Self-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook use
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Bergagna, Elisa
Tartaglia, Stefano
Abstract / Description
Facebook use is very popular among young people, but many open issues remain regarding the individual traits that are antecedents of different behaviours enacted online. This study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between self-esteem and the amount of time on Facebook could be mediated by a tendency towards social comparison. Moreover, three different modalities of Facebook use were distinguished, i.e., social interaction, simulation, and search for relations. Because of gender differences in technology use and social comparison, the mediation models were tested separately for males and females. Data were collected by means of a self-report questionnaire with a sample of 250 undergraduate and graduate Italian students (mean age: 22.18 years). The relations were examined empirically by means of four structural equation models. The results revealed the role of orientation to social comparison in mediating the relations between low self-esteem and some indicators of Facebook use, i.e., daily hours on Facebook and the use of Facebook for simulation. For females, the use of Facebook for social interaction was directly influenced by high self-esteem and indirectly influenced by low self-esteem. Globally, the dimension of social comparison on Facebook emerged as more important for females than for males.
Keyword(s)
Facebook use self-esteem social comparison gender differences social mediaPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2018-11-30
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
14
Issue
4
Page numbers
831–845
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Bergagna, E., & Tartaglia, S. (2018). Self-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook use. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(4), 831–845. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1592
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Bergagna, Elisa
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Tartaglia, Stefano
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-30T13:59:56Z
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Made available on2018-11-30T13:59:56Z
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Date of first publication2018-11-30
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Abstract / DescriptionFacebook use is very popular among young people, but many open issues remain regarding the individual traits that are antecedents of different behaviours enacted online. This study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between self-esteem and the amount of time on Facebook could be mediated by a tendency towards social comparison. Moreover, three different modalities of Facebook use were distinguished, i.e., social interaction, simulation, and search for relations. Because of gender differences in technology use and social comparison, the mediation models were tested separately for males and females. Data were collected by means of a self-report questionnaire with a sample of 250 undergraduate and graduate Italian students (mean age: 22.18 years). The relations were examined empirically by means of four structural equation models. The results revealed the role of orientation to social comparison in mediating the relations between low self-esteem and some indicators of Facebook use, i.e., daily hours on Facebook and the use of Facebook for simulation. For females, the use of Facebook for social interaction was directly influenced by high self-esteem and indirectly influenced by low self-esteem. Globally, the dimension of social comparison on Facebook emerged as more important for females than for males.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationBergagna, E., & Tartaglia, S. (2018). Self-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook use. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(4), 831–845. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1592
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1704
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.2070
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1592
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Keyword(s)Facebook useen_US
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Keyword(s)self-esteemen_US
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Keyword(s)social comparisonen_US
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Keyword(s)gender differencesen_US
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Keyword(s)social mediaen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleSelf-esteem, social comparison, and Facebook useen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue4
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers831–845
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Volume14
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record