Date of Award

12-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Robert Padgett

Second Advisor

Brian Day

Abstract

Social media use among emerging adults is assumed to be related to a variety of negative psychological outcomes and has, in recent years, become a widely studied phenomenon (Kim, 2017, Pew Research Center, 2018). Despite the widespread assumption, the results from empirical studies of the effects of social media use on mental health in this population have been inconsistent and inconclusive (Keles et al., 2020, Yang et al., 2021). Several meta-analyses (e.g., Keles et al., 2020) demonstrate these inconsistent results across studies and point to the need to consider individual difference factors when researching this issue. Different self-identity styles have adaptive and maladaptive self-reflective processes which impact how individuals use social media (Berzonsky & Luyckx, 2008). This study examined the role of differences in self-identity styles among emerging adults and how those differences influence the ways emerging adults use social media as important mediators of psychological well-being. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that more negative identity styles (e.g., diffuse and normative styles) were associated with negative social media use (e.g., social comparison and self-disclosure). Stronger support was found for the hypothesis that such negative social media use was associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety.

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