Publication Date

Summer 2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Clifton M. Oyamot

Keywords

Facebook, personality, self-monitoring, self-presentation, social networking sites

Subject Areas

Psychology; Social psychology; Personality psychology

Abstract

Self-monitoring, or the individual differences in the extent to which people observe, regulate, and control their public appearances, has been studied in a variety of face-to-face domains such as friendships, romantic relationships, and work and organizational settings. The purpose of this study was to assess whether high and low self-monitors construct their identities on an online social networking site, such as Facebook, in ways that are consistent with their self-monitoring preferences for the face-to-face world. Social networking sites allow individuals to have members of all of their social networks present in a common setting at any particular time. This may lead to a predicament for people who are high self-monitors if they prefer to fit their behavior to a particular situation and a particular group of people. In Part 1, participants completed a self-report measure, which consisted of the Self-Monitoring Questionnaire, the Big Five Inventory, and an extended version of the Facebook Questionnaire. In Part 2, participants provided access to their Facebook profile for additional comparison between high and low self-monitors. High self-monitors were more concerned about and actively engaged in image management on Facebook, and image control concerns distinguished high self-monitors from extraverts. Contrary to predictions, low self-monitors were less active and interested in using Facebook. Findings suggested that high self-monitors adapt their image control desires to the limits and opportunities that currently exist in social networking on social networking sites.

Download

Share

COinS