of RSES ranges from 0.77 to 0.88 (Rosenberg,

1965)

Procedure

Each of the participants voluntarily filled out an online questionnaire, which was created in

Google Forms, individually. The questionnaire link was posted on Blackboard and they had to

click on the link to enter the survey. Before proceeding to complete the online survey, students

were asked to read an informed consent in which they were assured that participation is strictly

voluntary, that they have the right to refuse to participate, and that they have the right to

withdraw at any time from this study, without penalty. They received one extra credit in their

course from their instructor for their voluntary participation. Deception was used, where the true

name of the scales was withheld because awareness of the names of the scales can bias

participants' responses. At the end of the online survey, each student was debriefed and thanked

for their participation. All students were treated based on ethical standards.

Results

A series of independent samples t-tests were conducted to test whether gender, age, and social

media use are related to self-esteem in Community College Students. First, we predicted,

that male college students will experience higher self-esteem compared to female college

students. Results also show that male college students (M = 20.91, SD = 6.29) did not report

having significantly higher self-esteem compared to female college students (M = 22.80, SD =

5.82), t(39) = .87, p = .39. Trends show that male students reported slightly lower self-esteem

compared to female students, a finding that was contrary to our prediction, however, this

difference was not significant. Younger college students will experience Lower self-esteem.
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

Contrary to prediction, younger college students (M = 23.73, SD = 5.75) reported significantly

higher self-esteem compared to older students (M = 17.90, SD = 5.78), t(38) = 2.77, p = .01.

College students who report using social media infrequently or not at all will report higher self-

esteem compared to students who report using social media frequently. Students who report

using social media infrequently or not at all (M = 22.18, SD = 7.43) did not report having

significantly higher self-esteem compared to students who reported using social media frequently

(M = 22.33, SD = 5.77), t(39) = .07, p = .94.

Discussion and Conclusion

The results reveal that there is a significant moderate positive correlation between gender,

age, and social media use frequency in relation to self-esteem. College students who report using

social media infrequently or not at all will report higher self-esteem compared to students who

report using social media frequently compared to students who frequently used social media. The

results are consistent with the hypothesis that states If one has more frequent use of social media

will it have an effect on their self-esteem? Additionally, there are consistent Shaohai Jiang and

Annabel Ngien (2020) findings that revealed that more frequent Instagram use was associated

with a higher level of social comparison rather than individuals who do not frequently use

Instagram. Furthermore, the hypothesis restates that males experience higher self-esteem

compared to female college students. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that

states males do not score higher than females on global measures of self-esteem. Yet, they are

consistent with the studies conducted by Zeigler-Hill, V., & Myers, E. M. (2012) who found that

male students achieved a higher self-esteem score compared to female students but are contrary

to Lawrence, J., Ashford, K., & Dent, P. (2006) which explored that females obtained higher

self-esteem than men. Interestingly, the results show that younger college students reported
SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND STUDENTS

significantly higher self-esteem compared to older students which is not consistent with the

hypothesis that states that younger college students will experience lower self-esteem compared

to older students. As seen in the findings of Bachman, J. G., O'Malley, P. M., Freedman-Doan,

P., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B (2011). who found that older individuals tend to

obtain more self-esteem compared to younger individuals. Also, it was found that older students

did not score significantly higher on carrying self-esteem compared to younger students, which is

contrary to the hypothesis that states that younger students report high self-esteem scores of older

students. The results are consistent with Bachman's (2011) findings that reveal that older

individuals are moderately ethnocentric and therefore are more likely to report high in ICA.

Limitation/Future direction

Some limitations that might have affected the results include social desirability, students not

taking the survey seriously, and sample size not being representative of the population studied.

Future studies might consider increasing the sample size that includes equivalent percentages of

individuals from the subgroups that exist within the population (i.e., gender, age, born in the U.S.

vs. those who were not) by using stratified random sampling and using additional methods to

reduce social desirability bias.

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