By Angela D’Antonio, Victor Greto and Jack Barnhardt; Wesley College
It has been well documented that contemporary college students use technology more than any previous generation and use it for social, entertainment and academic reasons (Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005; Rideout, 2012). This has sparked research on the psychological well-being and social interaction of a generation of students increasingly exposed to media of all types, including Internet use, video games, and texting.
Some studies identify positive effects of some forms of technology – for example, the enhancement of social interaction that social networking websites offer or the benefits of access to information that the Internet provides. However, adverse effects of high levels of media exposure also have been found, including increased loneliness (Engelberg & Sjoberg, 2004), overstimulation, diminished interest in and ability for sustained attention required for tasks like reading and long-term planning, and diminished involvement in academic life (Lloyd, Dean, & Cooper, 2007).
Detrimental effects on interpersonal skills have been suggested, including poor emotional regulation, appraisal of emotion in others and assessment of appropriate boundaries, all of which are essential for healthy relationships. There is evidence that youth who engage in more time with media report lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Furthermore, increased internet use has been associated with lower social involvement, less communication within the family circle, and higher levels of stress and depression (Kraut, Patterson, Lundmark, Kiesler, Mukopadhyay, & Scherlis, 1998).
In-depth surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center continue to explore the use of technology and media among teens and young adults (Lenhart, 2015). As one would expect, speculation also continues about the effects of increased exposure to media of all types, including social media, video games, and texting, among other technology-based activities, on such psychological indices as well-being, communication and interpersonal relationships, among others (Sponcil & Gitimu, 2013).
The current investigation explores these trends in media and technology use and potential psychological correlates. It is a partial replication and extension of a previous study we conducted which examined the extent and nature of technology and media-use among college students and found a strong relationship between media use and ego-control. The current study assessed the relationship between media-use and several psychological variables, including anxiety, ego-control and social connectedness. We assessed technology and media use among 204 Wesley College undergraduate students. Participants ranged in age from 18-24. There were 64 freshman, 31 sophomores, 57 juniors and 52 seniors.
The Student Technology and Media Use Survey used is modeled from The Student Technology Use Survey (Lloyd, Dean, & Cooper, 2007) and the 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation Study (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). It is a 38-item self-report assessment designed to measure participants’ technology and media use, detailing the type and frequency of technology and media use and multitasking (e.g., social networking, listening to music, and texting) (highest score possible 179, lowest score 38).
Results from individual interviews of subjects in the first study revealed considerable anxiety associated with technology and media use. For example, many students stated they became anxious if they did not have their phones with them even for a short period of time or did not receive responses to their texts right away. They indicated that they often feared missing out on social events communicated via technology, and have been upset by others’ comments posted on Facebook. Given the degree of anxiety we found, we included a measure of anxiety in the current study. The measure used was be the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). This is a commonly used self-report measure of anxiety consisting of 20 items for assessing trait anxiety and 20 items for assessing state anxiety, with a range of scores for each subtest of 20-80 (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983).
Findings from the original study revealed highly significant correlations between various types of media use and psychological measure of Ego-control (EC). EC refers to impulse inhibition or expression, such that those individuals with greater use of media and technology displayed lower levels of impulse control and had more difficulty delaying gratification.
Seeking to replicate these findings, we included the measure of ego-control seeking to replicate these findings. Ego-control will be measured using the Ego-control and Ego-resiliency Scale (ECER) developed by Block & Block (1980). It is a single, integrated measure of ego-control and ego-resiliency consisting of 37 EC items (highest score possible 148, lowest score 37) and 14 ER items (highest score possible 56, lowest score 14).
An interesting finding from the first survey showed that while the relationship between ego-control and media use was strong for both males and females, it was especially strong for females. This led us to speculate about the ways in which males and females tend to use media; perhaps females engage in media and technology more for social connectedness and maintaining relationships than males do. There is some research to support this. For example, Lenhart, Purcell, Smith and Zickuhr (2010) found that women are more likely to have a personal profile on Facebook than men. Men may use social media more to meet new people, while women tend to use social media to maintain relationships (Lenhart, 2015; Sheldon, 2008).
The role of social media in both enhancing and diminishing connections with others has been examined in the literature. There is indication that digital media provide opportunities for youth to interact with one another, particularly with those who share similar values, attitudes, and interests (Davis, 2012). In their experimental study, Deters and Mehl (2013) found that higher levels of status updating actually reduced loneliness. The reduced loneliness seemed to be due to participants feeling more connected to their friends on a daily basis.
However, research has also shown that digital media may have a potentially negative effect on an individual’s sense of belonging (Abrams, Weick, Thomas, Colbe, & Franklin (2011). According to Ahn and Shin (2013) social media may play a role in seeking out connections with others and also of avoiding feelings of isolation. These authors suggest that interaction through social media can help people feel connected temporarily, but may actually do little to alleviate feelings of loneliness when compared to face-to-face interaction.
Research conducted by Ozsaker, Muslu, Kahraman, Beytut, Yardimci, & Basbakkal (2015) suggests that problematic internet use among college students may be associated with decreased levels of depression, increased perception of support from others, while at the same time greater feelings of loneliness.
Burke and Kraut (2016) purport that online interactions do in fact influence well-being and psychological constructs such as social connectedness. However, it appears the nature of the effects may depend on the ways people use social networking sites and specific aspects of engaging with social media, including type of posts, status changes, accumulation of validating indicators and positive feedback received, among others. Much of the research exploring social networking sites and psychological outcomes indicates that factors like the extent of use, the underlying motivations for using social media and the reliance on social networking sites to feel connected have varying effects on individuals and their well-being (Anderson, Fagan, Woodnutt, & Chamorro-Premuzie, 2012).
Thus, in order to further explore the seemingly complicated relationship between connectedness and isolation and patterns of media and technology use among our sample, we included a measure of social connectedness in the current study, using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3) (Russell 1996), a 20-item scale designed to measure one’s subjective feelings of loneliness as well as feelings of social isolation.
Results from the current investigation indicated, as in the first study, a highly significant correlation between overall media use (as well as several types of media use) with ego-control, such that greater media use was highly predictive of impulsivity and poor delay of gratification. This bolsters the argument that those with poor impulse control tend to use and rely on media and technology more. However, the nature of the relationship in terms of possible causal links remains unclear and warrants further examination. We may want to include additional measures of impulsivity and behavioral control, for example.
Those subjects with less ego-control tend to engage in multitasking behaviors more frequently, which is not a surprising finding. It was also found that participants who multitask less and are considered to be lonely appear to use social networking sites more often. However, this was not true for participants who multitask frequently. Further, those individuals who are not necessarily lonely appear to have greater ego-resiliency, regardless of their tendency to multitask. The relationship between ego-resiliency and loneliness, emerged as strong and perhaps is not altered by the amount of multitasking a person is inclined to engage in, but closer examination is warranted to understand this relationship more fully. These findings raise questions about the motivations for multitasking and the forms of media people prefer to use simultaneously.
Since our initial study revealed that the relationship between ego-control and media use was stronger for females than males (although the relationship was strong for both groups), we again hypothesized similar results. However, the second study did not reveal this difference in relationship strength. This brings into question the gender differences we expected and our speculation that social connectedness needs might be at play differentially between men and women.
Results did not yield significant correlations between loneliness and overall media use, nor was loneliness predictive of social networking. Given the mixed findings in the literature regarding this relationship, interpretation of this finding is challenging. It could be that, in fact, loneliness does not predict use of media and social networking. However, it should be noted that the media use questionnaire included only a few items focusing on social media and the multiple types of social media that exist and are used frequently (Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) were not assessed specifically. This methodological factor may have played a role in masking relationships that may truly exist. It is recommended that types of social media need to be examined in greater detail, with particular attention paid to the precise motivations underlying the utilization of these media. It may be that needs and motivations of individuals have been disguised, and it is actually the underlying reason for engaging in social media that predicts its use and either serves to enhance social connectedness or increase feelings of loneliness. Future research should emphasis these factors to increase our understanding of the benefits of engaging with others on social media as well as the possible negative social effects.
Anxiety was measured using both a state and trait conceptualization. Results did not show a significant correlation between anxiety and media use. Anxiety was strongly correlated with the other psychological variables measured, including loneliness, ego-resiliency and ego-control, however, which was expected. Given the results of the original study, specifically the qualitative analysis of interviews, this is a surprising finding. Similar to loneliness, it may be that there are other factors involved in the relationship between anxiety and media use which did not come to light in this study. Once again, the precise motivations underlying media use and in particular social media use may be key in understanding the role of anxiety in predicting media use. In our next study, we plan to include these psychological measures, however, we plan to focus on social networking – the frequency of use, and type of social media preferred, and the motivations for engaging in social media.
References
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Research was sponsored in part by the NIH NIGMS IDeA INBRE (P20 GM103446) Program and the State of Delaware.