The Psychological Impact of Living in a Virtual World

Exploring MySpace Users Ages 14-24

Jyenny BabcockCalifornia State University, Dominguez Hills

Purpose of Study

To learn more about teen and young adult Internet behavior within virtual communities in relation to:

Depression Self-esteem Perceived family and friend support Bad online experiences

Literature Overview

Virtual community defined as a “social-networking space where people connect with friends and make new ones…” (Garret, 2006)

Virtual communities have become one of the fastest growing Internet activities of our time

Literature Overview cont.

Initial studies about Internet use indicated:

Too much time spent online leads to negative outcomes (Kraut et al., 1998)

Males are more comfortable with Internet than females (Morahan-Martin, 1998)

Few studies have addressed bad online experiences

Literature Overview cont.

Current literature about Internet use suggests:

Gender – the gap has closed (Gross, 2004)

Depression – decreased (Shaw & Gant, 2002a)

Self-esteem – increased (Shaw & Gant, 2002a)

Perceived social support – increased (Rohall et al., 2002)

Research Questions

What is the relationship between time spent online and the number of online friends with depression, self-esteem and perceived social support?

What is the rate and nature of bad online experiences?

Participants

Data collected from 1,257 participants

Study based on 924 participants aged between 14-24 (M=20)

40% males, 60% females

37%

23%

20%

13%7%

Hispanic CaucasianAfrican American Asian/Pacific IslOther

Method & Measures

A 65-question, anonymous, online survey

Yale Single Question depression inventory (Mahoney, Drinka, & Abler, 1994)

Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1989)

PSS-FA & PSS-FR scales (Procidano & Heller, 1983)

Results

Favorite Virtual Community 90% preferred MySpace No gender effect

Time Spent Online Total hours per week (M = 11) No gender effect More time online = more online friends

Results cont.

Favorite Online Activities Instant Messaging Reading comments about own

webpage Posting photographs Gender effect

Results cont.

Depression More time online = more depression No gender effect No number of online friends effect

Results cont.

Self-Esteem More time online = lower self-esteem No gender effect No number of online friends effect

Results cont.

Perceived Family Support More time online = less perceived family

support Females showed more perceived family

support No number of online friends effect

Results cont.

Perceived Friend Support No correlation between time spent

online with perceived friend support Females showed more perceived friend

support Higher number of online friends = more

perceived friend support

Results cont.

Bad Online Experiences 32% of participants reported having a

bad online experience Females more than males

bad online experiences bad online experiences sexual in

nature bad online experiences with a stranger

Discussion

Limitations Did not examine if the bad online

experiences had any physically harmful or other lasting deleterious effects

Did not investigate what types of behaviors precipitated bad online experiences

Discussion cont.

Conclusion/Implications Far fewer cases of bad online

experiences reported than media portrays

Some negative psychological effects Some positive psychological benefits

Discussion Cont.

Risks of virtual community participation Depression Self-esteem Perceived family support Exposure to bad online experiences

Benefits of virtual community participation Circle of online friends Perceived friend support