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EDI Research and Practice Showcase 2022
Thursday 27 January 2022
14.15-14.20: Introduction
14.20-15.30: Gender and STEM.
Moderated by: Sara Clavero
• How to Recruit and Retain Women in Computer Science. Alina Berry (Poster – 10
mins)
• CLICK: A mentoring approach to increasing female participation in Computer
Science. Amanda O’Farrell (Paper – 15 mins)
• Gender (or sex?) differences in spatial abilities: why representation matters.
Mariana Velho (Paper – 15 mins)
• DIAMOND: Revealing actionable knowledge from data for more inclusive and
efficient transport systems. Ajeni Thimnu et al. (Paper – 15 mins)
15.30-15.45: Break
15.45-17.00: Gender, leadership, and institutional experiences
Moderated by Sara Clavero
• Gender diversity in the Irish Judiciary. Caoimhe Kiernan (Paper – 15 mins)
• Trust Me I’m Your Leader: Investigating the Impact of Leader’s Gender on Trust
Perceptions towards Leader. Akanksha Lohmore et al. (Paper – 15 mins)
• A Conceptual Framework for Contextualizing Women’s Subjective Career Success.
Dan Zhang (Paper – 15 mins)
• Addressing Sexual Violence and Harassment at TU Dublin. Catherine Bolger (Paper
– 15 mins)
Friday 28 January 2022
9.30-10.30: Race and higher education
Moderated by: Seán Henry
• Abstract on experiences of Black Minority Ethnic students in higher education in
Ireland. Margaret Fingleton (Paper – 15 mins)
• Building MultiStories: Presenting a Framework to Diversify the Curriculum.
Fionnuala Darby and Lindsay Dowling (Paper – 15 mins)
• Building Multi-stories, practical application of theoretical framework in Applied
Social care. Zuzana Teserova and Melody Chinenyanga (Paper – 15 mins)
10.30-10.45: Break
10.45-12.00: Pedagogy and Practice
Moderated by: Seán Henry
• Future Makers Collective: Experiments in Collaborative Intradisciplinary Creative
Practice. Deirdre Kennedy and Sinead McDonald (Paper – 15 mins)
• Educator handbook for designing inclusive entrepreneurship courses in higher
education. Deirdre McQuillan (Paper – 15 mins)
• Development of a new TU Dublin programme for people with intellectual
disabilities. Sylvia Healy (Paper – 15 mins)
• An investigation of the personality traits that could identify vulnerable young
people who will be susceptible to undue influence by social media influencers
(SMIs). Charles Alves de Castro et al. (Paper – 15 mins)
12.00-12.15: Closing thoughts.
EDI Research and Practice Showcase 2022 –TU Dublin
January 27th –28th, Dublin, Ireland
2022
An investigation of the personality traits that could identify
vulnerable young people who will be susceptible to undue
influence by social media influencers (SMIs)
By © Charles Alves de Castro
Supervisors: Dr Isobel O'Reilly & Dr Aiden Carthy Duration: 15 min
Technological University Dublin
The research presented in this conference was funded by the Irish Research Council under award number GOIPG/2021/360
Agenda
❑Overall Context
❑Objectives & Aims
❑Research Questions
❑Social Media Influencers (SMIs) in Context
❑The Impact of SMIs on Adolescents (1)
❑The Impact of SMIs on Adolescents (2)
❑Consumer Behaviour in a Digital Era –Generation Z in Perspective
❑Who is responsible to ethically protect minors in the digital environment?
❑Gaps
❑Findings
❑Conclusion
❑Q&A 2
Overall Context Should we be concerned about the influence of SMIs on
young people? Should this be a concern for the
government? Should SMIs be regulated, registered, and
policed? Should brands responsible for any perceived
undue content be sanctioned in any way, and should
such findings be made public?
If we can predict who will be susceptible to undue
influence by SMIs, then we can work towards to inform
and sensitise young people on how to recognise
potentially harmful content posted by SMIs.
SMIs may influence adolescents in both positive and
negative ways, for example, motivating them to
behave pro-socially or adopt healthier lifestyle choices
as opposed to encouraging smoking, drinking, or even
criminal and violent behaviour.
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Research
Questions
1.What personality traits or profiles are associated with
susceptibility to undue influence by social media influencers?
2. Are there gender differences with respect to the
susceptibility to undue influence by social media influencers?
3. What are the five preferred influencers that this young
sample follows and their motives to follow these SMIs?
4. Who is responsible for ethically protecting minors in the
digital environment?
5. If there is evidence of susceptibility to undue influence by
SMIs, how effectively does the provision of a specifically
designed workshop enable young people to recognise
potentially harmful content posted by SMIs? 4
Objectives & Aims
❑Determine whether there is a specific
personality profile that predisposes
young people to undue influence by
social media influencers.
❑Analyse the effectiveness of a
specifically designed workshop enabling
young people to recognise potentially
harmful content posted by SMIs (If there
is evidence of susceptibility to undue
influence by SMIs).
Assess the susceptibility of young
people to influence by social
media influencers (SMIs)
Raise awareness among young
people about the impact of social
media influencers’ content on
their lives
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❑Ryan (2014), states that SMIs are the online
opinion leaders. They harness the power of the
web to extol the virtues of products and
brands that they like, and equally to denigrate
those they find unsatisfactory. It can happen
through blogs, podcasts, forums, and social
media channels. Therefore, they have the
virtual ear of the online masses’ (Ryan, 2014).
Social Media Influencers (SMIs) in Context
❑They consider themselves expert in certain areas
(such as their work, hobbies, or interests).
❑People often ask their advice about purchases in
areas where they are knowledgeable.
❑When they encounter a new product they like, they
tend to recommend it to friends and followers.
❑They have a large social network circle and often
refer people to one another based on their
interests.
❑They are active online, using social networking
channels, websites, etc, to connect with their
peers.
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❑In 2020, the influencer “industry” is
deemed to be worth 5-10 billion USD ($)
(Brooks, 2019).
❑Gartner (2019) found that an estimated
84% of millennials are likely to be
impacted by social media influencers
content leading them to make a
purchase or be more susceptible to
doing so.
❑The most impacted and susceptible to
be influenced by SMIs is Generation Z,
made up of those born from 1995 to
2010 (Francis and Hoefel, 2018).
The Impact of SMIs
on Adolescents (1)
Reference:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-
social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/
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❑A study using 256 (
N=256
) adults and adolescents
found that adolescents are more susceptible to be
negative influenced on the internet than adults
(Kraut et al., 1998). Also, it shows large rises of
depression and loneliness amongst the adolescent
group (Kraut et al., 1998).
❑Curtis et al., research shows “a statistically
significant relationship and moderate effect sizes
between alcohol-related social media engagement
and both alcohol consumption” as well as “a greater
alcohol-related social media engagement was
correlated with both greater self-reported drinking
and alcohol-related problems” (Curtis et al., 2018).
The Impact of SMIs on Adolescents (2)
❑Released in November 2018, a research carried out
by scientists from the Department of Psychology at
the University of Pennsylvania (USA), with 143
students (N=143), found that decreasing the time
spent using social networks leads to considerable
reductions in depression and loneliness (Hunt, Marx
and Lipson, 2018).
❑A study investigating the effect on children's ad
libitum snack intake of social media marketing of
snack foods via influencer Instagram profiles, found
that influencer marketing of unhealthy foods led to
the immediate food consumption of these foods by
adolescents and children, while there was no such
effect on influencers promoting healthy foods (E.
Coates et al., 2019). 8
❑Although there are both positive and
negative influences that SMIs can
spread, perhaps one of the issues
that can skew towards negative
influences is that being an influencer
is a new job, within a consumption
market and society that expects
influencers to work for their sponsor
brands.
Consumer Behaviour in a
Digital Era –Generation Z
in Perspective
Reference: https://www.marketingcharts.com/charts/who-kids-feel-most-influences-their-
purchase-decisions/attachment/wunderman-who-influences-kids-purchases-oct2019
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❑According to the International Save the Children Alliance (2010) and the alliance to better
protect minors online (2017).
❑The responsibility to protect minors in the digital environment relies on us all and all
institutions in our society, as the internet and social media are present in our daily lives.
❑Although parents, government and the private sector have been acting directly to ensure the
protection of young people, further research is recommended to evaluate the current
programmes, to understand the parents' control, how to empower and effectively train parents
for better results as well as it is expected that companies and the government constantly
update and review their programmes, policies and legislation in order to have outstanding
results.
Who is responsible to ethically protect minors in
the digital environment?
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Literature Review
Gaps:
❑Little research has focused on personality
traits or profiles that predispose young people
to be susceptible to undue influence this
regard.
❑There is also no previous research in an Irish
context that has attempted to analyse the
impact of the provision of a workshop aimed at
preventing young people from being
susceptible to undue influence by SMIs.
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Sources
Number
Extracted
Total of Sources
Reports Cited
45
Journal Articles
Analysed
420
(57)
Journal Articles
Selected
363
408
❑Depression and anxiety correlated to instant fame, and the reduction in depression and loneliness is
linked to the decreasing amount of time spent in social media networks, however, the contrary does
not have the same effect.
❑Social media influencers can cause a dissatisfied feeling related to body image from women
perspective.
❑Research have shown a statistically meaningful association between alcohol consumption related
social media interaction within the younger population.
❑Also, shows a greater presence with social media related to alcohol was associated with both
greater self-reported consumption and alcohol-related issues.
❑Kids and adolescents exposed to an esteemed media figure such as an influencer promoting
unhealthy food could foster unhealthy habits leading to obesity.
Findings
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CONCLUSION
❑Due to many elements causing a negative influence
on adolescents by SMIs, researchers find that more
should be done to protect the rights of kids and
adolescents. The government should regulate and
create policies to supervise how those undue
influences have been generated and how would be
possible to avoid them.
❑A gap in the literature shows that research is needed
to unravel the impact of SMIs on adolescents that
may have both desirable and undesirable
consequences. While some previous studies have
investigated the tendency of some people, especially
students, to become SMIs, none to date have
focused on the susceptibility of young people to
undue influence by SMIs. 13
QUESTIONS?
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THANK YOU!
Charles Alves de Castro
PhD. Student –TU Dublin
IRC’s Awardee
B00139249@mytudublin.ie
Research Gate: Charles Alves de Castro
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescastro/
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