University of Twente Student Theses
Social media and its relationship to mental health/well-being : an experience sampling study
Gehrmann, Kai (2022) Social media and its relationship to mental health/well-being : an experience sampling study.
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| Abstract: | The technical revolution progresses continuously as sales of smartphones, and other technical devices and the registration numbers on social media platforms rise. Moreover, the cases of people who experience mental health issues increased as well. Previous research focused already on the influence of social media use on mental well-being, but both positive and negative results were documented. That is why this research aimed to observe the effect of social media use on mental well-being as well. Furthermore, this study was applied to reveal whether the reason for social media use could have a moderating influence on mental wellbeing. It is hypothesized, regarding the chosen target group (18-29), that social media use could have a positive effect on mental well-being, as this was observed in previous studies. Furthermore, it was theorized that “social interaction”, “entertainment” and “beating boredom” are the most prevalent purposes of use. Lastly, the researcher assumed that the purpose of use would moderate the effect of social media use on mental well-being. The study was conducted using the experience sampling method which included one baseline questionnaire and 24 daily questionnaires (3 times a day, for eight days). To test the mental health of each participant over time the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form was filled out in the baseline questionnaire and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental well-being scale was answered every day (Lamers et al., 2011; Warwick Medical School, n.d.). Moreover, participants had to answer several questions concerning their quantity of social media use and purpose of use. The results revealed that there is a significant negative effect of social media use on mental well-being and that the purposes of “entertainment”, “beating boredom” and “social interaction” were indeed the most selected purposes of use. Furthermore, it showed that there was no moderating effect from the purpose of use on the relationship between social media use and mental well-being. Nevertheless, there was a significant positive effect from the purpose of use, “information seeking”, on mental well-being. Although the study design showed to have some limitations, such as being limited to a western, educated, industrialized, rich and from a democratic country (WEIRD) sample and a language barrier, the results revealed several building blocks for future research. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/91419 |
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