Social Media Use and Relationships
Poster Number
39
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Tara Collins
Abstract
Social media appears to be a popular form of communication between young adults on college campuses (Hampton, 2011). Researchers, Barber and Cooper (2013) found that often during relationship conflicts, young adults find themselves looking for a coping outlet such as rebound sex. We aimed to explore the use of social media to seek out rebound sex among young adults. We hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between how often participants reported using social media sites (SMS) or public venues (e.g., going to a bar) and how likely they would be to use that SMS or public venues to seek out rebound sex. We also hypothesized that participants would use SMS more than public venues to seek out rebound sex. To test the hypotheses we created an online survey with four questionnaires completed by 115 participants, including men (10%) and women (83%) over the age of 18 years (63% were 18-21), most of whom were students from a Southeastern University. Most of the participants identified themselves as Caucasian (69%), 17% identified as African American, and 13% identified themselves with another race. The questionnaires included Likert-type questions, asking participants about their usage of different SMS and public venues and how likely they would be to use each to seek out rebound sex. We tested the hypothesis by examining the pearson correlations between specific social media sites and public venues with their related question regarding how likely they would be to use that particular outlet to seek out rebound sex. We found that there was a significant positive relationship between how often participants reported using social networking sites, r (n = 112) = .19, p < .05, messaging apps, r (n = 106) = .48, p < .05 and hookup sites/apps, r (n = 98) = .44, p < .05 with how likely they would be to use that SMS to seek out rebound sex. This finding partially supported our hypothesis. We also calculated the means of the likelihood participants would be to use social media and public venues and then compared the means using a paired samples t-test. Respondents were significantly more likely to use public venues (M = 2.30) than SMS (M = 1.56) to seek out rebound sex, t (102) = -7.40, p < .0 5. This was the opposite of our hypothesis. The present findings expanded on Barber and Cooper’s research on reasons people seek out rebound sex. However, our measure and way of asking participants about rebound sex could be improved by adding a lie scale to the survey to reduce participant bias.
Course Assignment
Research Methods in Psychology, PSYC 302, Tara Collins
Previously Presented/Performed?
Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 2016
Start Date
22-4-2016 2:15 PM
End Date
22-4-2016 4:15 PM
Social Media Use and Relationships
Richardson Ballroom
Social media appears to be a popular form of communication between young adults on college campuses (Hampton, 2011). Researchers, Barber and Cooper (2013) found that often during relationship conflicts, young adults find themselves looking for a coping outlet such as rebound sex. We aimed to explore the use of social media to seek out rebound sex among young adults. We hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between how often participants reported using social media sites (SMS) or public venues (e.g., going to a bar) and how likely they would be to use that SMS or public venues to seek out rebound sex. We also hypothesized that participants would use SMS more than public venues to seek out rebound sex. To test the hypotheses we created an online survey with four questionnaires completed by 115 participants, including men (10%) and women (83%) over the age of 18 years (63% were 18-21), most of whom were students from a Southeastern University. Most of the participants identified themselves as Caucasian (69%), 17% identified as African American, and 13% identified themselves with another race. The questionnaires included Likert-type questions, asking participants about their usage of different SMS and public venues and how likely they would be to use each to seek out rebound sex. We tested the hypothesis by examining the pearson correlations between specific social media sites and public venues with their related question regarding how likely they would be to use that particular outlet to seek out rebound sex. We found that there was a significant positive relationship between how often participants reported using social networking sites, r (n = 112) = .19, p < .05, messaging apps, r (n = 106) = .48, p < .05 and hookup sites/apps, r (n = 98) = .44, p < .05 with how likely they would be to use that SMS to seek out rebound sex. This finding partially supported our hypothesis. We also calculated the means of the likelihood participants would be to use social media and public venues and then compared the means using a paired samples t-test. Respondents were significantly more likely to use public venues (M = 2.30) than SMS (M = 1.56) to seek out rebound sex, t (102) = -7.40, p < .0 5. This was the opposite of our hypothesis. The present findings expanded on Barber and Cooper’s research on reasons people seek out rebound sex. However, our measure and way of asking participants about rebound sex could be improved by adding a lie scale to the survey to reduce participant bias.
