The Cyber Self: Facebook as a Predictor of Well‐being

Growing research suggests that Facebook may relate to users’ self‐esteem, identity perceptions, and cognitive function by facilitating identity exploration and minimizing self‐deception. The present study empirically investigated this possibility. A cross‐sectional correlational design with a web‐based survey was utilized. Participants ( N  = 446) were 24.3% male ( N  = 118), 67.2% female ( N  = 326), 2% transgender/in transition ( N  = 2). 59.6% of participants were ages 18–32 ( N  = 289) while 13.6% were age 23–27 ( N  = 66) and 18.3% over age 28 ( N  = 89). High frequency Facebook use significantly positively correlated with mature defense style ( p  < 0.05, r  = 0.13). High self‐esteem significantly positively correlated with mature defense styles ( p  < 0.01, r  = 0.24) and negatively with immature styles ( p  < 0.05, r  = −0.13). High frequency Facebook use also significantly positively correlated with Actualization Potential ( p  < 0.01, r  = 0.20). In summary, higher levels of Facebook use appear to correlate with positive attributes such as low self‐deception, mature coping, high self‐esteem, and high actualization potential. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.