Research Proposal

Gabrielle LaRocca                                                                                                              LaRocca 1

Section H5

Professor Erin Kelly

Research Proposal

1 November, 2016

Research Proposal

            The topic I intend on researching regards the various impacts of social media on mental health. Social media includes platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that allow users to take part in the sharing of information through social networking. Social media use is a growing phenomenon as modern technology is widely prevalent in our developing culture – certain psychological effects accompany this usage. Subsequently, the results include both positive and negative effects in terms of actual mental wellness and the stigma against mental health. As almost everyone today is involved in the use of social media, the number of people at risk of these effects is significant. Mental health is an extremely important and potentially destructive area of study that is taken for granted in current concerns, meaning that often times the influences of social media are not addressed. Thus, my research paper will investigate the following questions: how does social media use influence the mental wellness of its users, how is mental health viewed or stigmatized through social media, to what extent is social media helpful in treating mental illness, and when does social media do more harm than good? The primary areas that I plan to research within this topic are social comparison through discrepancy monitor, cyber bullying, social media use for treating mental illness, how the media portrays mental illness, and social media’s effect on anxiety.

I plan to address the problem area first by elaborating on the relationships humans have with technology as described in Sherry Turkle’s “Selections from Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.” I will use her claim of how social media is often an extended form of one’s identity to transition into the initial introduction of to what extent social media impacts us mentally. After, I will define and describe the spectrum of the issue of mental illness and provide an anecdotal example utilizing the green-haired girl from Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover.” The topic of self-esteem will be probed, followed by statistics on the increasing trends of body dysmorphia in young women that is caused by social media usage. Facts from the article “Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research” by Richard Perloff will be included to narrow in on evidence. Further support on the importance of self esteem in mental health will be discussed using statistical evidence from Jean Twenge’s article “Age and Birth Cohort Differences in Self-Esteem: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis.” Subsequent discussion of this impact of decreased self-esteem on modern romantic relationships will follow. The comparison of one’ self to others will allow me to dive into discussion of the term “discrepancy monitor” and how it relates to the phenomenon known as “the fear of missing out” as described in Ine Beyens’ article “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”: Adolescents’ Fear Of Missing Out And Its Relationship To Adolescents’ Social Needs, Facebook Use, And Facebook Related Stress.” The discussion revolving around social exclusion will then be followed by the relationship between cases of cyber bullying and suicide. Facts from Robert’s article “Pediatric Emergency Department Visits For Mental Health Crisis: Prevalence Of Cyber-Bullying In Suicidal Youth” will support the claim of social media providing a platform for cyber bullying; I will explain how exactly cyber bullying is extremely detrimental toward mental health. Next, I plan to discuss a reason why cyber bullying arises from social media in the context of how social media portrays mental illness. Then, I will use James Livingston’s article “Another Time Point, A Different Story: One Year Effects of A Social Media Intervention On The Attitudes Of Young People Towards Mental Health Issues” to show how efforts have effectively been made to highlight the awareness of mental health importance on social media. Finally, I will build upon this positive claim of social media aiding mental health awareness by providing an example of social media being used in the treatment of those with schizophrenia, as described by J. Torous in “The Role Of Social Media In Schizophrenia: Evaluating Risks, Benefits, And Potential.”

           

                                                          

Works Cited

Beyens, Ine, Eline Frison, and Steven Eggermont. "Full Length Article: “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”: Adolescents’ Fear Of Missing Out And Its Relationship To Adolescents’ Social Needs, Facebook Use, And Facebook Related Stress." Computers In Human Behavior 64.(2016): 1-8. ScienceDirect. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

I will use this source to provide facts about the “fear of missing out” experienced from social media use. The stated stress caused by Facebook in this article is a prime example of impact on mental wellness from social media use.

Davidson, Cathy. “Project Classroom Makeover.” Miller and Spellmeyer, pp. 48-70.

I can use the green-haired girl from the classroom in an anecdotal example about exclusion and the importance of self-esteem in young girls.

Livingston, James D, et al. "Another Time Point, A Different Story: One Year Effects Of A Social Media Intervention On The Attitudes Of Young People Towards Mental Health Issues." Social Psychiatry And Psychiatric Epidemiology 49.6 (2014): 985-990. MEDLINE. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

The study done in this source provides data on how social media is being used to change the common view of the issue of mental health; I can use it to portray the impact of social media on mental health awareness.

Perloff, Richard M. "Social Media Effects on Young Women's Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research." Sex Roles 71.11-12 (2014): 363-77. ProQuest. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

I will use this source to provide statistical evidence of body dysmorphia in young women caused by social media usage.

Roberts, Nasreen, et al. "Pediatric Emergency Department Visits For Mental Health Crisis: Prevalence Of Cyber-Bullying In Suicidal Youth." Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal 33.5 (2016): 469-472. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

I plan to use this source to correlate cyber bullying on social media sites to suicide, which comes from extreme cases of mental health deterioration.

Torous, J. ( 1,2 ), and M. ( 2 ) Keshavan. "The Role Of Social Media In Schizophrenia: Evaluating Risks, Benefits, And Potential." Current Opinion In Psychiatry 29.3 (2016): 190-195. Scopus®. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

This source will be used to portray positive impacts of social media usage on mental illness as it is incorporated into treatment of schizophrenia.

Turkle, Sherry. “Selections from Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.” Miller and Spellmeyer, pp. 458-478.

This source allows me to introduce the growing relationship between humans and technology, specifically when emotions are involved.

Twenge, Jean M., and W. Keith Campbell. "Age and Birth Cohort Differences in Self-Esteem: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis." Personality and Social Psychology Review 5.4 (2001): 321-44. Web.

I will use this source to explain how self-esteem is a vital component of mental health and how different ages are impacted by their environments (social media usage).