Exploring the relationship between adolescents' self-concept and their offline and online social worlds
Section snippets
Online social interaction
With social media firmly entrenched in the fabric of adolescent culture, broadening the scope of research on adolescent social lives to online as well as offline settings is necessary for an accurate understanding of its association with adolescent development and well-being. Despite well-documented prevalence of active online social lives among adolescents (Chiungjung, 2010, Lee, 2009), research remains inconclusive on the interplay between online social lives and real-life interactions (Lee,
Self-concept
Self-concept has been linked to various outcomes. For example, having a high self-concept and sense of self-worth has been shown to be protective against poor mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety (e.g., Harter, 1999, Harter and Whitesell, 1996). As such, it can be considered a key indicator of positive development in adolescence (Harter, 1986, Owens and King, 2001, Whitesell et al., 2006); self-concept is an appropriate construct for measuring the impact of online social
Social support
As noted above, the social lives of adolescents have long been posited as fundamental to healthy development, particularly during adolescence (Harter, 1986, Harter, 1999, Rogers, 1961). Perceived social support has consistently been recognized to buffer stress, and enhance general well-being (Mitchell et al., 2011). As adolescents spend the majority of their time at school, social support received at school has traditionally been considered to play a salient role in overall psychological
Summary of research questions and hypotheses
The present study considered the relationship between adolescents' reported offline and online social lives and general self-concept with reference to two relevant theories of online social interaction: Social Compensatory Theory and the Rich-Get-Richer hypothesis. More specifically, the following research questions were examined:
- 1.
To what extent is online social interaction related to adolescent general self-concept?
- 2.
To what extent is the level of peer support at school (offline) related
Participants
Participants (N = 733) were recruited from six secondary schools and two elementary schools in the lower mainland of British Columbia. 282 males and 451 females between the ages of 10 and 18 (M = 15, SD = 2.33), in grades 5–12 participated in the study. For recruitment, researchers visited classes initially to distribute consent forms, describe the study, and explain principles of research of this nature (such as confidentiality and freedom of choice to participate), returning one week later to
Analysis
The research question was answered by way of moderator regression analysis such that Offline Peer Support at School and Online Social Interaction were the predictor variables and Global Self-Concept functioned as the outcome variable. As covariates, Age and Gender were entered in Block 1, followed by the predictor variables, Offline Peer Support at School and Online Social Interaction. The interaction term, Offline Peer Support at School X Online Social Interaction was entered in Block 2. All
Discussion
The current study reveals a complex relationship between Online Social Interaction and face-to-face Peer Support as they relate to General Self-concept. More specifically, the results of this study indicate that the relationship between online socializing and self-concept was moderated by adolescent's report of having peer support in their ‘real life’. More specifically, the highest levels of self-concept for adolescent participants emerged in the presence of high reports of online
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2021, Computers in Human Behavior ReportsCitation Excerpt :It was found that offline friends had significantly closer ratings to those of the participant than did online friends, suggesting that overall, participants were not representing themselves more authentically online compared to offline. To date, research has focused primarily on the online self-presentation of adolescents (Bobkowski, Schafer, & Ortiz, 2016; Khan, Gagne, Yang, & Shapka, 2016), as they typically hold a less stable self-concept than adults (Strasburger, Wilson, & Jordan, 2014.) However, it has been suggested that the years of emerging adulthood offer the greatest opportunity for identity experimentation with regards to love, work, and worldviews (Arnett, 2000).
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