Facebook's Effect on Relationships and Self-Esteem

Much research has shown a pattern between low satisfaction within relationships and low self-esteem due to Facebook usage, but there is little research done on how Facebook affects romantic relationships in terms of self-esteem and negative emotions. This study examined these constructs. La Salle undergraduates between the ages of 18-21, both male and female, who are in committed relationships, were recruited. Measurements presented via Qualtrics included Facebook usage levels, relationship satisfaction, relationship conflicts, and self-esteem assessments. The findings indicated that Facebook usage has no impact on the romantic relationship satisfaction levels or self-esteem scores, but associations between negative impacts on Facebook and relational issues were significant. Facebook’s effect on relationships and self-esteem Ortiz 3 Facebook’s effect on relationships and self-esteem Relationships are constantly changing in ways that not many of us realize and our selfesteem levels are impacted as well. What if social media is one of the causes of these changes? The online world is extremely prevalent in our lives in variety of ways. We use social media for jobs, school, personal uses, and it has become part of our daily activities. Romantic relationships are an example of social media’s compelling influence. Facebook is just one out of the many social networking sites that we use as a platform to create, develop, and keep our relationships together. Romantic relationships can become an issue when Facebook engagement is relatively high. There can be some potential negative outcomes on a romantic relationship in many ways (Kerkhof, Finkenauer, & Muusses, 2011). Breakups, communication, jealousy, and Facebook intrusion are examples of some potential outcomes from someone’s involvement in Facebook. There have been numerous studies done to measure Facebook’s impact on romantic relationships, as well as studies that focused on Facebook’s effects on self-esteem. What we know from previous studies is that high social media usage can be problematic to psychological well-being (Naeemia, Tamam Hassan, & Bolong, 2014) Studies have shown that satisfaction levels for relationships are more likely to be negative when engaging into Facebook-specific conflicts that can damage the relationship. Some concerns that arise from this issue could be: Are our relationships satisfaction decreasing from our media usage? Does Facebook related activities influence our romantic relationships? This can create a barrier between a healthy and unhealthy relationship with a significant other. Facebook can also cause some negative emotional responses. Jealousy and self-consciousness can erupt from the pressures of social media (Elphinston & Noller, 2011). Facebook’s effect on relationships and self-esteem Ortiz 4 A study was done by Clayton and his colleagues (2013) to examine if Facebook is to blame for relationship breakups. In their research, they measured the usage of Facebook from 205 users of an 18-82-year population. In their study, it was concluded that the majority of their sample use Facebook extensively. Their survey questioned if there was any relationship conflicts that occurred while Facebook was actively being used. The results consisted of communication issues and jealousy that came from monitoring their partner online. These Facebook related conflicts in their study mediated the negative relationships outcomes and Facebook usage. It is safe to conclude that in this study, negative impacts on relationships resulted from Facebook usage (Clayton., Nagurney, & Smith, 2013). Negative impacts might include trust in partner or jealousy. Social media can affect our relationships as an active user and high usage can lead into a person into engaging in inappropriate activities. These negative outcomes included cheating, separation, and divorce. (Clayton, Nagurney, & Smith, 2013). Facebook usage has also been affecting many people’s own behaviors and emotions as well as their partner’s. The amount of time a person spends on Facebook can be causing behavioral issues like intrusion and distraction. In Elphinston and Noller’s (2011) study, they “speculate that individuals who are seriously affected by Facebook intrusion may also experience jealousy in their current romantic relationship because of the propensity of Facebook to disrupt their personal lives and interpersonal relationships” (3). It can be essential for studies such as this one to measure the amount of time spent online and the satisfaction level of the relationship. The habit of getting on the Facebook page and scrolling pass hundreds of post can become addictive and intrusive to the relationship due to the lack of attention given in person contrary to the attention spent online (Elphinston & Noller 2011). This study will be able to examine if Facebook usage is affecting college students’ romantic relationships today. Issues in the Facebook’s effect on relationships and self-esteem Ortiz 5 relationship can result into jealousy or feelings of neglectfulness, which then can lead into lowering self-esteem. Self-esteem and Facebook has been repeatedly measured in many research studies. (e.g., Kim, LaRose & Peng 2011; de Vries & Kühne, 2015; Anderson, Fagan, Woodnutt and ChamorrPremuzic’s 2012) There are various ways to affect someone without having to touch or hear their voice. Someone can simply write a comment that can positively or negatively affect another person’s self-esteem. (de Vries & Kühne, 2015). In de Vries and Kuhne’s (2015) study, they measured how Facebook can be detrimental to a person’s well-being. In addition, Anderson, Fagan, Woodnutt and Chamorr-Premuzic’s (2012) study indicates that issues with self-esteem might create a barrier between authentic relationships with a significant other and maintaining good mental health. Because of the power Facebook has on a person’s self-esteem, can that be providing us an effective way to express our emotions to one another? This study further indicates Facebook affects self-esteem because of the person’s emotional response from disclosing online. The lower self-esteem levels are from those who disclose online in order to get acceptance from others and popularity. (Anderson, Fagan, Woodnutt & Chamorr-Premuzic, 2012). Also, if someone has low self-esteem and sees a post where another person appears to be happy or doing something enjoyable, it can make them question their own lifestyles and develop an emotion of envy. In Raymer’s (2015) study, along with those emotions, “more exposure on Facebook leads to lower body image satisfaction and a greater drive for thinness” (2). These results can decrease a person’s self-confidence and higher expectations to look a certain way can be a factor towards that low score of self-esteem. Moreover, in previous studies, one could hypothesize that high Facebook usage can lead to low satisfaction levels on romantic relationships and self-esteem. There has been many Facebook’s effect on relationships and self-esteem Ortiz 6 research and supported theories that reveal how Facebook related issues and usage can be impactful on our romantic relationships. (Elphinston & Noller 2011) Research on self-esteem exposes negative emotions outcomes that can come from Facebook usage. (Clayton, Nagurney, & Smith, 2013). Considering that, there are consequences for excessively using Facebook on relationships and self-esteem, research on these two topics would be valuable.