Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

The Impact of Social Media on Self-Worth and Social Comparison

Richardson Ballroom – DiGiorgio Campus Center

Although there are many benefits to social media use, such as having a sense of connection with others, heavy social media use can negatively affect one's mental health. Our project examined the relationship between social media use, personality, self-worth, and social comparison. Participants were 130 women and 48 men from different backgrounds who were recruited through social media, and a variety of undergraduate and psychology classes. Through an online questionnaire, we assessed participants' personality types, social media use, self-worth, and social comparison. Our results revealed that individuals higher in neuroticism and lower in conscientiousness were more dependent on social media. We also found that social media dependency significantly predicted one's appearance-related self-worth, competitive self-worth, academic competence self-worth, and the tendency to seek others' approval. Lastly, we found that social media dependency significantly predicted the level of social comparison. Our results conclude that social media has an impact on users' self-worth and the way they compare themselves to others. We can also conclude that personality types influence social media use. These results suggest that increased social media use influences social comparison. The social comparison that occurs on social media may impact users’ self-worth and ultimately affect their overall well-being.