The Influence of Social Media Usage on the Well-Being: Evidence from Pakistani University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1234/pjlaw.v2i02.72Keywords:
Social Media, University Students, Social Comparison, Psychological and Emotional MotivationsAbstract
This study examined the influence of social media usage among young Pakistani university students, focusing on self-construal, the creation of false identities, life dissatisfaction, and reduced self-esteem. The findings, derived from data collected from students representing various universities in Islamabad, unveiled several noteworthy trends. The female students exhibited a higher degree of social media engagement compared to their male counterparts. This heightened engagement was often associated with more frequent social comparisons, decreasing life satisfaction among female students. Additionally, female students reported experiencing elevated levels of depression and reduced self-esteem. Furthermore, the study shed light on the common practice among both male and female students of engaging in social comparisons. This behavior often led to a cycle of self-construal, wherein individuals posted edited photos on social media platforms to enhance their physical attractiveness, appeal to the opposite sex, conceal imperfections, eliminate wrinkles, appear slimmer, and seek validation. This ongoing cycle of self-construal, lurking behavior, and a disposition for social comparison appeared to have detrimental effects on young adults in Pakistan, contributing to life dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and diminished self-esteem.
References
Appel, H., Gerlach, A. L., Crusius, J. 2016. "The interplay between Facebook use, social comparison, envy, and depression." Current Opinion in Psychology 9: 44–49.
Aziz, A., Herani, G. M., & Nasar, A. 2012. "Finding out Factors Affecting Tele-Density Growth in Pakistan 1997-2011." KASBIT Journal of Management & Social Science 5: 10-16.
Bengtsson, Stina, et al. 2020. "Media and basic desires: An approach to measuring the mediatization of daily human life." Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research 45(3).
British Council Annual Report 2019–20. https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/annual_report_2019-20.pdf.
Chen, Li, X., and 2014. "Facebook or Renren? A comparative study of social networking site use and social capital among Chinese international students in the United States." Compute. Hum. Behav. 35: 116–123. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.012.
Cherry, Kendra. 2018. "Social Comparison Theory in Psychology." https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-social-comparison-process-2795872.
Choi, D.-H., and Noh, G.-Y. 2019. "Social media use influences attitudes toward suicide through psychological well-being, social isolation, and social support." Inf. Commun. Soc. 23: 1–17. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1574860.
Cunningham et al. 2019. Social Media Entertainment: The New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. NYU Press.
Festinger, L. 1954. "A theory of social comparison." Human Relations 7: 117–140.
Hussain, Riaz. 2020. "Social Media in Pakistan: Exploring use and effects." Journal of social media and Society 3(2).
Hussain, S. 2017. "Use of social media by university students in Pakistan." Journal of media and communication, Punjab University.
Iftikhar, A. 2020. "The Internet landscape in Pakistan." https://blog.apnic.net/2020/06/15/the-internet-landscape-in-pakistan/.
Jan, Muqaddas, et al. 2017. "Impact of social media on Self-Esteem." European Scientific Journal 13(22).
Jiao, Y., Jo, M.-S., and Sarigöllü, E. 2017. "Social and content values in social media are two paths to psychological well-being." J. Org. Comput. Electr. Commer. 27: 3–24. DOI: 10.1080/10919392.2016.1264762.
Karikari, S., Osei-Frimpong, K., and Owusu-Frimpong, N. 2017. "Evaluating individual level antecedents and consequences of social media use in Ghana." Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 123: 68–79. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.06.023.
Kendra Cherry. 2020. "Social Comparison Theory in Psychology." https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-social-comparison.
Kircaburun, et al. 2020. "Uses and gratifications of problematic social media use among University students: a simultaneous examination of the big five of personality traits, social media platforms, and social media use motives." Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 18: 525–547. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-018-9940-6.
Kross, E. et al. 2013. "Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23967061/ DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069841.
Mason, M. 2017. "The use of the internet and social media by young people." Effective Practice in Youth Justice. Retrieved on January 12, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.org/project/Social-media-for-youth-justice-practitioners.
Miekle, G. 2016. Social Media: Communication, Sharing and Visibility. New York: Routledge.
Primak, B. A. et al. 2017. "Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally representative study among US young adults." Computers in Human Behavior 69: 1-9.
Rabia, M. et al. 2020. "Influence of Social Media on Youngsters: A Case Study in GC Women University Sialkot, Pakistan." Creative Education Vol.11, No.3.
Rana, A. A. (2022). The right of custody of minor: A comparative study of Sharī'ah and Pakistani legal system. International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, Online First, 350-368. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRCS.2022.126182
Raza, M. R., Qayyoum, H., Qazi, T.A., Khan, A. (2021). Social Media and Students' Academic Life A Case Study of Punjab Colleges in Pakistan. Journal of Critical Reviews, VOL 8, ISSUE 01, 2021, pp.1105-1117.
Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E. 2020. "The social media party: fear of missing out (FoMO), social media intensity, connection, and well-being." Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 36: 386–392. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2019.1646517.
Shirley Cramer. 2018. Royal Society for Public Health. https://www.researchgate.org/scientific-contributions/Shirley-Cramer-2121226807.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. 2019. "Media use is linked to lower psychological well-being: evidence from three datasets." Psychiatr. Q. 90: 311–331. DOI: 10.1007/s11126-019-09630-7.
Walsh. 2017. Adolescents and Their Social Media Narratives: A Digital Coming of Age (Routledge Studies in Science, Technology, and Society) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition.
Watts, A. 2015. "A teenager’s view on social media. Written by an actual teen." Medium. https://medium.com/backchannel/a-teenagers-view-on-social-media-1df945c09ac6.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Pakistan Journal of Law, Analysis and Wisdom
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.