RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Claire Brinster
Independent Research G/T
2018-2019

Title: The Psychological Effects of Instagram Use on Male and Female High School Students

Introduction and Overview of Research:

This paper will discuss the psychological effects of social media use on high school students,
specifically evaluating how the impact of social media use varies between male and female teens. A survey was
distributed to students at Glenelg High School to gather information about social media accounts, behavior on
Instagram, integration of social media into one’s life, and psychological well-being. The results indicated that
male Instagram users have a significantly higher correlation between passive use on Instagram and increased
psychological well-being. While these results contradict those of larger-scale studies in the field of social media
psychology, the suggestion of limiting passive behavior online and finding a balance between social media and
real-life interactions is still applicable to high school students today. Therefore, a brochure will be created to
distribute to high school students to detail healthy online behaviors and give suggestions for how to limit the
negative impact of social media use on their lives and mental health.

Background and Rationale

Social media use has recently risen among young people, particularly high school students, and demands
a study of the impact of social networking. Since 2012, a majority of teens (81%) report using social media, and
the percent of teens who use social media multiple times a day, even multiple times an hour, has increased from
34% to 70% (Rideout & Robb, 2018; Smith & Anderson, 2018). While social networking has existed for as
long as humans have communicated, modern social networking, driven by online connections and “likes,” is a
new method for maintaining friendships, building relationships, and staying in touch with other people.
However, despite the rapid increase and proliferation of online social behavior since 2012, there has been
conflicting evidence regarding the impact of social media. Social browsing and passive filtering of social media
content, passive behaviors which involve scrolling through social media feeds without directly interacting with
others, can result in immediate reduction of psychological well-being (Weinstein, 2017). Other passive
behaviors, like viewing images or videos and reading discussions, are associated with increased symptoms of
depression (Escobar-Viera et al., 2018). Additional studies reveal that engaging in social comparison online is
linked with negative repercussions; however, “social network sites benefit their users when they are used to
make meaningful social connections” (Clark, Algoe, & Green, 2018). By making use of tools which ask for
details about the nature of online interactions (creating and posting content, scrolling through feeds without
interacting with others, directly communicating with others, etc.), researchers and psychologists can begin to
understand the dynamic relationship between online social networking and psychological well-being
Males and females use social media sites in different ways and for varying motivations as a result of
psychological differences rooted in evolution and biology. Evolutionary psychology and social neuroscience
show that females are more pro-social and more proficient at social cognition than men (Veissière & Stendel,
2018). Over the course of human evolution, females and males have acquired sex-based social traits which
influence social behavior. Women tend to spend more time on their cell-phones and view cell phones as a means
of communication and fostering social connections, while males view cell phones more as a source of
entertainment (Roberts, Yaya, & Manolis, 2014; Bergagna & Tartaglia, 2018). As a result, females are more
susceptible to cell-phone addiction and create close ties to the relationships cultivated through social media,
whereas males are less interested in the social contact of cell-phones and spend more time on gaming and more
diverse activities (De-Sola Gutiérrez, Rodríguez de Fonseca, & Rubio, 2016). Overall, the current body of
knowledge suggests that females tend to use social media and are affected by social media more than their male
counterparts. The present study examines the differences in how males and females are psychologically affected
by social media use and various types of online behavior.
Instagram is becoming one of the most popular social networking sites among high school students. In a
2018 Pew Research Center study of U.S. teens aged 13-17, 72% of respondents report using Instagram and 69%
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of respondents report using Snapchat while only 51% of respondents report using Facebook (Anderson & Jiang,
2018). Because Facebook has been the most dominant and popular social networking site for many years and
Instagram has only recently become popular, multiple tools for research have been developed to study behavior
on Facebook (Siergerson & Cheng, 2018). However, high school students in 2019 are more active on Instagram
rather than Facebook, so Instagram was chosen as the main social networking site used to evaluate behavior on
social media. Some of the tools developed for studying behavior on Facebook are specific to only Facebook;
however, others, like the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS), were developed to be adaptable to
multiple social networks, like Facebook and Instagram (Siegerson & Cheng, 2018). Therefore, the SMUIS was
chosen to study behavior on Instagram among students at Glenelg High School.

Research Methodology:
Research Question:
What are the psychological effects of Instagram use on high school students? How are these effects
different for males and females?

Research Thesis:
Male Instagram users have a significantly higher correlation between passive use on Instagram and
increased psychological well-being (environmental control, positive relations, autonomy, and self-acceptance).
While these results contradict those of larger-scale studies in the field of social media psychology, the
suggestion of limiting passive behavior online and finding a balance between social media and real-life
interactions is still applicable to high school students today, especially for female Instagram users.

Research Design Model:

This survey was distributed to high school students to determine patterns of social media behavior and
the relationship between this behavior and psychological well-being. A questionnaire was sent out via Canvas,
the high school grading system available to all students, giving a link to the survey as well as a brief description
of the survey and research topic. There were 105 respondents to the survey; two responses were not included in
the data analysis because the gender question was not answered. This survey research method is most
appropriate for the topic of social media use and psychological well-being among high school students because
it generates primary data that comes directly from the responses of students. Mixed method research was also
employed as aspects of the survey asked for both quantitative and qualitative data to give the most
comprehensive analysis of students’ social media activity and well-being.
The Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS), developed by Michael Jenkins-Guarnieri, Stephen
Wright, and Brian Johnson, was used to assess integration of social media into one’s life. This scale was picked
as it was evaluated by a literature review as having strong validity in multiple aspects for measuring social
media integration in a concise, 10-item scale which assesses integration in two ways: social integration and
emotional connection (SIEC) and integration into social routines (ISR) (Sigerson & Cheng, 2018).Validity of
the internal structure was established with testing and statistical analysis; convergent validity was established by
comparing scores of the SMUIS and the Facebook Use Intensity Scale (Sigerson & Cheng, 2018). Test-retest
reliability was also determined through testing and analysis (Sigerson & Cheng, 2018). Each question of the
SMUIS has a Likert-scale response from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly disagree). An individual’s final
score is calculated using the arithmetic mean of responses to the ten questions in the SMUIS set; a final score
ranges from 1 (no integration) to 6 (more integration of social media into one’s life).
A passive and active use scale was used to assess the nature of social media use among respondents,
with six items evaluating the amount of time one spends engaging in passive behaviors, like viewing images or
watching videos, and active behaviors, like responding to and posting content. The passive/active use scale was
measured with a Likert-scale from 1 (never engages in behavior) to 6 (engages in behavior multiple times a
day), with options in between 1 and 6 for frequency of behavior. The score for passive use was calculated by
finding the arithmetic mean of the responses about passive use with a score ranging from 1 (never engages in
behavior) to 6 (engages in behavior multiple times a day). The same process was completed to calculate a score
for active use. Both the SMUIS and the passive/active scale were used to assess social media behavior in an

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attempt to capture some of the nuances of individual use, rather than relying on questions about time spent on
social media, which have been proven to be insufficient measures for understanding social media behavior.
Psychological well-being was assessed using the 18-item Ryff Psychological Well-being scale, which is
composed of 18 Likert-scale questions assessing six factors of psychological well-being: environmental control,
positive relations, autonomy, personal growth, self-acceptance, and purpose. The final score for each factor
ranges from a 1 (no strength in that area of psychological well-being) to a 7 (fully developed and
psychologically well in that area); this score is calculated for each factor by averaging the response to the three
items assessing a factor of psychological well-being. Six factors of psychological well-being were measured:
environmental mastery, positive relations, autonomy, personal growth, self-acceptance, and purpose. The total
psychological well-being score ranged from 1 (low psychological well-being) to 7 (high psychological well-
being); this score was calculated by averaging all responses to the psychological well-being questions.

Data Collection:
For the data collection, a survey was sent out via the school-wide grading system to all students at
Glenelg High School. The survey research method is the best option for this topic as it gathers primary data
from students themselves. The survey consisted of a psychological well-being scale, passive and active behavior
measurements, and questions measuring integration of social media into one’s life. The findings present new
knowledge about social media usage in male and female Instagram users, giving information that could be
expanded in future studies. Male Instagram users had much stronger correlations between passive use and
measures of psychological well-being as compared to female Instagram users, which contradicts findings of
other studies (Clark, Algoe, Green, 2018; Escobar-Viera et al., 2018). The anomaly of simply being a teenage,
male Instagram user may indicate that there are other factors, like personality traits or communicative
tendencies, which influence social media acquisition and use; these factors could influence the effect of passive
behavior and cause passive behavior to positively affect psychological well-being. Female Instagram users may
not possess these personality traits or characteristics, as research reveals that social media acquisition in females
is more popular than in males, and thus be affected differently or negatively by passive behavior on Instagram.
The findings of this study contribute to the field of social media psychology and give a foundation for further
research into the sex-based differences of social media use and behavior. The suggestion of limiting passive
behavior online and on Instagram still remains for high school students, particularly for females. To contribute
this research and these findings to the audience (high school students), a brochure which gives suggestions for
healthy online behaviors will be created and distributed. The brochure will outline the effects of passive and
active behaviors and give details about these behaviors. This product can help students lessen the negative
psychological impacts of social media use in their lives.

Product Objectives:
A brochure will be created and disturbed to high school students. This brochure will explain the
psychological of certain behaviors on Instagram; by doing so, the brochure will help students engage in
behaviors online which have the most beneficial impact on their mental health. This product is accessible to
students because it will be available in school information centers like libraries and counselor offices.
The target audience is high school students because they are the specific subject of this study. The
psychological impact of social media use was evaluated in the high school student population. The results
pertain to students

Logistical Considerations:
Resources required for the project and product include paper and printers to produce the brochures and
permission to distribute the brochures in high schools. The price to print 100 brochures using a print service is
about $80. A timeline will be added that outlines the data collection, product development, and audience
distribution.

Approval:

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__________________________ ___________________________ _____________________
Student Signature G/T Resource Teacher Signature Mentor/Advisor Signature

References
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018, November 30). Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018. Retrieved April 4,
2019, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/

Bergagna, E., & Tartaglia, S. (2018). Self-Esteem, Social Comparison, and Facebook Use. Europe's journal of
psychology, 14(4), 831–845. doi:10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1592

Clark, J. L., Algoe, S. B., & Green, M. C. (2018). Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The Role of Social
Connection. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 32–37.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417730833

De-Sola Gutiérrez, J., Rodríguez de Fonseca, F., & Rubio, G. (2016). Cell-Phone Addiction: A Review.
Frontiers in psychiatry, 7, 175. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00175

Escobar-Viera, C. G., Shensa, A., Bowman, N. D., Sidani, J. E., Knight, J., James, A. E., & Primack, B. A.
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Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(7), 437-443. doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0668

Jenkins-Guarnieri, M., Wright, S., & Johnson, B. (2013). Development and validation of a social media use
integration scale. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. 2. 38. 10.1037/a0030277.

Rideout, V., and Robb, M. B. (2018). Social media, social life: Teens reveal their experiences. San Francisco,
CA: Common Sense Media.

Roberts, J. A., Yaya, L. H., & Manolis, C. (2014). The invisible addiction: cell-phone activities and addiction
among male and female college students. Journal of behavioral addictions, 3(4), 254-65.

Sigerson, L., & Cheng, C. (2018). Scales for measuring user engagement with social network sites: A systematic
review of psychometric properties. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 87-105.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.023

Smith, A., & Anderson, M. (2018, September 19). Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics.
Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/

Veissière, S., & Stendel, M. (2018). Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone
Addiction. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 141. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00141

Weinstein, Emily. 2017. Influences of Social Media Use on Adolescent Psychosocial Well-Being: ‘OMG’ or
‘NBD’?. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Graduate School