Abstract
Social media is rapidly becoming on of the most common uses of the Internet, and social media can be used in many different ways including contacting other users directly, posting something for a large network of users to see, or simply browsing what others have posted. The present research investigated the relationship between social anxiety and how an individual chooses to use social media with potential implications as a clinical tool. Despite previous research suggesting that individuals high in neuroticism showed a preference for communication via social media, no significant results found support for socially anxious individuals sharing this same tendency. Results did indicate that individuals high in social anxiety showed a preference for browsing what others have posted on social media. It is hypothesized that more frequent browsing is due to a fear of missing an important event and looking unwise in a future social interaction, or missing something negative someone has posted about them.
Advisor
Thompson, Claudia
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Collier, Luke J., "Can Social Media Patterns be used as a Clinical Predictor of Social Anxiety" (2015). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 6656.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/6656
Publication Date
2015
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2015 Luke J. Collier