Influence of Facebook Secret Group Participation on Psychological Well-Being
Poster Number
19
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Faculty Mentor
Merry Sleigh, Ph.D.
Abstract
We examined the effect of Facebook Secret Groups (FSG) use on psychological well-being. Adults (n=104) responded to the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2009), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Kobau et al., 2010), the Facebook Intensity Scale (FBI; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007), a social connectedness scale (OSC; Grieve et al., 2013), a social comparison on Facebook scale (Lee, 2009), and the Reinecke and Trepte (2013) authenticity measure (RAM). We divided participants into three groups: no FSG, light FSG, and heavy FSG usage. Participants in the heavy FSG condition had higher OSC scores than in the No FSG condition; however, FSG participation did not relate to any authenticity measures. Participants who did not use FSG had lower FBI scores than the other two conditions. The higher the FBI scores, the higher the negative social comparison score and the higher the OSC score. Participants with higher OSC scores also reported that they wanted people to see them as they truly are and that their friends were authentic on Facebook. The higher the RAM score, the lower the depression and the higher the Flourishing score. In sum, adults who heavily engaged in FSG reported being more socially connected to their friends on Facebook. However, this finding did not connect directly to online authenticity. Perhaps adults who are more socially connected to their Facebook friends are the ones more driven to join FSG. This study supports the assertion of previous researchers that social media use can either be alienating or encourage connectedness.
Start Date
24-4-2015 1:20 PM
End Date
24-4-2015 2:50 PM
Influence of Facebook Secret Group Participation on Psychological Well-Being
Richardson Ballroom
We examined the effect of Facebook Secret Groups (FSG) use on psychological well-being. Adults (n=104) responded to the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2009), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Kobau et al., 2010), the Facebook Intensity Scale (FBI; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007), a social connectedness scale (OSC; Grieve et al., 2013), a social comparison on Facebook scale (Lee, 2009), and the Reinecke and Trepte (2013) authenticity measure (RAM). We divided participants into three groups: no FSG, light FSG, and heavy FSG usage. Participants in the heavy FSG condition had higher OSC scores than in the No FSG condition; however, FSG participation did not relate to any authenticity measures. Participants who did not use FSG had lower FBI scores than the other two conditions. The higher the FBI scores, the higher the negative social comparison score and the higher the OSC score. Participants with higher OSC scores also reported that they wanted people to see them as they truly are and that their friends were authentic on Facebook. The higher the RAM score, the lower the depression and the higher the Flourishing score. In sum, adults who heavily engaged in FSG reported being more socially connected to their friends on Facebook. However, this finding did not connect directly to online authenticity. Perhaps adults who are more socially connected to their Facebook friends are the ones more driven to join FSG. This study supports the assertion of previous researchers that social media use can either be alienating or encourage connectedness.
