the psychological impact of living in a virtual world exploring myspace users ages 14-24 jyenny...
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The Psychological Impact of Living in a Virtual World
Exploring MySpace Users Ages 14-24
Jyenny BabcockCalifornia State University, Dominguez Hills
Purpose of Study
To learn more about teen and young adult Internet behavior within virtual communities in relation to:
Depression Self-esteem Perceived family and friend support Bad online experiences
Literature Overview
Virtual community defined as a “social-networking space where people connect with friends and make new ones…” (Garret, 2006)
Virtual communities have become one of the fastest growing Internet activities of our time
Literature Overview cont.
Initial studies about Internet use indicated:
Too much time spent online leads to negative outcomes (Kraut et al., 1998)
Males are more comfortable with Internet than females (Morahan-Martin, 1998)
Few studies have addressed bad online experiences
Literature Overview cont.
Current literature about Internet use suggests:
Gender – the gap has closed (Gross, 2004)
Depression – decreased (Shaw & Gant, 2002a)
Self-esteem – increased (Shaw & Gant, 2002a)
Perceived social support – increased (Rohall et al., 2002)
Research Questions
What is the relationship between time spent online and the number of online friends with depression, self-esteem and perceived social support?
What is the rate and nature of bad online experiences?
Participants
Data collected from 1,257 participants
Study based on 924 participants aged between 14-24 (M=20)
40% males, 60% females
37%
23%
20%
13%
7%
Hispanic CaucasianAfrican American Asian/Pacific IslOther
Method & Measures
A 65-question, anonymous, online survey
Yale Single Question depression inventory (Mahoney, Drinka, & Abler, 1994)
Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1989)
PSS-FA & PSS-FR scales (Procidano & Heller, 1983)
Results
Favorite Virtual Community 90% preferred MySpace No gender effect
Time Spent Online Total hours per week (M = 11) No gender effect More time online = more online friends
Results cont.
Favorite Online Activities Instant Messaging Reading comments about own
webpage Posting photographs Gender effect
Results cont.
Depression More time online = more depression No gender effect No number of online friends effect
Results cont.
Self-Esteem More time online = lower self-esteem No gender effect No number of online friends effect
Results cont.
Perceived Family Support More time online = less perceived family
support Females showed more perceived family
support No number of online friends effect
Results cont.
Perceived Friend Support No correlation between time spent
online with perceived friend support Females showed more perceived friend
support Higher number of online friends = more
perceived friend support
Results cont.
Bad Online Experiences 32% of participants reported having a
bad online experience Females more than males
bad online experiences bad online experiences sexual in
nature bad online experiences with a
stranger
Discussion
Limitations Did not examine if the bad online
experiences had any physically harmful or other lasting deleterious effects
Did not investigate what types of behaviors precipitated bad online experiences
Discussion cont.
Conclusion/Implications Far fewer cases of bad online
experiences reported than media portrays
Some negative psychological effects Some positive psychological benefits
Discussion Cont.
Risks of virtual community participation
Depression
Self-esteem
Perceived family support
Exposure to bad online experiences
Benefits of virtual community participation
Circle of online friends
Perceived friend support