Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem

Abstract

Social media has gained immense popularity in the last decade and its power has left certain long-lasting effects on people. The upward comparisons made using social networking sites have caused people to have lower self-esteems. In order to test the hypothesis 150 students from institute of business management were surveyed through questionnaires and interviews. This research was limited to the students of IoBM and Facebook, being the most popular social networking site was used as the representative of social media. Correlation and regression model was applied to the data with the help of SPSS statistics to test the relationship between social media and self-esteem. The major findings suggest that approximately 88% people engage in making social comparisons on Facebook and out of the 88%, 98% of the comparisons are upward social comparisons. Further this research proves there that there is a strong relationship between social media and self-esteem. Increase in social media usage causes the self-esteem of individuals to decrease. One hour spent on Facebook daily results in a 5.574 decrease in the self-esteem score of an individual.

Full text

European Scientific Journal August 2017 edition Vol.13, No.23 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431
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Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem
Muqaddas Jan
IoBM, Pakistan
Sanobia Anwwer Soomro
Iqra University, Pakistan
Nawaz Ahmad
Assistant Professor at IoBM, Pakistan
doi: 10.19044/esj.2017.v13n23p329 URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n23p329
Abstract
Social media has gained immense popularity in the last decade and its
power has left certain long-lasting effects on people. The upward
comparisons made using social networking sites have caused people to have
lower self-esteems. In order to test the hypothesis 150 students from institute
of business management were surveyed through questionnaires and
interviews. This research was limited to the students of IoBM and Facebook,
being the most popular social networking site was used as the representative
of social media. Correlation and regression model was applied to the data
with the help of SPSS statistics to test the relationship between social media
and self-esteem. The major findings suggest that approximately 88% people
engage in making social comparisons on Facebook and out of the 88%, 98%
of the comparisons are upward social comparisons. Further this research
proves there that there is a strong relationship between social media and self-
esteem. Increase in social media usage causes the self-esteem of individuals
to decrease. One hour spent on Facebook daily results in a 5.574 decrease in
the self-esteem score of an individual.
Keywords: Social media, Self-esteem and Social networking sites
Introduction
1.1 Background
Early 21st century marked the emergence and growth of social
networking sites in the whole world. Since then these sites have become a
major part of people’s lives, specially the lives of the youth. Many teenagers
are using social media, especially Facebook, to build relationships, connect
with the world, share and gain knowledge and information, build stronger
personalities and have better social lives (Boyd, 2007). Mitchell (2002)

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claimed that social networking sites are used by youngsters to get engaged in
romantic and casual online relationships. It has been observed by the
changing behavior of the people that social media has many negative
repercussions on people. Social networking sites help people to make social
comparisons which increase the psychological distress of individuals and as
a result lower the overall level of self-esteem (Chen & Lee, 2013). Many
observers and researchers believe that due to increase in the usage of social
networking sites, people have become the victims of lower self-esteem and
self-growth.
1.2 Objectives
The major objective of this research is to highlight a clear impact of
Facebook; as a most popular and frequently used social media sight on the
self-esteem of youngsters. A mix method approach adopted therein would
further enhance our study design and would provide clear insight towards
direction of such relationship. This study would divert the attention of
individuals & help them analyze their over indulgence on social media with
in the most precious hours of their life and its possible consequences on
lowering their social esteem.
1.3 Scope of the Study
Due to the constraints of time, money and geographical boundaries,
this research was conducted in IOBM in Karachi, Pakistan. The sample size
has also been limited to 150 participants due to time constraints. This
research is narrow in scope and can be subject to limitations.
One of the inherent limitations of the study was that the respondents
were not observed, they were given questionnaires to fill. So the results of
the research depend upon the integrity and truthfulness of the subjects.
Secondly all social networking sites were not included in the research. Only
Facebook was considered the representative of all the social networking
sites.
1.4 Problem Statement
High usage of social media is resulting in lower self-esteem amongst youth.
1.5 Research Questions
• Does any relationship exist between time spent on Facebook and self-
esteem of individuals?
• What is the nature of such relationship?
• What factors of social media are responsible for lowering self-esteem
of individuals?
• What solutions could be offered to solve this dilemma?

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1.6 Hypothesis
H0: there is no relationship between social media and self esteem
Ha: there is a relationship between social media and self esteem
Literature Review:
The use of social networking sites has globalized immensely in the
past decade. Facebook is the most widely used social networking site as it
has more than one billion users worldwide (Facebook, 2012). Apart from
being the medium for expression of opinion and platform for sharing of
knowledge and moments, Facebook has also reduced distances by making
people feel more connected and helped them build new relationships and
maintain the existing ones. (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
One major feature of Facebook is to make the personal profiles of
users available for public or friends to view and scrutinize and allow them to
pass on their judgments and give feedback through comments to make sure
the user understands their opinion on his personal life (Muise et al., 2009;
Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
These opinions of other people, either friends or public, and the feedback
from them have very strong effect on people’s self-esteems. Heatherton and
Polivy (1991) claim that the concept of self-esteem can be either stable or
fluid in nature i.e. it can take time to develop for some people while it can
change with trends and daily events for others. While negative feedback
lowers the self-esteem of individuals, positive feedback increases the self-
esteem to a very high degree (Valkenburg et al., 2006).
Some of the researchers have identified the major benefits and
advantages of social networking sites. For example, Facebook gives
individuals a sense of freedom and identity, boosts up the confidence level of
individuals and cheers them up during hard times (Nyagah, Stephen and
Muema, 2015). It also helps shy and introvert students, who find it difficult
to initiate conversation, to build social capital as it reduces the level of
restrictions involved in communication and offers a forum to build healthy
and strong bonds and relationships (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007).
Amichai, Hamburger & Vinitzky (2010) argue that many Introverts build
relationships through social networking sites because usually they find
difficulties during face to face dealings.
In order to fulfill their affiliation needs majority of the humans get
possessed by an elementary drive which forces them to make social
comparisons between themselves and others (Schachter, 1959). These
affiliation needs are triggered by many social networking sites. Festinger
(1954) claimed that these social networking sites lead many people to do
self-evaluations and make social comparisons between themselves and others

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based on social classes, social roles, beauty, popularity, wealth accumulation
and other social functions.
People engage in two types of comparisons on social networking sites,
upward and downward comparison. The former one is the comparison
between an individual and those superior from him and possessing positive
attributes while the latter one marks the comparison between an individual
and those inferior than him and possessing negative attributes (Wills, 1981;
Wood, 1989). Lockwood and Kunda (1997) argue that upward social
comparisons can be inspirational for people as they could focus on
replicating their comparison targets behavior and attitudes. But it has also
been observed that upward comparisons make people feel inferior and have
negative evaluations of themselves (Morse & Gergen, 1970). As a result,
these upward comparisons in most of the cases have a negative effect on the
self-esteems of people (Vogel, Rose, Roberts and Eckles, 2014).
Many researchers have concluded from there researches that high usage
of Facebook causes depression and decreased prosperity in individuals
(Feinstein et al., 2013). As most people do not use Facebook for their
emotions or moods; they use Facebook to overcome their loneliness but only
end being less satisfied with their lives (Kross et al., 2013). Chou and Edge
(2012) concluded that people who use facebook frequently have a very firm
belief that other users, who they don’t know very well offline, are living a
very healthy, happy and prosperous life than themselves. These assumptions
about other peoples’ lives cause depression amongst individuals. According
to Pantic (2014) anxiety, depression, psychotic disorders and low self-esteem
are all the likely results of social networking sites, especially Facebook.
Chen & lee (2013) argue that Facebook usage is directly related to
psychological distress of individuals which as a result reduces the self-
esteem of people. Facebook has also caused cyber bullying to increase as
through Facebook rumors could be spread easily and indecent pictures of
individuals without their consent could be uploaded. Anxiety, depression and
low self-esteem are all symptoms and results of cyber bullying (Moreno &
Kolb, 2012).
Some researchers disagree with this and claim that generally it is just the
internet which affects the self-esteem of individuals not the social
networking sites specifically (Valkenburg, Peter and Schouten, 2006).
Ellison et al (2007) found out that youngsters with low self-esteem find
Facebook more beneficial as compared to the ones with high self-esteem.
Due to the use of Facebook people with low self-esteems possess more social
capital than the ones with high self-esteems (Tazghini & Siedlecki, 2013).

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Methodology:
3.1 Data
Primary data was collected for this research. Questionnaires were
distributed and filled out by the participants of the sample which asked some
basic questions about their attachment with and time spent on social
networking sites. Certain interviews were also conducted to know how
people view other people’s profiles and whether they make comparisons or
not. Apart from this, Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was
used to identify the level of self-esteem of the participants. Questionnaire is
given in the appendix 1 at the end of the report. In order to quantify the data
level of satisfaction of the respondents was measured on a likert scale of 1-4.
The division of points is mentioned in appendix 2.
3.2 Variables
The independent variable in this study is the social media usage of
people. Computer mediated communication, such as Facebook has gained
millions and millions of users in the past decade and now it has proven to be
“one of the most trafficked site in the world” (Facebook, 2011a).
The dependant variable is the self-esteem of people which is affected by
social functions. Self-esteem is both stable and fluid, it develops and changes
with time and is affected by daily events (Heatherton and Polivy, 1991).
3.3 Inclusion criteria
As youngsters tend to use social networking sites more than adults, this
research will be based on youngsters of both genders between the age group
of 18 and 25. Instead of complicating the research with different social
networking sites, the main focus of the study would be to find the effect of
Facebook usage on self-esteem.
3.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques
As the research is non-probabilistic and due to the geographical
boundaries convenience sampling will be used.
A sample of 150 youngsters was selected, with 95% confidence level and
confidence interval of 8, between the age of 18 and 25. They were given the
questionnaires to fill.
3.5 Statistical Model
• Comparison of means
• Correlation between times spent on Facebook and self esteem
• Regression analysis between times spent on Facebook and self
esteem

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Results and Discussion:
4.1 Descriptive Analysis
Sample of 150 students from IoBM was selected based on the
confidence level of 95% and confidence interval of 8. In order to test the
hypothesis each respondent was given a questionnaire which tested their self-
esteem and enquired the amount of time they spent on Facebook.
Summary Report
Table 1 Self-esteem
Time spent on facebook
Mean
N
Std. Deviation
less than half an hour
25.2500
32
2.67606
1-3 hours
16.7358
53
1.07687
3-5 hours
12.1951
41
1.32702
more than 5 hours
8.2500
24
2.11105
Total
15.9533
150
5.93967
The summary of the data is mentioned below in table 1. According to
the survey the people who spend less than half an hour daily on Facebook
have a mean score of 25.25 for self-esteem; people who spend 1-3 hours
daily on Facebook have a mean score of 16.7358 for self-esteem; people who
spend 3-5 hours daily on Facebook have a mean score of 12.1951 for self-
esteem; people who spend more than 5 hours daily on Facebook have a mean
score of 8.25 for self-esteem.
4.2 Inferential Analysis
Correlation test was applied to the data mentioned in table 1 to find out
whether there is any relationship between self-esteem and time spent on
Facebook. The results of the correlation test are summarized in table 2.
Table 2 Correlations
Time spent on
facebook
Self-esteem
Time spent on facebook
Pearson Correlation
1
-.933**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
N
150
150
Self-esteem
Pearson Correlation
-.933**
1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
N
150
150
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
From the result of the correlation test it can be concluded that there is a
negative relationship between the two variables. Increase in the time spent on
Facebook would result in the decrease of the self-esteem of an individual. It
can also be concluded that there is a statistically significant correlation
between social media usage and self-esteem as the sig value shown in table 2
is less than 0.05.

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After applying the correlation test the next step was to apply linear
regression analysis to predict the value of the dependent variable (self-
esteem) with the help of the predictor variable (time spent on Facebook). The
summary of the results are mentioned in table 4, 5 and 6.
Table 3 Model Summary
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1
.933a
.871
.870
2.14059
a. Predictors: (Constant), Time spent on facebook
Table 3 shows the model summary of the data. The value of R is 0.933
and it represents simple correlation which we have already calculated in
table 2. The R Square shows how much of total variation in the self –esteem
(dependent variable) can be explained by time spent on Facebook
(independent variable) which is very large in this case; 87.1%.
Table 4 ANOVAa
Model
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
1
Regression
4578.522
1
4578.522
999.218
.000b
Residual
678.152
148
4.582
Total
5256.673
149
a. Dependent Variable: Self-esteem
b. Predictors: (Constant), Time spent on facebook
ANOVA Table helps to measure how well the regression equation fits
the data. As shown in table 4 sig, value is less than 0.05. This means that the
regression model is statistically significant and a good predictor of the
dependent variable which in this case is the self-esteem of individuals.
Table 5 Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
T
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
1
(Constant)
29.221
.455
64.271
.000
Time spent on facebook
-5.574
.176
-.933
-
31.610
.000
a. Dependent Variable: Self-esteem
Table 5, the coefficients table, helps to make predictions of the
dependent variable by using the regression equation. The regression equation
is made with the help of beta values and after putting the value of
independent variable, time spent on Facebook, will predict the value of the
dependent variable, self-esteem. The regression equation of this research is:
Self-esteem=29.221-5.574(time spent on Facebook)

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4.3 Discussion
The first section of the questionnaire enquired how frequently Facebook
is used by each respondent on a daily basis, the reason behind the usage and
whether these respondents make comparisons with others on Facebook or
not. The second section of the questionnaire measured the self-esteem of
each individual.
After the questionnaires were collected certain interviews were
conducted and people were asked the reason for which they use Facebook
and whether they make social comparisons on Facebook or not. According to
the results approximately 88% people engage in making social comparisons
on Facebook and out of the 88%, 98% of the comparisons are upward social
comparisons. It has been observed that upward comparisons make people
feel inferior and have negative evaluations of themselves (Morse & Gergen,
1970). These upward comparisons in most of the cases have a negative effect
on the self-esteem of people (Vogel, Rose, Roberts and Eckles, 2014). The
answers of the respondents suggested that every individual between the age
of 18 and 25 uses Facebook and most of the people use Facebook to build
new relationships, remain informed regarding the major events in the world
and fulfill their affiliation needs. Numerous studies have proved that social
networking sites are used by teenagers to make strong and healthy
relationships with their peers (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007).
The results of the questionnaire were compiled and analyzed. The
findings of this research suggest that there is a strong relationship between
social media usage and self-esteem of individuals. Both of these variables are
negatively associated as shown in table 2. Increase in social media usage
would cause the self-esteem of people to decrease. Time spent on Facebook
could be used to predict the self-esteem of individuals. One hour spent on
Facebook daily results in a 5.574 decrease in the self-esteem score of an
individual.
This research clearly shows the negative impact of Facebook on the self-
esteem of individuals. Self-esteem is the mixture of two variables; the self-
respect of individuals and their self-confidence (Branden, 1969). As people
spend more time on Facebook, they visit other people’s profiles and they
start envying certain individuals who they think are superior or better-off
than them. Walther and colleagues argue that most people use Facebook to
know what is going on in other people’s lives and judge others on the basis
of the cues found on the profiles of these people e (Walther, Van Der Heide,
Kim, Westerman, & Tong, 2008). These individuals make upward
comparisons with others. As a result they start feeling inferior, less
privileged and ungrateful. These negative feelings have a direct impact on
the self-esteem of individuals. Social comparisons made using social
networking sites such as Facebook makes the people feel worse about their

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lives and promotes negative well-being of individuals (Steers, Wickham, &
Acitelli, 2014). As a result people end up having low self-evaluations.
Conclusion, Limitations, and Recommendations:
5.1 Conclusion
Social media has a very strong impact on the self-esteem of individuals.
Students use these social networking sites for information, communication
and building and maintain of relationships. But majority of the people end up
making upward and downward comparisons with others. 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. Social media is growing very drastically in
almost every country in the world. So it is impossible to keep people,
especially students who use Facebook on a daily basis, away from social
media for a very long time. Parents and teachers should play an active role
here by guiding students regarding self-esteem, self-recognition, self-
actualization and self-confidence. Parents should also limit the access of
their children on these sites plus raise awareness in their children regarding
the negative repercussions of Facebook.
5.2 Limitations
As this was a small research conducted for academic purposes it was
limited to the students of IoBM. The sampling method used was convenience
sampling so there can be certain doubts on whether the sample is a true
representation of the whole population or not. Due to certain cost and time
constraints the sample size was also kept short. Though the questionnaire
was well constructed but the integrity of the students cannot be measured.
Self-esteem depends on person to person and the factors that cause to change
also vary from person to person so their never can be an accurate measure for
self-esteem. Due to embarrassment or other social factors the respondents
might have not been truthful in their answers. Instead of including each
social networking site in the research only Facebook was used and
considered the representation of all the social networking sites.
5.3 Recommendations
• Parents should keep a check on their children. They should observe
the effects of these sites on their children and accordingly limit the time their
children spend on such social networking sites.
• Children should be taken to workshops and awareness programs
where they should be guided about self-esteem, self-recognition, self-
actualization and self-confidence.

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• Parents and teachers should raise the morale of students and make
them more confident in their conduct.
• Campaigns must be held to raise awareness in people regarding the
negative repercussions of social networking sites.
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Appendix A: Questionnaire
1) How much do you spend on Facebook?
Half an hour
1-3 hours
3-5 hours
More than 5 hours
2) How often do you comment on other people’s profile?
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Never
3) While viewing other people’s profile do you compare yourself with
them?
Yes
No
Sometimes
4) Does the number of likes on your picture or status affect you?
Yes
No
Sometimes
5) Why do you use Facebook?
Building
relationships
Medium of
communication
Information
Fulfill
affiliation
needs
Other(please
specify)
Instructions: Below is a list of statements dealing with your general
feelings about yourself. Please indicate the level of your satisfaction on a
scale of 1-4 with 4 being the highest level of satisfaction.
1
2
3
4
1. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
2. At times I think I am no good at all.
3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
4. I am able to do things as well as most other people.
5. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
6. I certainly feel useless at times.
7. I feel that I'm a person of worth, at least on an equal plane
with others.
8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.
9. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.
10. I take a positive attitude toward myself.