Investigating the Association Between Social Media Influencers, Personality, Body-Esteem and Self-Esteem

Boyd, Nicola (2019) Investigating the Association Between Social Media Influencers, Personality, Body-Esteem and Self-Esteem. Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

It has been suggested that the majority of content individuals are exposed to on social media is of upward comparative content and regular exposure to this has been theorized to lower an individual’s self-evaluation. Alongside this is the increasing popularity of ‘fitspiration pages’ which are curated to influence fitness lifestyles upon its viewers. The current study is looking to assess the impact social media influencers (SMIs) may have on the levels of body-esteem and self-esteem in gym-users, while also investigating impact of different personality types. A sample of 132 gym-users (78% female) were recruited via social media platforms. Participants completed the Rosenberg Scale for Evaluating Self-Worth, the Body Esteem Scale, the Big Five Inventory for Personality and a self-report questionnaire which measured demographics, social media use, exposure and comparison to SMIs. Two hierarchical multiple regressions were used to assess the relationships between exposure to SMI content and comparison to the life of a SMI, with body-esteem and self-esteem. A weak significant relationship of the model as whole was found for both body-esteem and self-esteem. A Mann Whitney-U found a significant difference between male and female gym-users in levels of comparison to SMIs, with females engaging more frequently. Further research regarding the mental well-being of gym-users resulting from exposure to upward comparative content on social media is necessary and would assist in prevention of decreased self-evaluations.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology > Cognitive psychology Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources > ZA4150 Computer Network Resources > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering > Telecommunications > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks
Divisions:	School of Business > BA (Honours) in Psychology
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	30 May 2019 12:29
Last Modified:	30 May 2019 12:29
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/3784

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