Perceived Influence of Social Media,Identity,and Mental Health Outcomes

Abstract

Social media has become an important context for identity development, and its use has associated with poor mental health outcomes and health-compromising behaviors. The implicit theory that social media has influence over beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors may leave individuals vulnerable to its effects on mental health and, in particular, for those individuals synthesizing their identities. For this study, 253 US emerging adults (Female = 207, Male = 43, Non-binary = 3; M_age = 21.69 years) completed an online questionnaire on demographics, frequency of social media use, perception of influence of social media, identity development, and anxious and depressive symptoms. Perceived influence of social media was positively associated with anxiety symptoms, with depressive symptoms, and negatively associated with identity synthesis. Using mediational analyses, the association of perceived influence of social media to anxiety and depressive symptoms was through identity synthesis. Reducing individuals’ perception of influence of social media may ameliorate negative outcomes.

Keywords

identity anxiety social media depression perceived influence

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cella

Lai

J.-S.

Nowinski

C. J.

Victorson

Peterman

Miller

Bethoux

Heinemann

Rubin

Cavazos

J. E.

Reder

A. T.

Sufit

Simuni

Holmes

G. L.

Siderowf

Wojna

Bode

McKinney

Podrabsky

Moy

(2012). Neuro-QOL: Brief measures of health-related quality of life for clinical research in neurology. Neurology, 78(23), 1860–1867. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e318258f744

Chung

Munno

G. J.

Moritz

(2015). Triggering participation: Exploring the effects of third- person and hostile media perceptions on online participation. Computers in Human Behavior, 53(1), 452–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.037

Crocetti

Klimstra

Keijsers

Hale

W. W.

3rd Meeus

(2009). Anxiety trajectories and identity development in adolescence: A five-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(6), 839–849. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9302-y

Daha

(2011). Contextual factors contributing to ethnic identity development of second-generation Iranian American adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 26(5), 543–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558411402335

Dweck

C. S.

(2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Erikson

(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. Norton.

Gerber

S.-J.

O’Connell

(2012). Protective processes: The function of young people’s implicit theories of crime in offending behaviour. Psychology, Crime and Law, 18(9), 781–795. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2010.550616

Geusens

Beullens

(2023). I see, therefore I am: Exposure to alcohol references on social media, but not on traditional media, is related to alcohol consumption via drinking and non-drinking identity. Health Communication, 38(2), 402–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1954301

Golan

G. J.

Day

A. G.

(2008). The first-person effect and its behavioral consequences: A new trend in the twenty-five year history of third-person effect research. Mass Communication & Society, 11(4), 539–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205430802368621

10.

Gomillion

S. C.

Giuliano

T. A.

(2011). The influence of media role models on gay, lesbian, and bisexual identity. Journal of Homosexuality, 58(3), 330–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2011.546729

11.

Gunther

A. C.

Storey

J. D.

(2003). The influence of presumed influence. Journal of Communication, 53(2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02586.x

12.

Harness

Fitzgerald

Sullivan

Selkie

(2022). Youth insight about social media effects on well/ill-being and self-modulating efforts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 71(3), 324–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.04.011

13.

Hayes

A. F.

(2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.

14.

Hays

R. D.

Bjorner

J. B.

Revicki

D. A.

Spritzer

K. L.

Cella

(2009). Development of physical and mental health summary scores from the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) global items. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care & Rehabilitation, 18(7), 873–880. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-009-9496-9

15.

Henderson

Dweck

C. S.

(1990). Achievement and motivation in adolescence: A new model and data. In Feldman

Elliott

(Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 308–329). Harvard University Press.

16.

Kelly

Donohew

(1999). Media and primary socialization theory. Substance Use & Misuse, 34(7), 1033–1045. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826089909039395

17.

Martin

A. C.

(2008). Television media as a potential negative factor in the racial identity development of African American youth. Academic Psychiatry, 32(4), 338–342. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.32.4.338

18.

Mastro

D. E.

Behm-Morawitz

Kopacz

M. A.

(2008). Exposure to television portrayals of Latinos: The implications of aversive racism and social identity theory. Human Communication Research, 34(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00311.x

19.

McInroy

L. B.

Craig

S. L.

(2017). Perspectives of LGBTQ emerging adults on the depiction and impact of LGBTQ media representation. Journal of Youth Studies, 20(1), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2016.1184243

20.

Michikyan

Dennis

Subrahmanyam

(2015). Can you guess who I am? Real, ideal, and false self-presentation on Facebook among emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 3(1), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696814532442

21.

Montgomery

Côté

J. E.

(2003). College as a transition to adulthood. In Adams

G. R.

Berzonsky

M. D.

(Eds.), Blackwell handbook of adolescence (pp. 149–172). Blackwell Publishing.

22.

Noon

E. J.

Schuck

L. A.

Guțu

S. M.

Şahin

Vujović

Aydın

(2021). To compare, or not to compare? Age moderates the relationship between social comparisons on instagram and identity processes during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 93(1), 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.10.008

23.

Peters

Van der Cruijsen

van der Aar

L. P. E.

Spaans

J. P.

Becht

A. I.

Crone

E. A.

(2021). Social media use and the not-so-imaginary audience: Behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying the influence on self-concept. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 48(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100921

24.

Pew Research Center . (2024). Social media fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

25.

Potterton

Austin

Robinson

Webb

Allen

K. L.

Schmidt

(2022). Identity development and social-emotional disorders during adolescence and emerging adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01536-7

26.

Ridge

R. D.

Hawk

C. E.

McCombs

L. D.

Richards

K. J.

Schultz

C. A.

Ashton

R. K.

Hartvigsen

L. D.

Bartlett

(2023). It doesn’t affect me!’—do immunity beliefs prevent subsequent aggression after playing a violent video game? Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 35(4), 234–240. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000369

27.

Rosenthal

D. A.

Gurney

R. M.

Moore

S. M.

(1981). From trust on intimacy: A new inventory for examining erikson's stages of psychosocial development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 10(6), 525–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087944

28.

Salvador

Á.

Fonseca

da Costa

L. P.

Mansuklal

S. A.

(2023). “Feed” or “unfeed”? The role of social networking sites use in the link between identity commitment development and psychological functioning in emerging adulthood. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 35(5), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000389

29.

Samaey

Lecei

Achterhof

Hagemann

Hermans

K. S. F. M.

Hiekkaranta

A. P.

Kirtley

O. J.

Reininghaus

Boets

Myin-Germeys

van Winkel

(2024). Anticipating future threats: Evidence for association, but not interaction, of childhood adversity and identity development with threat anticipation in adolescence. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 18(9), 750–757. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13511

30.

Schwartz

S. J.

Côté

J. E.

Arnett

(2005). Identity and agency in emerging adulthood: Two developmental routes in the individualization process. Youth & Society, 37(2), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X05275965

31.

Schwartz

S. J.

Ertanir

Harkness

Zamboanga

B. L.

Bessaha

M. L.

Bartholomew

J. B.

Meca

Michikyan

Duque

Montero-Zamora

López-Madrigal

Castillo

L. G.

Ángel Cano

Subrahmanyam

Piña-Watson

Regan

Ham

L. S.

Hanson

M. K.

Martinez

C. R.

(2023). The role of personal identity as a resource for college students during Covid-19. Journal of American College Health, 73(1), 244–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2023.2214244

32.

Schwartz

S. J.

Hardy

S. A.

Zamboanga

B. L.

Meca

Waterman

A. S.

Picariello

Luyckx

Crocetti

Kim

S. Y.

Brittian

A. S.

Roberts

S. E.

Whitbourne

S. K.

Ritchie

R. A.

Brown

E. J.

Forthun

L. F.

(2015). Identity in young adulthood: Links with mental health and risky behavior. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 36(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.10.001

33.

Schwartz

S. J.

Zamboanga

B. L.

Luyckx

Meca

Ritchie

R. A.

(2013). Identity in emerging adulthood: Reviewing the field and looking forward. Emerging Adulthood, 1(2), 96–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813479781

34.

Soh

Talaifar

Harari

G. M.

(2024). Identity development in the digital context. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(2), Article e12940. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12940

35.

Stavrositu

C. D.

Kim

(2014). Social media metrics: Third-person perceptions of health information. Computers in Human Behavior, 35(1), 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.025

36.

Thomas

Briggs

Hart

Kerrigan

(2017). Understanding social media and identity work in young people transitioning to university. Computers in Human Behavior, 76(1), 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.021

37.

Vuorre

Orben

Przybylski

A. K.

(2021). There is no evidence that associations between adolescents’ digital technology engagement and mental health problems have increased. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(5), 823–835. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702621994549

38.

Yeager

D. S.

Johnson

Spitzer

B. J.

Trzesniewski

K. H.

Powers

Dweck

C. S.

(2014). The far-reaching effects of believing people can change: Implicit theories of personality shape stress, health, and achievement during adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(6), 867–884. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036335

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.07 MB

0.10 MB