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The Cyber Self: Facebook as a Predictor of Well‐being
Author(s) -
Whitman Chassitty N.,
Gottdiener William H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of applied psychoanalytic studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.314
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1556-9187
pISSN - 1742-3341
DOI - 10.1002/aps.1431
Subject(s) - psychology , deception , self esteem , coping (psychology) , clinical psychology , perception , social psychology , developmental psychology , neuroscience
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.