What do they think of me? A comparison of US and Thai students’ beliefs about others’ perception of their Facebook life
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Published:
Dec 17, 2018
Keywords:
Facebook social media self-presentation well-being
Main Article Content
Abstract
Facebook provides users a platform to present themselves to the world, a presentation that can be quite different from reality. An important unanswered question concerns the beliefs that users have about what others think of their Facebook online self—do they believe others have specific perceptions, perhaps positive or negative, of them as a result of observing their profile and postings? Four hundreds and ten students from two universities in the U.S. and Thailand participated in the survey. Using a 15-item semantic differential scale on self-presentation, we found that on every item, US students reported a greater discrepancy than Thai students between their real self and their online self, that is, US students always presenting themselves more positively on Facebook than their real self. Also, it was found that when students offered online presentations more favorable than their actual self, they tended to exhibit higher well-being. And finally, it was found that as the discrepancy between the way students presented themselves online and the way they were seen by others grew larger, they tended to report lower well-being scores.
Article Details
Section
Research Articles
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References
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Manago, A. M., Taylor, T. & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The anatomy of
college students’ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369-380.
Metzler, A. & Scheithauer, H. (2017). The long-term benefits of positive self-presentation via profile pictures, number of friends and the initiation of relationships on Faces for adolescents’ self-esteem and the initiation of offline relationships. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1), 1-15.
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Ong, E. Y. L., Ang, R. P., Ho, J. C. M., Lim, J. C. Y., Goh, D. H., Lee, C. S., & Chua, A. Y. K. (2011). Narcissism, extraversion and adolescents’ self-presentation on Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(2) 180-185.
Park, N., Kee, K. F. & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 12(6), 729-733.
Reinecke, L. & Trepte, S. (2014). Authenticity and well-being on social network sites: A two-wave longitudinal study on the effects of online authenticity and the positivity bias in SNS communication. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 95-102.
Rhein, D. & Sukatawanda, P. (2015). Thai university student schemas and anxiety symptomatology. International Education Studies, 8(7), 108-126.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of
psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069- 1081.
Ryff, C. D. & Keyes, L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719-727.
Seidman, G. (2013). Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: How personality influences social media use and motivations. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(3), 402-407.
Toma, C. L, & Carlson, C. L., (2012). I’m so much cooler online: An examination of self-presentation in Facebook profiles. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
Toma, C. L, & Carlson, C. L., (2015). How Do Facebook Users Believe They Come Across in Their Profiles?: A Meta-Perception Approach to Investigating Facebook Self-Presentation. Communication Research Reports, 32(1), 93-101.
Triandis, H. C., McCusker, C., & Hui, C. H. (1990). Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 1006-1020.
Utz, S., Tanis, M., & Vermeulen, I. (2012). It is all about being popular: the effects of need for popularity on social network site use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(1), 37-42.
Wright, E. J., White, K. M., & Obst, P. L. (2018). Facebook false self-presentation behaviors and negative mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(1), 40-49.
Yang, C. & Brown, B. B. (2016). Online self-presentation on Facebook and self development during the college transition. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(2), 402-416.
Bareket-Bojmel, L., Moran, S. & Shahar, G. (2016). Strategic self-presentation on Facebook: Personal motives and audience response to online behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 55(Part B), 788-795.
Blachnio, A., Przepiorka, A., Boruch, W. & Balakier, E. (2016). Self-presentation styles, privacy, and loneliness as predictors of Facebook use in young people. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 26-31.
Brailovskaia, J. & Bierhoff, H. (2016). Cross-cultural narcissism on Facebook: Relationship between self-presentation, social interaction and the open and covert narcissism on a social networking site in Germany and Russia. Computers in Human Behavior, 55(Part A), 251-257.
Brailovskaia, J. & Margraf, J. (2016). Comparing Facebook users and Facebook non-users: Relationship between personality traits and mental health variables—An exploratory study. PLOS ONE. Retrieved May 12, 2017 from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0166999.
Buffardi, L. E., & Campbell, W. K. (2008). Narcissism and social networking web sites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(10), 1303-1314.
Caers, R., De Feyter, T., De Couck, M., Stough, T., Vigna, C., & Du Bois, C. (2013). Facebook:
A literature review. New Media & Society, 15(6), 982-1002.
Chen, B., & Marcus, J. Students’ self-presentation on Facebook: An examination of personality and self-construal factors. Computers in Human Behavior 28(6), 2091–2099.
Collins, A. W. & Laursen, B. (2004). Changing relationships, changing youth: Interpersonal
contexts of adolescent development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24(1), 55-62.
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C. & Lampe, C. (2011). Connection strategies: Social capital
implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices. New Media & Society, 13(6), 873-892.
Gil-Or, O., Levi-Belz, Y., & Turel, O. (2015). The “Facebook self”: Characteristics and psychological predictors of false self-presentation on Facebook. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(99), 1-10.
Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504–528.
Grace-Martin, K. (n.d.). Outliers: To drop or not to drop. The Analysis Factor. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from https://www.theanalysisfactor.com/outliers-to-drop-or-not-to-drop/
Grieve, R. & Watkinson, J. (2016). The psychology benefits of being authentic on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(7), 420-425.
Hamamura, T. (2012). Are cultures becoming individualistic? A cross-temporal comparison of individualism-collectivism in the United States and Japan. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(1), 3-24.
Henrikson, J. U. (2011, August 30). The growth of social media: An infographic. Search Engine Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2017, from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-growth-of-social-media-an-infographic/32788/
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Jung, Y., Pawlowski, S. D., & Kim, H. (2017). Exploring associations between young adults’ Facebook use and psychological well-being: A goal hierarchy approach. International Journal of Information Management, 37(1), 1391-1404.
Kalpidou, M., Costin, D., & Morris, J. (2011). The relationship between Facebook and the well-being of undergraduate college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(4), 183-189.
Kim, K. I., Park, H. J., & Suzuki, N. (1990). Reward allocations in the United States, Japan, and Korea: A comparison of individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Academy of Management Journal, 33(1), 88-198.
Köhl, M. M., & Götzenbrucker, G. (2015). Network technologies as emotional resources? Exploring emerging emotional cultures on social network sites such as Facebook and Hi5: A trans-cultural study. Media Culture & Society, 36(4), 508-525.
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., Shablack, H., Jonides, J., & Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLOS ONE 8(8). Retrieved June 24, 2017, from https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0069841
Leading countries based on number of Facebook users as of January 2018 (in millions). (2018). Statista. Retrieved March 12, 2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/.
Lee, E., Ahn, J., & Kim, Y. J. (2014). Personality traits and self-presentation at Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 69(1), 162-167.
Lenhart, A. (2015, April 9). Teens, social media & technology overview 2015. The Pew Research Center. Retrieved June 24, 2017, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
Magpanthong, C. & McDaniel, D. (2015). Online expression of emotions and personal viewpoints: A case study of Facebook usage among Thai and US students. BU Academic Review, 14(2), 83-99.
Manago, A. M., Taylor, T. & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The anatomy of
college students’ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369-380.
Metzler, A. & Scheithauer, H. (2017). The long-term benefits of positive self-presentation via profile pictures, number of friends and the initiation of relationships on Faces for adolescents’ self-esteem and the initiation of offline relationships. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1), 1-15.
Michikyan, M., Dennis, J. & Subrahmanyam, K. (2015). Can you guess who I am? Real, ideal and false self-presentation on Facebook among emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 3(1), 55-64.
National Statistical Office. (2016). The 2016 household survey on the use of information and communication technology. Bangkok: Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 4th quarter 2017 (in millions). (2018). Statista. Retrieved March 12, 2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/.
Ong, E. Y. L., Ang, R. P., Ho, J. C. M., Lim, J. C. Y., Goh, D. H., Lee, C. S., & Chua, A. Y. K. (2011). Narcissism, extraversion and adolescents’ self-presentation on Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(2) 180-185.
Park, N., Kee, K. F. & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 12(6), 729-733.
Reinecke, L. & Trepte, S. (2014). Authenticity and well-being on social network sites: A two-wave longitudinal study on the effects of online authenticity and the positivity bias in SNS communication. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 95-102.
Rhein, D. & Sukatawanda, P. (2015). Thai university student schemas and anxiety symptomatology. International Education Studies, 8(7), 108-126.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of
psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069- 1081.
Ryff, C. D. & Keyes, L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719-727.
Seidman, G. (2013). Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: How personality influences social media use and motivations. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(3), 402-407.
Toma, C. L, & Carlson, C. L., (2012). I’m so much cooler online: An examination of self-presentation in Facebook profiles. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
Toma, C. L, & Carlson, C. L., (2015). How Do Facebook Users Believe They Come Across in Their Profiles?: A Meta-Perception Approach to Investigating Facebook Self-Presentation. Communication Research Reports, 32(1), 93-101.
Triandis, H. C., McCusker, C., & Hui, C. H. (1990). Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 1006-1020.
Utz, S., Tanis, M., & Vermeulen, I. (2012). It is all about being popular: the effects of need for popularity on social network site use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(1), 37-42.
Wright, E. J., White, K. M., & Obst, P. L. (2018). Facebook false self-presentation behaviors and negative mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(1), 40-49.
Yang, C. & Brown, B. B. (2016). Online self-presentation on Facebook and self development during the college transition. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(2), 402-416.