Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Internet and Self Esteem
Internet and Self Esteem
ATHULYA THOMAS
i
CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the work embodied in this dissertation entitled “Pattern of usage of
social networking sites and its influence on self-esteem and social capital formation
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the “Master of Public Health” degree from
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
Dr. Srinivasan.K
Additional Professor
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
October 2013
ii
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation titled “Pattern of usage of social networking site
and its influence on self-esteem and social capital formation among emerging adults:
a cross sectional study in Idukki district, Kerala” is the bonafide record of my original
field research. It has not been submitted to any other university or institution for the
award of any degree or diploma. Information derived from the published or unpublished
ATHULYA THOMAS
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
October 2015
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, praises and thanks to the God, the Almighty, for His showers of blessings
throughout my research work to complete the research successfully.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and indebtedness to my guide, Dr. Srinivasan.K for
his invaluable suggestions, patience, sincere guidance and supervision throughout my dissertation
work. He inspired me deeply through out this study. He took me an another world of computer
mediated communication. It was a great privilege and honour to work and study under his
guidance.
I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to all the other faculty members who guided
me during the two years of study in AMCHSS. I express my heartfelt thanks to Dr.P.Sankara
Sarma and Dr.V.Ramankutty for their expert review of research tools. I am greatly thankful to
K.L Sangeetha and Dr. D Mavoothu for suggestions in measuring social capital and providing
me validated Internet Social Capital Scale for my study.
I would like to offer my special thanks to Rev. Fr. John Thekekkara and Sr. Elizabeth
(F.D.S.H.J) for inspiring me to choose this course, for invaluable blessings and prayers. I am
extremely greatful to Sr. Jeslin Mary S.H and Sr. Litty S.M.C for the spiritual support from the
beginning of the dissertation.
I would also like to thank my seniors Mrs.Priyanka, Mrs. Joana Sara Wilson, Ms. Sunu Thomas
for the guidance and support. I extent my thanks to my colleagues Dr. Sambith Kumar Behra, Ms.
Pritty Titus, Ms. Nayana EP, Dr. Tijo George and Dr. Aakshi Kalra who supportrd and cheered
me during my tough times in the course of study.
A special word of thanks to my Pappa, Mamma and Chithu whose inspiring attitude and ceaseless
encouragement helped me throughout my life.
I would like to present my heartiest gratitude to all the college authorities and students who
supported and agreed to participate in the study. Lastly, I would like to thank all those who have
helped me directly and indirectly in completeing this study.
Athulya Thomas
October 2015
iv
Dedicated to my beloved
grandparents
Late. Mr. K.A Mathew
&
v
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………… iv
List of figures………………………………………………………………. xi
Abstract…………………………………………………………………… xiv
1.3.2.2.1 Aggression 11
vi
1.3.2.3 Effect of SNS on emerging adults 12
1.3.3 Self-esteem 15
1.4 Rationale 20
vii
2.8 Variables under study 25
viii
41.3 Network size 52
REFERENCES 60-68
ANNEXURES
ix
List of tables
Table Heading Page no:
no:
3.1 Basic sample characteristics of the respondents 32
x
List of figures
xi
Glossary of abbreviations
IT Information Technology
xii
Glossary
Social networking sites Any online platforms that enables users to create public profiles
(SNS) and form relationships with other users who access their profile
such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on.
Social capital Any form of benefits a person getting from relationships with
others (financial support, variety of information, emotional
support and so on).
Bonding social capital A form of social capital generating from emotionally bounded
or homogenous relationships (strong relationships such as
family, very close friends and so on).
xiii
Abstract
Background: Social networking sites (SNS) enhance human relationships and decreases
adulthood (18-25 years) is the transitional period between adolescence and adulthood.
Among them interactions in virtual world have definite roles in the physical, emotional,
social and cognitive development. We studied usage of SNS and its influence on self-
Method: Cross-sectional study was conducted among 455 emerging adults (43% male) in
colleges of Idukki district. Cluster sampling was used and sample size was proportionate
to strength. Study was done using self-reported questionnaire, had sections on assessing
pattern of SNS usage, self-esteem (Rosenberg scale) and social capital (ISCC). Analysis
Results: Students were from different disciplines -Arts and Science (56%), Medicine
(14%) and Engineering (30%). About 92% were dependent on their parents. Only 76%
accessed SNS. Among them 57% accessed through smart phones. On an average they
spend 60 minutes in SNS/day. Male students spent more time on SNS compared to
activities, location and device used for access, age of respondents, friends in SNS and
Conclusion: About three-fourth of emerging adults access SNS. Among them half
accessed through their smart phones. SNS is not associated with self- esteem among
emerging adults, but it contributed positively on the formation of social capital among
them.
xiv
CHAPTER 1
1. Introduction
relationship with others varies at different stages of life (Ackerson and Viswanath, 2009).
The kind of interpersonal relationship with others underlays the human behaviour and
development. It is a fact that day to day interaction in the physical world influences a
person‘s physical, social and psychological wellbeing (Reis et al., 2000). The most
amazing feature of the 21st century is the worldwide accessibility to the internet facilities
(DiMaggio et al., 2001). Nowadays, social softwares or social applications have become
one of the most acceptable media for relationship formation and recent years‘ concepts
such as social media are emerged out (Lai and Turban, 2008). Social media serves as an
indispensable platform for people to raise their voice as well as for relationship formation
and maintenance (Lazer et al., 2009). As such, social media, which are developed with an
a great value in terms of enhancing human relationships by decreasing the space in the
relationships (Fox et al., 2007; Wellman, 2001). As found in relationships in real world,
social media help in creating a virtual world in spite of people live physically apart from
each other (Mislove et al., 2007). Apparently, interpersonal interactions taking place
through social media have definite roles in the emotional, social, and cognitive
development among youth. The time spent on social media has been increasing; trends in
the media usage are also changing (Rideout et al., 2010; Roberts et al., 2011). These tools
have changed the way people get to interact with each other. In addition, there is growing
1
(Ellison et al., 2007; Kontos et al., 2010). The implications of virtual world on a person‘s
physical, mental and social well-being have been the interest of researchers in many
countries (Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002; Barker, 2009; Correa et al., 2010; Ellison et
al., 2007; Pempek et al., 2009; Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012; Steinfield et al., 2008; Zywica
The most attractive feature of social media is Social Networking Sites (SNS) (Kietzmann
et al., 2011; Murugesan, 2007; O‘reilly, 2009). These networks permit the users to create
their own public profile and thereby letting them interact with others via different modes
of communication techniques (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). These social tools have become
more accessible to young adults with the highest rate of smart phone penetration (Davey
and Davey, 2014). Young adults are accessing social networking sites for various reasons;
As per World Bank, even though India has been classified under lower middle income
country based on income (Mental Health Atlas, 2014), India is showing an exponential
growth in the usage of internet facilities including social media (Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI), 2014) . It is revealed that people are more digitally active
compared to previous years. People aged between 18 to 25 years are the utmost users of
social media and the period between those years could be called as ―emerging
adulthood‖(Arnett, 2000; Kontos et al., 2010). Studies outline that cybercrimes are
increasing with spending longer time on social media (Lindsay and Krysik, 2012).
Interestingly, highest suicide rates are reported among young adults in the age group of
18 to 25 years (Patel et al., 2007). It is also identified that cybercrimes and cyber bullying
increase the suicide rates among youth. Cyberbullicide is a term coined recently to refer
the suicides related to cybercrimes (Chadwick, 2014; Luxton et al., 2012). In addition,
cybercrimes are rapidly increasing in our country and this has been reported under a
2
different chapter in ‗crime in India 2013 compendium‘ (Crimes in India compendium,
2013). Cybercrime proceedings in our country have been dealing under IT act 2000. Total
4356 cases were registered under IT act 2000 during the year of 2013. When comparing
with 2012, there was a 51.5 percent rise in the reported cybercrimes in 2013. Kerala was
the fifth state in India which had highest cybercrimes reported in the year 2013 (Crimes in
Self-esteem is an attitude towards self. Self-esteem affects our trust in others, our
relationships, and our work - nearly every part of our lives. In this regard, positive self-
esteem gives us the strength and flexibility to take charge of our lives and learn from our
mistakes without the fear of rejection (Rosenberg et al., 1995). Social capital implies the
resources a person gains through the relationship with other people (Valenzuela et al.,
2009). Both self-esteem and social capital are the determinants of the mental well-being
which is one of the determinants of quality of life (Myer et al., 2008; Nieminen et al.,
Organization‘s (WHO) definition of health that ―mental health enables people to realize
their potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively, and contribute to
their communities‖ (Mental health action plan, 2013). Mental well-being of a person is
influenced by social, cultural, economic and environmental factors. Besides this, one‘s
own thoughts, emotions, behaviours and interactions with others are the other elements
which ultimately lead to mental wellbeing. Three factors which influence the mental
health of the young adults are social support and internal resources like mastery of skills
and self-esteem and perceived stress (Mental health action plan, 2013-2020). Making
friends is the key role of social networking sites (Boyd and Ellison, 2013). Some
researchers claim that emerging adults are using SNS for maintaining close relationships
(Coyne et al., 2013). Furthermore, recent researches suggest that there is an overlapping
3
between the online and real world relationships of the emerging adults (Chadwick, 2014;
Subrahmanyam et al., 2008). So it‘s clear that some forms of social networks happen in
the virtual world too (Barnes, 2009). What the virtual world does to the real life
relationships? Whether spending on SNS helps one expand the relationships socially and
social networks on a person‘s wellbeing are important aspects to study (Duggan et al.,
2014).
1.2 Background
As of August 2015, the most popular social networking platform was Facebook followed
by WhatsApp, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. It is also proved that an average a global
internet user spends 120 minutes per day on social networking sites. The number of social
network users in the world was 1.79 billion during 2014 and it is expected to reach 2.44
say that the emergence of smart phones has eased the social networking sites‘
accessibility. As per the reports of Smart phone Users around the World (2012), world‘s
According to a report, about 71 percent of the online adults were using Facebook among
internet users in America (Duggan et al., 2014). It could be concluded that Facebook was
the most common SNS platform in developed countries such as America followed by
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. As per the reports from the Pew internet
research institute (2014), the individuals aged between 18 to 25 years were found to be
the core users of the SNS. Approximately, 45 percent of them were engaged in online
platform several times a day with an average 180 minutes per day on SNS. In the
4
meantime, 52 percent was accessing two or more social networking sites.
A study conducted by the Gothenburg research institute Sweden found that on an average
a Facebook user spends 75.2 minutes per day with an average log on 6 times per day. The
survey also found out that young people in the age group of emerging adulthood category
spent more on Facebook with 82.5 minutes per day (Denti et al., 2012).
Table1.1 The following table compares the time spent on social networking by internet
users@ in developing and developed countries with a global average of 120 minutes per
day*.
Developing Time spent on social Developed Time spent on social
countries media countries media
(minutes (hours)/day) (minutes (hours)/day)
Argentina 258 (4.3) US 156 (2.6)
Philippians 258 (4.3) Russia 162 (2.7)
Mexico 234 (3.9) Italy 150 (2.5)
Brazil 228 (3.8) Singapore 150 (2.5)
Thailand 228 (3.8) UK 132 (2.2)
UAE 216 (3.6) Canada 126 (2.1)
Malaysia 210 (3.5) Australia 126 (2.1)
South Africa 192 (3.2) Germany 126 (2.1)
Vietnam 186 (3.1) France 120 (2)
Saudi Arabia 180 (3) Spain 114 (1.9)
Turkey 174 (2.9) Netherlands 114 (1.9)
Indonesia 174 (2.9) Hong Kong 108 (1.8)
India 150 (2.5) South Korea 78 (1.3)
Poland 126 (2.1) Japan 42 (0.7)
China 102 (1.7)
*Global web index Q3, 2015; @- base users 16-64 years ** 16-24 were found to be the
heaviest of SNS with an average 160 minutes per day in all countries.
5
1.2.3 SNS -Indian scenario
Latest statistics explicates that there are 243 Million internet users in India. It covers 19
percent of the total population (India digital marketing statistics, 2015). By the end of
2018, 500 million people might use internet facilities. The most browsed SNS in India is
Facebook with 100 million active users; among them around 80 percent are accessing it
through mobile devices. It is also estimated that India‘s internet users may increase
fivefold by the end of 2015 and more than three quarters of them will choose mobile
access for engaging with SNS (Digital, Social & Mobile Worldwide, 2015). Recent
statistics showed an exponential growth in the social networking sites‘ access from
developing countries. Notifiably, in 2014, India‘s one year growth rate in internet usage
was 14 percent. It contributed 8.33 percent to world‘s internet usage. India‘s internet
population penetration was 19 percent and ranked third in internet usages among the
world (Internet and Mobile Association of India, 2014). It is also reported that 70 percent
of youth in the age group of 18 to 25 years of India spends more than 300 minutes (5
hours) on internet in a normal week. Apart from that, Internet and Social Media Usage
among youth in India (2014) report depicts that 66 percent of youth in the age group of 18
to 25 years feels more accepted on social media than any other interactions. Besides this,
72 percent of Indian students are using more than one SNS. As per the Youth survey in
India (2014) conducted among 18 to 25 year old people in 15 cities of India found that
Facebook is the most preferred site among emerging adults. They are spending 30 to 60
minutes in a day on SNS. Smart phone is reported to be the preferred option for accessing
SNS. Mobile penetration eases the accessibility to internet and thereby popularizing SNS
6
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW
The internet has provided us the opportunity to connect with people around the globe with
a few clicks of a button, making it easier than ever before keeping in touch with our near
and dear ones. Owing to this fact, internet based social media have been the biggest
Some authors defined Social Networking Sites as an online platform that allows users to
create a public profile and get to interact with other users on the website worldwide
(Boyd and Ellison, 2007) . From the time of inception, the features of SNS have been
changing and considering this dynamic nature, the definition for SNS updated recently by
the same authors in 2013. In the light of these odd features such as unique identifying
profiles, publically articulated connections and scope for a wide range of user generated
contents, the researchers called SNS as ‗networked communication platform‘ (Ellison and
Boyd, 2013:156).
Generally, the availability of individual profiles is the attractive feature of the social
networking sites (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). Therefore, users can create and maintain
social contacts and can frequently interact with people anywhere in the world. It is also
observed that the interactions on SNS generate a sense of trust among the users even
though they are not physical proximate with each other. Likewise, the surfing on SNS
leads to the formation of social networks among users, providing a robust way of sharing,
organizing, and finding contents and contacts (Mislove et al., 2007). The resulting social
network provides a basis for nurturing social relationships, finding users with similar
interests, and sharing contents and knowledge with other users (Kaplan and Haenlein,
2010). The subsequent session deals with the history and development of SNS.
7
1.3.1.2 SNS: History and development
The earliest form of internet was termed as the ARPANET. It had undergone many
technological changes till today. In 1991, an internet based facility, being called as the
World Wide Web (WWW), was commenced. This WWW differs from internet in such a
way that it is a large connection of interconnected documents or the contents. The earlier
version -Web 1.0- allowed the users only to access and read the contents with the help of
a hypertext. The users‘ interaction was very limited in web 1.0 features since there was no
room for user generated content. Some examples of web 1.0 features were ‗geocities‘,
‗Hotmail and so on. But, advanced features were incorporated and in 1999, the new
version of web -web 2.0- came into light. Web 2.0 or social software refers to second-
generation internet based features that were recognized to be highly interactive and
communicative (O‘Reilly, 2009). Paradoxically, the current version of web 2.0 feature
helps to capture, store and present messages or contents which are either in written or
audio- visual form. Moreover, these interactive features help mediate interactions
between a pair or a group of users. Now that they focus on establishing and maintaining a
chatting, gaming and so on. Web 2.0 could ensure more participation from users than web
1.0 (O‘Reilly, 2007). The new version allows consuming as well as contributing
information through blogs or SNS such as Facebook, Twitter and so on. Social
Networking Sites are one of the attributes among the web 2.0 coupled with a wide range
of interactive features (O‘Reilly, 2007). Newer versions of web are also emerging as web
3.0, web 4.0 and so on. This study focuses on one of the attributes of web 2.0 version-
SNS, which is the most attractive and widely used feature of web 2.0. ‗Social Web‘ is one
of the concepts related to web 2.0 versions and it describes how a person socializes or
8
interacts with each other through the web.
Precisely, SNS with the availability of user profiles came into popularity by 1990‘s with
‗Theglobe.com‘ was launched with a plenty of features enabling users to interact with
others by sharing interested contents. Two years later, in 1997, AOL instant messaging
and ‗Six degree‘ had launched, providing with facilities for creating user profiles and
interacting with friends (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). Later on, booming of friend
networking sites occurred in 2000‘s with the launching of the most widely using
networking site ‗Facebook‘ in 2004 as a closed virtual community for Hardward students.
Thereafter, its access was thrown open for the public in the following year (Boyd and
Ellison, 2007). As reported, the users of SNS belong to different age groups, socio-
economic status, cultural backgrounds and so on. However, the key users of SNS are
young people who fall in the age group of 18-25 years (Ellison et al., 2009; Lenhart et al.,
2010). The upcoming session revolves around emerging adults, their characteristics and
developmental roles.
Arnett (1998) claimed that the period between 18-25 years is very distinct from
adolescence and adulthood. Some scholars defined this period as ―late adolescence‖,
―young adulthood‖, ―youth‖, ―and transition to adulthood‖. At the same time, Jeffrey
Arnett called this distinct period as emerging adulthood in his theory of development of
late teens through early twenties (Arnett, 2000). The period between 18-25 years is said to
be quite critical in life because during this period a person builds long term social skills,
9
adulthood (Arnett, 2000). This term, therefore, depends on the cultural and social
contexts. Initially, the term was believed to be applicable to highly industrialized nations
such as USA where there is a time period between the adolescence period and entry to
adulthood responsibilities like family and parenthood. It was not applicable to the nations
where early marriage is practised as the length of emerging adulthood period gets
shortened (Arnett, 2007). Later on, researchers found the aspects of emerging adulthood
in variety of cultures including India, China, Romania and so on (Coyne et al., 2013;
Nelson, 2009; Nelson et al., 2004) for the reason that many young people are remaining
in colleges in their early and mid-twenties (Arnett ,2007). So that, it can be said that
especially in the areas of work, love and world views. Period of uncertainty (residence
changes, career), feeling in-between (not yet feeling like an adult, but no longer
considering oneself as a child), being self-focused, and feeling very positive and
optimistic about future possibilities (Arnett, 2006; Nelson and Barry, 2005)- these are the
five developmental changes seen in emerging adults (Coyne et al., 2013). Perceivably,
As has been discussed already in section 1.2, young adults in the age group of 18 to 25
years are the utmost users of social media especially SNS. One of the reasons why this is
the case is that they are living in a media saturated world where they are called as
‗Generation M‘ (Rideout et al., 2010). Therefore, emerging adults are the most
beneficiaries of the media and they spend considerable part of the time on social media
rather than any other activity (Coyne et al., 2013). In past years, emerging adults were
10
more fond of traditional forms of media such as television, video games and books which
are replaced by newer media such as internet, SNS and so on. These suggest that recent
era witnessed dynamic changes in the media usage among emerging adults, who are
spending much of the time in exploring newer media such as internet (Coyne et al., 2013).
Studies found out that media usage could affect one‘s behaviour or attitudes either in a
positive or negative way (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). As discussed earlier, emerging
adulthood is a distinct period where parental restrictions are comparatively less than that
of childhood and adolescence. Despite this fact, the media have been a part of
socialization among emerging adults (Coyne et al., 2013; Youth survey in India, 2014).
1.3.2.2.1 Aggression: greater hours spent on television ,watching violent movies is likely
to be associated with the formation of favourable attitude towards violence among men
and the formation of favourable attitude towards interpersonal violence among women
(Brady, 2007).
1.3.2.2.2 Risk taking behaviours: it is found out that media usage has a tangible
influence on substance abuse behaviours, risky sexual attitudes and behaviours among
emerging adults (Carroll et al., 2008). Pro-social and anti-social contents through media
can mould the behavioural pattern of emerging adults either in a benign or tendentious
performances , social interaction and perceptions about self (Anand, 2007; Jacobsen and
Forste, 2010; Kirschner and Karpinski, 2010; Lanthier and Windham, 2004). Most studies
11
reported the effects of media on academic achievement for emerging adult college
students as generally negative, but it can also be made positive if utilized to foster
learning in the classrooms (Coyne et al., 2013). Over all, more social use of media is
likely to be associated with good college adjustments among emerging adults (Lanthier
Review discussed above shows how media affect the lives of emerging adults and we
need to be concerned about it. Social media are very dynamic in nature and emerging
adults in these years are spending more time on SNS than any other media (Correa et al.,
2010; Gemmill and Peterson, 2006) need to be studied. The following session depicts
Studies reported positive as well as negative impacts of SNS on users. Evidently, the SNS
emerging adults. It is also reported that negative impacts of SNS on emerging adults are
mainly in three domains such as physical life, psychological well-being and social life
(Das and Sahoo, 2011). Decreased involvement in physical activity- one of the most
raised reasons for chronic diseases(physical wellbeing), decreased social interactions, less
participation of social events, criminal tendencies (social life), SNS addiction, social
discussed in research studies related to SNS (Dunlop et al., 2011; Kim et al., 2009; O‘Dea
and Campbell, 2012; O‘Keeffe et al., 2011; Orth et al., 2008; Ryan et al., 2014). On the
other hand, recent studies identified the favourable influence of SNS on the
12
opportunity to self-disclosure (Apaolaza et al., 2013; Best et al., 2014; Ellison et al.,
2007; Manago et al., 2012; O‘Dea and Campbell, 2012; Pempek et al., 2009; Shaw and
Gant, 2002; Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012; Valenzuela et al., 2009; Valkenburg et al., 2006).
and SNS provide a scope for identity formation, self-disclosure and for establishing
intimate relations with peers and romantic partners. Eventually, active engagement with
SNS helps users in meeting the developmental tasks of the emerging adults as discussed
study by Subhramanyam et al. (2008) emerging adults reported that the use of these sites
didn‘t cause any effects on their relationships. Some researchers claimed that emerging
adults who are not socially active are more likely to use SNS for social compensation
(Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002; Pempek et al., 2009; Zywica and Danowski, 2008;
Valkenburg et al.,2005).
Many studies were conducted across the world to assess the pattern of usage of SNS,
which SNS are being used, how emerging adults access SNS, the time and frequency
spent on SNS, activities or communication patterns and the average number of friends on
SNS for an emerging adult (Bicen and Cavus, 2011; Eke Miss et al., 2014; Jagero and
The following section throws light into the pattern of usage of SNS among emerging
adults.
1.3.2.4.1 Time spent and frequency of usage on social networking sites by emerging
adults
Indeed, the amount of time spent on social networking sites varies greatly with age, sex,
13
weekdays and weekend days, educational status, and so on. As discussed earlier, SNS are
intensively used by college students and almost all studies done were assessing usage
patterns among college students (Kontos et al., 2010; Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012). Studies
conducted in USA reported that an average time spent on SNS by emerging adult‘s ranges
between 30 minutes to 120 minutes per day (Pempek et al., 2009). It is also found that
emerging adults catch up with SNS several times a day (Jagero and Muriithi, 2013). As
identified, longer the time spent on SNS stronger the relationship. Studies also show that
Gitimu, 2012). Youth survey in India (2014) found that emerging adults in India spent an
practitioner and researcher attentions (Barker, 2009; Ellison et al., 2011). Many have been
using it to communicate with family and friends (Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012; Youth survey
in India, 2014). Entry to college is a different life situation where close relationships with
school friends and parents are being faded out and emerging adults are getting exposed to
various communication patterns, is one of the most attractive features of SNS (Valenzuela
et al., 2009). Either as a medium for entertainment or to escape from boredom and
Quite understandably, many studies provided evidence on the extent of usage of SNS and
the number of friends on SNS. The number of friends on SNS was termed as the ‗network
14
size‘ in a study done by Manago in 2012 (Manago et al., 2012). Many studies found out
that the emerging adults use SNS to maintain their relationships in real life. As a result,
there will be an overlap between online and real life relationships (Subrahmanyam et al.,
2008; Valkenburg and Peter, 2007; Wiese et al., 2014). However, a cross national
comparative study between America and India found out that American college students
had roughly equal number of online and offline friends when compared with the Indian
students who reported more number of online friends than offline friends (Marshall et al.,
2008). When the number of friends increases the SNS users expect that they might get
more responses for their activities such as updates, posting contents and so on in their
user pages (Manago et al., 2012). In addition to that, more number of friends results in an
emotional attachment of emerging adults with SNS, resulting in using SNS several times
a day (Mahajan, 2009). The average number of friends on SNS ranges from 150 to 400
(Jagero and Muriithi, 2013; Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012). Youth survey in India (2014)
reported an average Indian emerging adult have around 120 friends in Facebook.
self-based on skills, abilities, social relationships and future outcomes (Robins et al.,
2002; Rosenberg et al., 1995). It is also one of the pillars for psychological well-being
and healthy personality development. It is often true that a person‘s experiences in life are
the major contributor of self-esteem. Successful peer acceptance and identity explorations
predict high self-esteem among adolescents and emerging adults. The studies to describe
the trajectories of self-esteem found that normally there has been an increase in self-
esteem through adolescence, adulthood and middle age (Orth et al., 2010; Robins and
Trzesniewski, 2005).
15
1.3.3.1 SNS and self-esteem
Ellison et al found in their study that emerging adults with lower self-esteem may benefit
more from SNS than others with high self-esteem (Ellison et al., 2007). For emerging
adults, networking sites act as a bridge for the development of peer acceptance and
interpersonal feedback on self and these are the main predictors for enhancing self-esteem
(Arnett, 2000). As seen, SNS permit different methods for interpersonal communication.
A study reported that the positive feedback on the profile enhances the self- esteem and
the negative feedback, on the other hand, decreases the self-esteem (Valkenburg et al.,
2006). Obviously, SNS provide a sense of reduced isolation and increased belongings that
have positive impact on self-esteem (Apaoloza et al., 2013; Shaw and Gant, 2002). As
discussed earlier, when the intensity of usage increases, network size also increases and
this hikes the perceived number of viewers for the users‘ activity (audience size). Studies
reported a positive relationship between estimated audience size and self-esteem (Manago
et al., 2013). On the contrary, addictive behaviours on SNS decrease self–esteem. From
time to time, very low self- esteem and high self-esteem are constantly reported as a
reason for compulsive internet usage (Shaw and Gant, 2002). Another factor that
influences the self-esteem of emerging adults is the effect of cyber bullying. Studies
reported that the victims of cyber bullying have low self-esteem (Chadwick, 2014;
In fact, developing positive peer relationships and friendships is crucial in helping young
people deal with developmental tasks such as forming identity, inculcating social skills
and self-esteem apart from establishing autonomy (Arnett, 2000). Peer influences and
feedback from peers have an impact on emerging adults‘ self–esteem. Meanwhile, social
support and peer acceptance in the phases of emerging adulthood also have a positive
16
effect on psychological wellbeing and self-esteem (Arnett, 2007). Good self-esteem serve
as a protective factor from psychological disorders like maladaptive personality traits that
are more common in young people (Patel et al., 2007). Persistent low self- esteem and
high self- esteem are associated with behavioural disorders (Kramer and Winter, 2008). A
longitudinal study concluded that low self- esteem is a predictive factor for depression in
esteem scale is the widely used one to measure the self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1960). It is a
10 item likert scale with a series of statements about self. Yet another tool for measuring
(Coopersmith, 1981).
The term ‗social capital‘ has widely been using since 1990‘s. Bourdieu and Wacquant
(1992) defined social capital as ―the sum of resources; - actual or virtual, that accrue to an
Wacquant, 1992). A simple and clear definition of Social capital was given by Coleman
in 1998 as the resources a person gets from the relationship with other people (values
from social networks) (Coleman, 1988). As defined, relationships with peers, family and
friends help generate social capital. Increased social disorder, reduced participation in
civic activities and distrust among people are the evidences of decreasing social capital.
On the other hand, high social capital allows individuals to capitalize their connection
with others and to get benefits such as information and support (Helliwell et al., 2004).
17
1.3.4.1 Different types of social capital
The resources accumulated through a relationship may vary according to the nature and
function of that relationship (Ellison et al., 2007). Putnam defined two types of individual
level social capital - bridging and bonding social capitals (Norris, 2004; Putnam, 2001:
22-23). Based on later research in the field of SNS, one more type of social capital,
namely maintained social capital, was added to the context of SNS (Ellison et al., 2007).
It had come from the concept that college students are commonly accessing SNS for
maintaining their relationships with school friends and home town after having moved
away from their home town for studies. Strong relationships such as family and close
friends contribute to the generation of bonding social capital, whereas weak relationships
social capital. As identified, emotional support and financial support are the examples of
social capital from strong ties while, exposure to a large amount of information is an
Over all, the virtual social capital, that is the generation of social capital through internet
based social networking sites, is a new area of research. Thus, spending time on SNS
helps one to generate and maintain social capital (Ellison et al., 2007). Types of
relationships on the networks can predict the types of social capital (Williams, 2006). It‘s
also empirical that the intensity of usage of SNS influences the development of these
three varieties of social capital (Valenzuela et al., 2009; Ellison et al., 2007). Most
of bridging social capital (Williams, 2006). Increased social networking site usage is
associated with increased social capital and reduced loneliness (Burke et al., 2010). A
study has encapsulated that the social capital is directly proportionate to the perceived
18
social support (Valenzuela et al., 2009). In such a way, bonding social capital is generated
out of strong ties such as family members, siblings, close friends and so on. So its
interaction through more than one social medium and so on. However, in case of
bridging social capital, any one form of communication channel (such as only Facebook)
is necessary because it is generated from weak ties (Rui et al., 2014) such as
help maintain a large number of diverse relationships and hence, it supports the
Social capital is linked to the physical and psychological well-being of emerging adults. It
influences the positive social outcomes such as better public health and lower crime rates
(Adler and Kwon, 2002). Social support, trust, information and emotional support are
some benefits of social capital. Thus, higher social capital is associated with the better
Like self-esteem, it is quite hard to measure social capital. Williams (2006) developed a
scale for measuring Internet social capital and this yardstick is widely used for measuring
generation of social capital on SNS. It has two subscales for measuring bonding and
19
1.3.5 Self-esteem and social capital
The study done by Steinfield et al. (2008) claimed that there is relationship between self-
esteem and social capital formation. Accordingly, self-esteem and satisfaction in life play
a cardinal role in generating social capital. It is claimed that emerging adults with high
self-esteem are free to maintain relationship with weak ties and therefore their bridging
1.4 RATIONALE
Based on the meticulous literature review, it is obvious that the usage of SNS and the
influences in the western world context. Convincingly, both positive and negative effects
of accessing SNS and their importance in social and psychological well-being had been
analysed. Since young adults are the serious users of SNS, most of the studies addressed
the issue of SNS usage among college students. In India, there are only a few studies
published on assessing the SNS usage pattern. From the literature itself, it is evident that
the usage of SNS is a growing trend among emerging adults. It is also substantiated that
self–esteem and social capital are the irreplaceable aspects of social and psychological
well-being. Indubitably, self-esteem and social capital stand as the protective factors from
maladaptive personality traits. Among emerging adults very low self-esteem is one of the
factors leading to depression, which is the leading cause of suicides, currently, among
aspects was analysed in India as well as in Kerala. In olden days, it was believed that
social capital is formed through direct social interactions. In this technological era, SNS
have changed the way of social interactions. So there exists a gap between the studies
related to the usage of SNS and their effects on mental and social well-being among the
20
users. Idukki district is selected as a study setting as this region is privileged with a
made the study more conducive. It is also commendable that Idukki was declared as the
first district in India to have complete Hi-speed broadband connectivity (Digital India,
2015). Therefore, the present study is an attempt to assess the self-worth perceived
knowledge, there was no study published in India related with the usage of SNS, self-
esteem and social capital. Hence, it is exigent to scrutinize the effects of SNS in this novel
1.5 OBJECTIVES:
o To study the effects of the pattern of usage of SNS and self-esteem among
emerging adults.
o To study the effects of the pattern of usage of social networking sites and
21
CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
The study design used for the present study is cross-sectional on the ground that majority
of other studies undertaken to examine the patterns of usage of SNS globally also have
used the same study design (Ellison et al., 2007; Pempek et al., 2009; Steinfield et al.,
The study was carried out in the undergraduate colleges in Idukki district. The district
came into existence on 26 January 1972. There are 36 colleges, among which five are run
by the government and others are private management colleges. According to All India
Survey on Higher Education, the Gross Enrolment Ratio on higher education of 18-23
years age group in India was 20.8% and in Kerala it was 21.8% in 2012. At the same
time, the total number of colleges in Kerala was 1033 and the total number of colleges per
lakh population was 33. The average enrolment in Kerala per college per year had been
538 in 2011-2012. As per reports of the higher education survey in India, the enrolment in
all colleges in Idukki district was around 17905 per year in 2012 (MHRD, 2013). It is also
prominent to note that Idukki was declared as the first district in India with complete Hi-
speed broadband connectivity (Digital India, 2014). Well above all, its complete coverage
of uninterrupted, regular, internet services had made the study more appropriate.
22
2.3 Study population
The study was conducted among the students who are pursuing bachelor degree courses
in Idukki district. Samples of these streams were selected because majority of adults
Inclusion criteria
1. All the second year students of the selected colleges who consent to participate in
the study.
2. The students who had completed 18 years of age at the time of data collection and
Exclusion criteria
1. Those students who are married at the mentioned age group (18-25 years).
The sample size was calculated using Open Epi version 3.03, based on the assumption
that 80 percent of college students access any one form of social networking site,
according to a study conducted among college students in 2013 (Manjunatha, 2013). The
estimated sample size was multiplied by two to adjust for the design effect as cluster
sampling was used. With an assumed precision of 5%, the sample was estimated at 95%,
Multistage cluster sampling was used for sample selection. For which, 10 colleges were
Idukki district. Since then, from each college, all students studying second year
constituted the sampling frame. Thereafter, the lists of students were collected from
college authorities to create the sampling frame. Soon after, from the lists of all second
23
year students, the principal investigator selected the samples as per the probability
proportionate to size. This was done as the total strength of students from individual
colleges varied greatly. Next, the total strength of second year students in the colleges had
been calculated. Then the percentage of students from individual colleges contributed to
the total strength, the same proportion of students was selected from corresponding
colleges to satisfy the sample size. (Please refer Annexure I for the summary of the final
A pre-tested questionnaire, having three sections, was used to collect the data. Section A
SNS membership and usage, SNS usage pattern- including duration, frequency and
activities, network characteristics including size of the network and the nature of
relationships. The study also had two outcome variables; self-esteem and social capital.
Section B and C collected information for outcome variables. Section B assessed the
outcome variable self-esteem. Self–esteem was assessed using globally accepted and
commonly used Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Ellison et al., 2007; Steinfield et al., 2008),
which was a 10-item scale measures self-worth by measuring both positive and negative
feelings about the self. All items were answered using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from
strongly agrees to strongly disagree (Rosenberg et al., 1965). The scale was comprised of
both positively and negatively worded statements about self. In India the Hindi version of
the scale was validated among two hundred college students in 2005. The reliability score
Cronbach‘s alpha of Rosenberg scale validated in India was 0.80 (Schmitt, 2005).
Section-C assessed the social capital with an adapted and modified version of the Internet
Social Capital Scale (ISCS) that was developed by Dimitri Williams in 2006 (Ellison et
al., 2007; Steinfeild et al., 2008; Williams, 2006). The original scale had 20 items with
24
two subscales to assess the two types of social capital bridging and bonding respectively.
But the modified version had 16 components (Williams, 2006). The English version of
the modified social capital scale was validated in Kerala among college students in 2014.
After the validation two components were removed from the scale since they were found
to be inappropriate to the Indian context. The bonding and bridging subscale had a
reliability score of 0.76 and 0.75 accordingly (Sangeetha and Mavoothu, 2013). In this
study, these scales were used after acquiring permission from the corresponding authors.
Then questionnaire was translated into Malayalam and for the purpose of validation it
was back translated into English. Data was collected using the Malayalam version of the
questionnaire.
Emerging adults:
As specified earlier, emerging adults are the people in the age group between 18 to 25
years. To include respondents in these age group students from second year were included
2.8.2.1 Self-esteem:
Self-esteem is an attitude towards self. It depends on how a person values oneself based
on his or her skills, abilities, social relationships and future outcomes (Rosenberg et al.,
self-esteem scale.
25
Putnam, 2004). This term generally refers to the resources gained through the relationship
with other people (Coleman, 1998). Social capital was measured as an ordinal variable
based on the score obtained on 5-point likert scale in the Internet Social Capital Scale
(ISCS).
2.8.3.1.1 Age: Age of the respondents was collected as continuous variable in completed
2.8.3.1.2 Sex: Sex was as reported by the respondents. This was later verified with the list
classified in to three categories such as modern medicine, engineering and arts and
science.
2.8.3.1.4 Present residence: Data were collected as categorical variable such as day
on the highest level of education attained by the parents. The responses were later
graduation or above.
Categories provided were government employee, no job, working abroad and other type
and coolie.
2.8.3.1.7 Family structure: Data were collected as a categorical variable. If the subjects
were living with his/her parents and siblings, he/she was included in the category of
26
nuclear family. If the subjects were living with parents, siblings and grandparents, then it
2.8.3.1.8 Family Income: The monthly household family income was collected as
categorical variable with five categories such as Rupees- below 5000, 5001 to 10,000,
2.8.3.2.1 SNS users: Data were collected as categorical variable. If the respondents used
any form of online platform which allowed them to create a public profile of their own
and thereby interacting with others who using the same platform (SNS). This is for the
period of one month or above prior to the data collection. Those who are using as per the
criteria were considered as ‗SNS users‘ and those who are not were categorized as ‗non-
users‘.
2.8.3.2.2 Currently using SNS: Information on the names of SNS students were using
regularly for one month prior to the data collection was captured as categorical variable.
2.8.3.2.3 Devices used for accessing SNS: Responses were collected in to four categories
such as smartphone, laptops, tablets and desk tops. Responses were later classified in to
mobile devices (smartphone and tablets) and computer devices (laptops and desk tops).
2.8.3.2.4 Locations choosing for accessing SNS: Data were collected as categorical
variable. Four categories were provided such as from college premises, hostel premises,
2.8.3.2.5 Age at initiation: Data on age at initiation of using SNS were captured as
2.8.3.2.6 Monthly spending for SNS: Average monthly spending for SNS were collected
2.8.3.2.7 Extent of usage of social networking sites: Information on the time spend on
27
SNS on usual holidays and usual working days, last working day prior to the data
collection and last holiday prior to the data collection were collected as continuous
variable. All responses were converted in to minutes. Average time spent on SNS per day
2.8.3.2.8 Frequency of usage of SNS: Responses on the number of times they used SNS
on last holiday and last working day prior to the data collection were collected. Frequency
of usage on SNS per day was calculated from the total times they logged in during a week
divided by 7.
variable. Categories provided were chatting, messaging, lurking, profile updates, status
students engaging with more number of activities (>=4 communication activities) and less
2.8.3.2.10 Network size: Information about the total number of friends in the SNS was
captured as a continuous variable. The total numbers of friends in the SNS were
calculated by adding number of friends in the various SNS. Respondents were again
informed to classify the friends in to three categories such as close friends (family
members, very close friends, cousins and so on), acquaintances (school friends, friends of
friends, familiar ones but not close friends) and online only friends (not known in real
life).
2.8.3.3 Bad experiences on SNS: The data were collected as a binary variable. The
responses were coded as ‗yes‘ if the respondents reported that they felt any behaviour of
others on their profile was not good at any time three months prior to the data collection.
28
2.8.3.4 Extent of interaction in the real world: Data were collected as binary variable in
response to the question ‗do you spending too much time on SNS?‘ and ‗did anybody
The total number of close friends in college and neighbourhood were considered as the
friends in the real world. The information were captured as continuous variable as
Principal investigator herself had collected data from the respondents. The data collection
The data were coded, entered and cleaned in Microsoft Excel 2010 and statistical analysis
was done using IBM SPSS version 21. The hard copies of the questionnaire were stored
in a locked chamber under my round the clock vigilance. Also, the privacy and
confidentiality of subjects were strictly maintained by analysing the data and reporting the
The analysis had done for 455 respondents achieved a response rate of 92.5 percent.
29
Figure 2.2 frameworks for analysis
The study did not pose any risk to the respondents in the survey or the informants in the
interviews. The privacy and confidentiality of the information given to the investigator
were upheld during the study and will be upheld even in the future. Written informed
consent was taken from all participants and details about the investigator were given to
each student to facilitate clarification of any doubts regarding the study that arose among
the participants. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee
(IEC) of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology,
30
CHAPTER 3
RESULTS
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter the results of the cross-sectional study are described. As discussed earlier,
this study had two outcome variables namely self-esteem and social capital. The analysis
continuous data and the frequency with percent for categorical data.
Bivariate analysis to find out the association between independent and dependent
variables.
Binary logistic regression to find out the statistically significant factors while
The median age of the respondents was 19 years ranging from 18 to 22 years.
More than half of the respondents were female students (57.4 %). The sex ratio of
the respondents was 1:1.3 in favour of female students. The sample included
students from different disciplines. Out of the total, more than half of the
respondents were from arts and science courses (55.8%) and rest of them were
from engineering and modern medicine courses. Besides, most of the students
hailed from rural areas (77%) and 54.1 percent of the students were day scholars.
31
Table 3.1: Sample characteristics of the respondents
Variables Categories N=455 (100%)
Age 19 (18-22)#
Sex Male 194 (42.6)
Female 261 (57.4)
Table 3.2 depicts the socio-economic background of the respondents. More than one
fourth of the parents were graduates or qualified above. More than two third of fathers
were working in unorganized sectors and some were government employees. It was also
noticed that father had been the main earning member of the family. Out of the total, a
small proportion (6%) had reported that their fathers were not working. Likewise, more
than half of the mothers were also found to be not working. The majority of (94.5%)
emerging adults belonged to nuclear family. About 33 percent had reported that their
monthly family income was between rupees 10,001-25,000/-. It was interesting that most
of the emerging adults‘ educational expenses were borne by parents. Significantly, less
than 10 percent were scholarship holders. As surveyed, a few were finding their own
32
Table 3.2: socio-economic background of the respondents
33
3.1.3 SNS pattern of usage among emerging adults
Table 3.3 shows the SNS usage pattern of the respondents. Of the 455 respondents, a total
of 385 respondents were found to be using any form of social networking sites during the
past one year. Out of 455 students, only 345 (75.8%) used at least one form of SNS
regularly during one month prior to data collection. Among the SNS users, about 38
percent was found to be using only one form of SNS. Facebook was found to be the most
popular form of SNS among emerging adults followed by WhatsApp (Figure 3.1). The
emerging adults were reported to be engaged with the SNS from a median age of sixteen
Similarly, the smart phone was the most common device used for accessing the SNS. The
further analysis showed that more than half of the emerging adults (56%) would be
accessing SNS only through smart phones. It could also be comprehended that about 93
percent was engaged with SNS from home, whereas only a small proportion was
accessing SNS from internet café. Moreover, majority of them (82.3%) were accessing
The most commonly used SNS and communication activities on the SNS by emerging
adults are enumerated in the bar diagrams below (Figure 3.1, Figure 3.2).
34
Table 3.3: SNS usage pattern of the respondents
350 Facebook
89.3 %
WhatsApp
300
Google plus
67.8% Twitter
250
LinkedIn
200 Hike
VChat
150
Others
N 100
14.8%
50 8.1% 2.0% 2.0% 1.4% 1.7%
0
Facebook WhatsApp Google Twitter LinkedIn Hike VChat Others
N=345 plus
‗Others‘ includes v-chat, instagram, telegram IMO, viber, hike; * N= number of
respondents
35
Figure 3.2 Maximum using times on SNS by emerging adults
250
12am-6 am
200 6am-12pm
12pm-4pm
150
4pm-7pm
N*
100 7pm-9pm
9pm-12pm
50
0
12am-6 am 6am-12pm 12pm-4pm 4pm-7pm 7pm-9pm 9pm-12pm
N=345
86.4% chatting
300 83.2% 81.2% liking
messaging
250 67.5%
commenting
sharing videos,photos
200
46.7% status updates
50
N*
0
reading posts chatting liking messaging commenting sharing status profile
videos,photos updates updates
36
3.1.3.1 Extent of usage of SNS by emerging adults
Table 3.4 explains the extent of usage of SNS. The extent of usage includes the time spent
on SNS, the frequency of using SNS, the total number of friends in the virtual world and
As per the analysis, a considerable proportion of emerging adults spent an average of 120
minutes (0-600 minutes) in a usual holiday and 30 minutes (0-540 minutes) in a usual
working day on SNS. However, the frequency of usage of SNS ranged from 0- 15 times
with median of 2 times for both during a usual holiday and a usual working day. On an
average, an emerging adult spent 60 minutes on SNS per day with an average frequency
of 2 times a day.
It was identified that about 46 percent of female students were using SNS while, 54
percent of their male counterparts were found to be using the same. Besides, males were
spending longer on SNS with an average of 69 minutes per day (4-531minutes) while
compared with female students had an average of 43 minutes per day (2-326minutes).
Also, the total number of friends for emerging adults in the virtual world ranged from 25
to 6098 with a median of 437. Male students had more number of friends in virtual world
with median 662 (40-6098) when compared with female students with median 200 (25-
1500).
Among the 76 percent students who were using SNS, 61 percent had been using multiple
forms of SNS and rest had been using only one form of SNS. Among those who were
using multiple sites for social networking, 51.4 percent were male students and rest were
females.
Emerging adults had been spending an average amount of 100 (0-1100) rupees per month
37
Table 3.4: extent of usage of SNS by emerging adults
Table 3.5 describes the extent of interaction of emerging adults in the real world.
Generally, in response to the question whether they spent ―too much time‖ on SNS, about
37 percent were in accord with spending ―too much time‖ on SNS. Around half of the
students were reminded by others that they were spending ―too much time‖ on SNS.
38
3.1.5: Knowledge regarding the credibility of information on SNS, prevalence of bad
experiences through SNS
More than three fourth of the respondents felt that the information available on the SNS
was not found to be credible. A small proportion mentioned that they experienced
something bad on SNS during the three months prior to data collection. Table 3.6
describes the emerging adults‘ responses about the credibility of information on SNS.
As reported earlier, about one fourth of the emerging adults were found to be reluctant in
using any form of social networking sites. When enquired about the reasons for not using
the SNS, more than half of the college students reported lack of interest on the SNS and
one third felt lack of time for accessing SNS. Table 3.7 explains the reasons for not using
Of the total 455 respondents, around 84.3 percent used internet facilities for other
and so on.
39
Table 3.7 Reasons for not using SNS
Table 3.8 describing the outcome variables self-esteem and social capital.
Self-esteem and social capital were considered as outcome variables. Bivariate analysis
was performed to find out the association between independent variables and outcome
variables. Self-esteem and social capital were measured using ordinal scale and this lead
and ―Kruskal Wallis‖ test were performed as bivariate analysis. P value less than 0.05
40
3.2.1 Self-esteem with predictor variables
esteem
Bivariate analysis of basic sample characteristics and self-esteem found that there was no
significant difference in self-esteem with age, sex, course undergoing and place of
respondents, results showed that self-esteem was more or less similar among emerging
adults irrespective of the education and the occupation of parents, family structure and
family income. But, there was a higher self-esteem among those who were self-supported
Sex
Male 194 29 17-40 0.954
Female 261 30 16-40
Course undergoing
Arts & Science 254 30 16-40 0.570
Engineering 138 29 20-39
Modern Medicine 63 29 20-40
Current residence
Day scholar 246 30 16-38 0.622
Resident in hostel 209 29 20-40
Permanent residence
Rural 342 29 16-40 0.542
Urban 012 30 21-38
Education of father
10 years of schooling 173 29 20-39
12 years of schooling 169 30 20-40 0.611
Graduation or above 112 29 16-38
41
Variables N Median Range p value
Education of mother
10 years of schooling 126 29 20-38
12 years of schooling 191 30 20-40 0.311
Graduation or above 136 30 16-40
Occupation of father
Govt.employee 68 29 16-37
Other type of employment 325 30 20-40 0.273
Abroad 34 28 17-40
No job 28 30 21-37
Occupation of mother
Govt.employee 42 29 24-35 0.941
Other type of employment 99 29 21-39
Abroad 12 30 17-34
No job 302 30 16-40
Family structure
Nuclear 430 30 16-40 0.637
Extended 25 29 24-35
In the respective study, it was found out that there was no statistically significant
difference in self-esteem among the users and non-users of social networking sites.
Therefore, further analysis had been done to find out the association of difference in the
pattern of usage with self-esteem. Pattern of usage includes which SNS are being used,
how emerging adults access SNS, the time and frequency spent on SNS, activities or
communication patterns and the average number of friends on SNS for an emerging adult.
42
The analysis depicted the fact that even though most of the students were using SNS
during evening and night time, self-esteem was more or less similar inspite of the
Apart from the above mentioned results, it was found that college students had been using
different gadgets and locations for accessing SNS. Among them, those who were using
laptops for accessing SNS showed statistically significant high self-esteem with p value
of 0.017. Besides that, the emerging adults with high self-esteem were reported to be
accessing SNS from home (p=0.004). The usage of various SNS and the different modes
of communication through SNS were found not to be associated with self-esteem in the
study.
In this study results showed that there is no statistical association between self-esteem and
the time spent on the SNS. Although self-esteem was more or less similar with number of
friends in the virtual world, those who were reported to have acquaintances of less than
43
3.2.1.4 Association of self-esteem with extent of interaction in the real world
According to the study, the number of friends in the real world and interaction with
friends in the real world were not statistically associated with the self-esteem of the
emerging adults.
3.2.1.5 Awareness about the credibility of information and bad experiences on SNS
with self-esteem of the emerging adults
The results of the analysis portrayed that self-esteem of the emerging adults was
statistically not associated with bad experiences on SNS. Those who had high self-esteem
harmonized with the statement that all the information on SNS was credible. The
emerging adults with high self-esteem claimed that inappropriate behaviours on SNS
bonding social capital with age. As per the analysis, bonding social capital was higher
among those who were less than 19 years of age (p= 0.029). The education and the
social capital (p=0.037 and p=0.026 respectively). Similarly, there was a significant
difference in the monthly house hold income and bonding social capital (p=0.028)
Accordingly, there was a significant difference noted in bridging social capital between
male and female emerging adults. Bridging social capital was found to be more among
males (p= 0.010). The occupation of the father and monthly household income were also
found to be associated with bridging social capital (p =0.041, p= 0.028). Table 3.11
44
Table 3.11: Association of socio-demographic characteristics with social capital
Sex
Male 188 19(7-35) 0.499 26(7-35) 0.010*
Female 156 18(7-31) 25(7-35)
Course undergoing
Arts & Science 177 18(7-35) 0.085 25(7-35) 0.361
Engineering 134 19(9-33) 26(10-35)
Modern Medicine 33 19(8-27) 25(11-35)
Current residence
Day scholar 180 18(7-35) 0.386 25(7-35) 0.115
Hostel 164 18(8-33) 26(10-36)
Permanent residence
Rural 250 18(7-35) 0.527 25(7-35) 0.592
Urban 86 18.50(7-31) 26(7-35)
* p <0.05
Although the generation of bonding social capital was not linked with engaging in a
unique kind of SNS, different modes of communication activities on the SNS were
observed to be significantly associated with bonding and bridging social capital. The
activities on SNS were made in two categories as emerging adults who were using more
3.12: describes the association of modes of communication on SNS with social capital.
with the manipulation of various types of SNS. The difference in the generation of
bridging social capital was statistically significant with the usage of Twitter (p =0.001),
45
WhatsApp (p=0.029) and Google plus (p=0.004). Bridging social capital was reported to
be high among the emerging adults who had started using SNS at younger ages (<16
years, p=0.003).
Table 3.13: describes the association of social capital with the extent of usage of SNS.
Although the total number of friends on the SNS was not related with the bonding social
capital, the time spending on SNS and close friends on SNS had an association with the
bonding social capital. It was noticed that those who were spending more minutes during
Similar to bonding social capital, bridging social capital was also statistically associated
with the time spent on the SNS. Furthermore, Bridging social capital was reported to be
higher among students who were spending 120 minutes or more on SNS during usual
holidays (p=0.008). It was also found that those emerging adults who were spending more
than 60 minutes in a day on SNS have more bridging as well as bonding capital. But this
relation was not statistically significant. Together with that, bridging social capital was
found to be more among emerging adults who had more friends on the SNS (p=0.001)
46
Table 3.13: Association SNS pattern of usage with social capital.
3.2.2.5 Association of extent of interaction in the real world with social capital
As per the bivariate analysis, bonding capital is higher for those who have more friends in
the real world but it is not statistically significant. However, the interaction with real life
47
In case of bridging social capital, those who were claimed to be spending too much time
contrary to bonding social capital it was also revealed that those who had less number of
friends in real world have more bridging social capital than others. But the association
Table 3.14: Association of extent of interaction in the real world with social capital
Binary logistic regression was done to find out the significant association of predictor
variables with self-esteem and social capital when adjusting for other variables. The
outcome variables were converted in to two categories above and below median in order
significantly associated with predictor variables when adjusted for other factors.
48
Table 3.15: Relation between bridging social capital and pattern of usage of SNS-
results of binary logistic regression analysis@
variables OR CI p value
Friends in SNS
<437 1
>=437 1.811 1.137-2.885 0.012*
Activities in
SNS#
Less 1
more 1.684 1.043-2.720 0.033*
Friends in real
world
<20 1
>=20 .498 0.307-0.810 0.005**
@Variables included in the model were number of friends in SNS, number of friends in
real-world, number of online only friends and activities in SNS, time spend on SNS; *
p<0.05; ** p< 0.01
The results were showing that bridging social capital is 1.8 times likely to be higher for
those who have more friends in SNS. Those who were engaging in SNS with more than
four types of communication activities were 1.7 times likely to have higher bridging
social capital than others. In case of friends in real world, those who reported less number
49
CHAPTER 4
DISCUSSION
This chapter depicts, in detail, the study findings and their implications comparing those
with that of the previous studies. The significant associations are discussed in detail.
Towards the end of this section, the strengths and limitations of the study are also
discussed.
The first objective of this study was to assess the pattern of usage of SNS among the
emerging adults. The analysis of this study shed visions into many interesting facts about
Although three fourth of the respondents were reported to be using SNS (75.8%), the
percentage was slightly less that of the other studies. Evidently, the studies done in India
reported that more than 80 percent of the emerging adults were spending time on SNS
(Manjunatha, 2013). The studies from the Western countries reported that between 85-95
percent of emerging adults were fond of using SNS (Steinfeild et al., 2008). The possible
reason might be the age, socio demographic characteristics and cultural differences. The
majority of the related studies were carried out in big cities and urban areas. This study
was done in a small district in Kerala, where 95 percent of the areas were under the rural
jurisdiction (Census, 2011). It might be the reason for having less SNS users than that of
the other studies. Moreover, In order to compare the findings there were no published
studies available describing the pattern of usage of SNS among emerging adults in the
context of Kerala.
From the study, it was found out that male students were accessing SNS more than that of
the female students. As a whole, more than half of the emerging adults were accessing
50
SNS via smart phones. These results suggesting the penetration of smart phones into the
emerging adulthood population and how these devices helped overcome the hurdles in
accessing SNS. These findings were in consistent with other studies reporting the smart
phone penetration eases the SNS accessibility (Wu et al., 2013;Watkins et.al.,2012; Youth
The present study found that Facebook was the most browsed SNS among the emerging
adults. The findings were in confirmation with the studies done in India (Manjunatha,
The time spent on Social Networking Sites varied with sex, weekdays and weekends. On
an average, an emerging adult spent 60 minutes on SNS per day (120 minutes in a usual
weekend day and 30 minutes in usual week days). These findings were in accord with the
report published by The Internet and mobile association of India 2014. Being reported,
young adults spent more than 300 minutes on SNS on an average week (Internet and
mobile association of India, 2014). Youth survey in India (2014) recorded emerging
adults in India spent an average 30 to 60 minutes on SNS per day. On the flip side, as per
the study done in China, the SNS usage among the emerging adults was ranging from 30
minutes to 120 minutes per day (Chang et.al., 2014). At the same time, in our study the
emerging adults were found to be accessing SNS several times a day with an average of 2
The results of our study brought the fact that males were spending more time on SNS.
Over and above, the motivational factors and concern about privacy matters might cause
the difference in the usage of SNS between male and female students (Shin, 2010).
51
Paradoxically, the Youth survey in India (2014) reported that 72 percent of Indian
students were accessing more than one form of SNS. It could also be elucidated that about
61 percent of emerging adults were accessing more than one form of SNS. Among the 61
percent, around 74 percent of male students had accounts on more than one SNS. Even
though in total it was 61 percent less as per youth survey, in case of male students it was
From our study it is also noted that the maximum time consumption on the SNS in a day
was concentrated after 4PM to 12 AM with a peak noted at the 7PM to 9 PM. But,
Sponcil and Gitimu (2012) concluded in their study which was conducted in USA that the
While taking an account on the communication pattern of the samples, reading posts and
liking posts of others were the most reported activities among the emerging adults. Less
than half of the respondents said they were using SNS for status and profile updates,
commenting and posting videos or photos. Majority affirmed that they had doubts about
the credibility of information on SNS. This implied that they were conscious about the
information on SNS. It could be assumed that the emerging adults might be using these
social tools as a medium to get rid of their boredom and loneliness (Wilson et al., 2012).
The size of the network varied greatly among male and female students. The present
study found out that on an average, an SNS user had 437 friends. Contrastingly, the
studies from other countries reported around an average of 150 to 400 friends (Jagero and
Muriithi, 2013; Sponcil and Gitimu, 2012). In addition, Youth survey in India (2014)
52
described an average number of friends in SNS was 120. The reason for this difference
might be the fact that the present study counted the emerging adults‘ total number of
friends in all SNS they reported to be using while, majority of other studies focused only
methodology such as close friends, acquaintances and online only friends. Even then, the
average number of friends in all these categories had been found to be more among
males. Male students reported more number of ‗online only friends‘ than their female
counter parts. This result implied the fact that male students were using these networks
not only for maintaining relationships but also for establishing new relationships
(Valkenberg and Peter, 2007). The average number of social friends for an SNS user was
reported to be 35 in our study. From the analysis it was found that the number of friends
and contacts for an emerging adult was more on SNS than the same in real life. These
findings were also supported by a cross-national comparison study done in India and
USA. The aforesaid study concluded that Indian students had more online friends than
Ellison et al. found in their study conducted in Michigan state university that emerging
adults with lower self-esteem may benefit more from SNS than others with high self-
esteem (Ellison et al., 2007). In our study we found that the usage and non-usage of SNS
were not related with the self-esteem of the emerging adults. In the further analysis, it was
evident that the self-esteem of the emerging adults was not influenced by the difference in
the pattern of usage of SNS. Yet, it was in contrast with the studies which reviewed that
53
A study done in Netherland uncovered the fact that the frequency of feedback of others
et al., 2006). Manago et al. (2013) concluded that the number of friends in SNS is
positively associated with self-esteem. Likewise, a study conducted in New York found
that the self-presentation on SNS enhanced the self-esteem (Mehdizadeh, 2010). But the
present study was not in accord with these results. As per this study, the number of
friends on SNS as well as the number of friends in real life was not associated with self-
esteem. These results were also in contrast with the studies which reported that more
number of face to face friends were associated with high self-esteem (Ryan et al., 1994;
Even though the present study couldn‘t trace the Pattern of usage of SNS and the
difference in self-esteem among the users, those who had high self-esteem claimed that
all the information on SNS was credible. This is in agreement with a qualitative study
conducted in USA found that the people with high self-esteem were likely to report
positive aspects of the SNS (Denti et al., 2012; Krämer and Winter, 2008).
Our findings supported the findings from Sweden and Germany that SNS usage were not
related with self-esteem among the emerging adults (Krämer and Winter, 2008). A major
problem inherent in the measure of self-esteem was found to be the extent at which self-
might be one of reasons why the present study results seldom supported that SNS usage
It could be agreed that social relationship played a beneficial role in the maintenance of
psychological well-being (Kawachi and Berkman, 2001). In the light of the present study,
the pattern of usage of SNS seemed to be influencing the generation of bonding as well as
54
bridging capital. The thorough observations, at the same time, convinced that the SNS
usage was closely related to the generation of bridging social capital (Steinfield et al.,
2008). The present study supported the fact that SNS help in the generation of bridging
social capital apart from assisting the emerging adults to maintain relationship with large
heterogeneous type network and explained why bridging capital was more in them. It was
also evidenced that those emerging adults with large network were likely to have more
bridging capital. Our findings were in agreement with Ellison et al. (2007) that SNS usage
was strongly associated with bridging social capital (Steinfield et al., 2008). Yet another
interesting aspect of the present study was that in case of real world, the bridging capital
was noticed to be more for those who had less number of friends that was in contrast with
the number of friends in the virtual world. In fact, no studies reported such findings
anywhere in the world. Form the analysis it is evident that those who reported less
number of friends in real life had more friends in SNS. This might be the reason for this
finding. In short, these results were substantiating the significance of SNS in social
capital formation.
To our knowledge, there were no published studies in India about SNS and social capital.
The findings of the study were similar to the studies conducted in the developed nations.
Unlike the other studies, the present study established the fact that the time spent in an
average day on SNS was not related with the generation of any kind of social capital
(Ellison et al., 2007; Phua and Jin, 2011). Despite that, when compared with the amount
of time spent on usual holidays and weekdays, it was quite observable that those who
were spending more than 120 minutes on holidays had more bridging capital. Also, the
study found that male students had more bridging social capital than the female ones. The
outcome of the study brought about the trend that males were spending longer on SNS
and their total number of friends on SNS was also higher. The number of friends and the
55
time spent on SNS were directly related to the generation of social capital (Ellison et al.,
2007, Williams 2006). Moreover, the emerging adults who were immersed with SNS with
more number of activities were found to have more social capital than others. Similarly,
bridging capital was also found to be more for those who were using SNS from younger
ages. There were also evidences that those who initiated SNS in the younger years had
more friends than others. Furthermore, a longitudinal study done in USA concluded that
SNS help one widen the relationships (Steinfield et al., 2008). Perhaps, it might be the
It was further identified that the number of friends on SNS and the time spent on SNS
were not related with the bonding social capital. But, on the other hand, those who were
dealing SNS with more number of activities and those who were reported more close
friends in SNS had more bonding social capital. This was suggesting that emerging adults
were using SNS for maintaining and interacting with close relationships and in touch with
The study done by Steinfield et al. (2008) claimed that there exists a relationship between
self-esteem and social capital formation. The study further mentioned that emerging
adults with high self-esteem are free to maintain relationship with weak ties and therefore
their bridging capital may also be high (Steinfield et al., 2008). We couldn‘t find any
correlation between self-esteem and social capital in our study. So our findings are in
contrast with the above mentioned study results. The median score for self-esteem is
relatively higher for Steinfield et al. (2008) and they had used only seven components
from Rosenberg self-esteem scale when compared with the present study. These might
56
4.5 Limitations of the study
Genuinely, the present study had some limitations. First of all, the data were collected
subjected to biased responses and incorrect estimates. The second one was that the study
captured the pattern of usage of SNS in the areas of time spent on usual holidays and
working days, the number of friends and the frequency of accessing SNS. This would
have been better if we have done a validation on a subsample. Since it was a cross-
The data were collected from the students of various streams with an aim to represent the
emerging adulthood population in the Idukki district. Another major strength of the
present study was the self-esteem and social capital, the outcome variables, which were
assessed with validated scales. Well above all, the data collection and analysis were done
entirely by a single investigator to lessen bias and errors. High response rate was another
57
CHAPTER 5
Ultimately, among the study respondents, about three-fourth of emerging adults accessed
SNS. Among them, half accessed them via their smart phones. There was also a
difference in access among men and women. Along with that, the study could
differentiate a high usage of the social networking sites- the future media for
place for the youth to share their thoughts, through which they could gain some benefits.
The same had been discussed as social capital in the study. As a net result, the hike in the
trend was not much different from other countries. Also, the social network interactions
were not contributing to the self-esteem among the study participants. This suggested that
the importance of social networking site usage was not directly contributing to self-
esteem. However, the association with social capital was very interesting. The utilization
of social networking sites contributed to social capital formation among the emerging
adults. This was very much true for bridging capital rather than the bonding.
In addition to what had been identified, the prolong usage of social networks suggested
that the emerging adults were more influenced by the modern media, which ultimately
affect their interactions and socialization process, enabling them in their social capital
formation.
In reality, the study was conducted timely as the new media were slowly taking over the
interactions among the emerging adults. The study would be an initial one, conducted
among the emerging adults in the state of Kerala. Hopefully, this necessitated the policy
makers to shift their attention to the new merging media for letting them reach the youth.
58
As such, the common problems found in Kerala such as drug addiction, life style
diseases, mental disorders and other problems among the youth might be approached
through these media. Future studies might focus on general population and other
In an ultimate analysis, there were a number of studies published in the area of usage of
TV in 1980s. Similar studies were not being conducted on the social network usage in the
recent past. Hence, this needs to be given paramount importance in the near future.
59
REFERENCES
Adler PS and Kwon S-W (2002) Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of
management review 27(1): 17–40.
Amichai-Hamburger Y, Wainapel G and Fox S (2002) ‗On the Internet No One Knows
I‘m an Introvert‘: Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Internet Interaction.
CyberPsychology & Behavior 5(2): 125–128.
Anand V (2007) A Study of Time Management: The Correlation between Video Game
Usage and Academic Performance Markers. CyberPsychology & Behavior 10(4):
552–559.
Arnett JJ (2000) Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens
through the twenties. American Psychologist 55(5): 469–480.
Arnett JJ (2006) Emerging Adulthood: Understanding the New Way of Coming of Age.
Available from: http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2005-16266-001 (accessed 22
October 2015).
Arnett JJ (2007) Emerging Adulthood: What Is It, and What Is It Good For? Child
Development Perspectives 1(2): 68–73.
Arnett JJ (2014) Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through
the Twenties. Oxford University Press.
Barker V (2009) Older Adolescents‘ Motivations for Social Network Site Use: The
Influence of Gender, Group Identity, and Collective Self-Esteem.
CyberPsychology & Behavior 12(2): 209–213.
Best P, Manktelow R and Taylor B (2014) Online communication, social media and
adolescent wellbeing: a systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services
Review 41: 27–36.
Bicen H and Cavus N (2011) Social network sites usage habits of undergraduate students:
case study of Facebook. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, World
Conference on Educational Technology Researches - 2011 28: 943–947.
60
Boyd DM and Ellison NB (2007) Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1): 210–230.
Brady SS (2007) Young adults‘ media use and attitudes toward interpersonal and
institutional forms of aggression. Aggressive Behavior 33(6): 519–525.
Burke M, Marlow C and Lento T (2010) Social network activity and social well-being.
In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing
systems, ACM, pp. 1909–1912. Available from:
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1753613 (accessed 22 October 2015).
Carroll JS, Padilla-Walker LM, Nelson LJ, et al. (2008) Generation XXX Pornography
Acceptance and Use Among Emerging Adults. Journal of Adolescent Research
23(1): 6–30.
Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India
(n.d.). Available from: http://censusindia.gov.in/ (accessed 16 October 2015).
Coleman JS (1988) Social capital in the creation of human capital. American journal of
sociology: S95–S120.
Correa T, Hinsley AW and de Zúñiga HG (2010) Who interacts on the Web?: The
intersection of users‘ personality and social media use. Computers in Human
Behavior 26(2): 247–253.
Das B and Sahoo JS (2011) Social networking sites–a critical analysis of its impact on
personal and social life. International Journal of Business and Social Science
2(14): 222–228.
61
Denti L, Barbopoulos I, Nilsson I, et al. (2012) Sweden‟ s largest facebook study,
Gothenburg research Institute Report, University of Gothenburg.
Digital, Social & Mobile Worldwide in 2015 / We Are Social (2015). Available from:
http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/
(accessed 10 September 2015).
Digital India: Kerala‘s Idukki becomes first district to join National Optic Fibre Network
(2015). Available from: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-
13/news/58024200_1_first-district-digital-india-idukki (accessed 16 March 2015).
DiMaggio P, Hargittai E, Neuman WR, et al. (2001) Social Implications of the Internet.
Annual Review of Sociology 27: 307–336.
Duggan M, Ellison NB, Lampe C, et al. (2014) Social Media Update 2014. Pew Research
Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available from:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/ (accessed 26
October 2015).
Dunlop SM, More E and Romer D (2011) Where do youth learn about suicides on the
Internet, and what influence does this have on suicidal ideation? Journal of child
psychology and psychiatry 52(10): 1073–1080.
Eke Miss HN, Obiora C and Odoh Miss JN (2014) The Use of Social Networking Sites
among the Undergraduate Students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Available
from: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1195/ (accessed 15 October
2015).
Ellison NB and Boyd D (2013) Sociality through social network sites. Oxford University
Press Oxford, 156-157. Available from:
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zXryMw4uVPoC&oi=fnd&pg=
PA151&dq=Chapter%09+++8.%09+++Sociality%09+++through%09+++Social
%09+++Network%09+++Sites%09++++Nicole%09+++B.%09+++Ellison%09++
+and%09+++danah%09+++b&ots=S7wkMA-h3s&sig=Kt-
ot1D55LixhQfqMOXxqq8NfXs (accessed 22 October 2015).
Ellison NB, Steinfield C and Lampe C (2007) The Benefits of Facebook ‗Friends:‘ Social
Capital and College Students‘ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication 12(4): 1143–1168.
Ellison NB and Boyad D (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history, and
scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1): 210–230.
Ellison NB, Lampe C and Steinfield C (2009) FEATURE Social network sites and
society: current trends and future possibilities. interactions 16(1): 6–9.
Ellison NB, Steinfield C and Lampe C (2011) Connection Strategies: Social Capital
Implications of Facebook-enabled Communication Practices. New Media &
Society: 1461444810385389.
62
Fox FE, Morris M and Rumsey N (2007) Doing synchronous online focus groups with
young people methodological reflections. Qualitative Health Research 17(4):
539–547.
Galambos NL, Barker ET and Krahn HJ (2006) Depression, self-esteem, and anger in
emerging adulthood: seven-year trajectories. Developmental psychology 42(2):
350.
Global Web Index‘s quarterly report on the latest trends in social networking (2015) GWI
social Q3 2015 Available from:
http://www.globalwebindex.net/hubfs/Reports/GWI_Social_Report_-
_Q3_2015_Summary.pdf?t=1445873878134&utm_campaign=Insight+Reports&u
tm_source=hs_automation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=22078263&_hsen
c=p2ANqtz-9FjPQeZ6
_BUcyb_4vItRncsxWCM2Sq8XNPKyS_rtFz3A8ckKqpjgecp-
4YLeD6XZHwwsoK2LZSR39M6jRt-4bLNbtfA&_hsmi=22078263 (accessed 12
September 2015).
Helliwell JF, Putnam RD and others (2004) The social context of well-being.
Philosophical transactions-royal society of London series B biological sciences:
1435–1446.
India Digital Marketing Statistics - 2015 - The Digital Marketing Blog (2015). Available
from: http://thedigitalmarketingblog.in/2015/02/india-digital-marketing-statistics-
2015/ (accessed 26 October 2015).
Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report - Khan Study Group - The Best
IAS Coaching Institute for General Studies and CSAT in India (2014). Available
from: http://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-
aspirants/16075-internet-and-mobile-association-of-india-iamai-report (accessed
26 October 2015).
Internet & Social Media Usage among youth in India (2014) Mcafee Report -
indiafacts.in. Available from: http://indiafacts.in/report/internet-social-media-
usage-among-youth-india-mcafee-report/ (accessed 26 October 2015).
Jacobsen WC and Forste R (2010) The Wired Generation: Academic and Social
Outcomes of Electronic Media Use Among University Students.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 14(5): 275–280.
63
Jagero N and Muriithi MK (2013) Extent of Social Networking Sites Usage of Students in
Private Universities in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. International Journal of
Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences 2(3): 76.
Kaplan AM and Haenlein M (2010) Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons 53(1): 59–68.
Kawachi DI and Berkman DLF (2001) Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban
Health 78(3): 458–467.
Kietzmann JH, Hermkens K, McCarthy IP, et al. (2011) Social media? Get serious!
Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons,
SPECIAL ISSUE: SOCIAL MEDIA 54(3): 241–251.
Kim J, LaRose R and Peng W (2009) Loneliness as the cause and the effect of
problematic Internet use: The relationship between Internet use and psychological
well-being. CyberPsychology & Behavior 12(4): 451–455.
Kontos EZ, Emmons KM, Puleo E, et al. (2010) Communication Inequalities and Public
Health Implications of Adult Social Networking Site Use in the United States.
Journal of health communication 15(Suppl 3): 216–235.
Krämer NC and Winter S (2008) Impression management 2.0: The relationship of self-
esteem, extraversion, self-efficacy, and self-presentation within social networking
sites. Journal of Media Psychology 20(3): 106–116.
Kuss DJ and Griffiths MD (2011) Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review
of the Psychological Literature. International Journal of Environmental Research
and Public Health 8(9): 3528–3552.
Lai LS and Turban E (2008) Groups formation and operations in the Web 2.0
environment and social networks. Group Decision and Negotiation 17(5): 387–
402.
Lanthier Richard P and Windham RC (2004) Internet use and college adjustment: the
moderating role of gender. Computers in Human Behavior 20(5): 591–606.
Lazer D, Pentland A (Sandy), Adamic L, et al. (2009) Life in the network: the coming age
of computational social science. Science (New York, N.Y.) 323(5915): 721–723.
Lenhart A, Purcell K, Smith A, et al. (2010) Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among
Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Available from: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED525056 (accessed 22 October 2015).
64
Luxton DD, June JD and Fairall JM (2012) Social Media and Suicide: A Public Health
Perspective. American Journal of Public Health 102(S2): S195–S200.
Mahajan P (2009) Use of social networking in a linguistically and culturally rich India.
The International Information & Library Review 41(3): 129–136.
Manago AM, Taylor T and Greenfield PM (2012) Me and my 400 friends: the anatomy of
college students‘ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-
being. Developmental Psychology 48(2): 369–380.
Marshall BA, Cardon PW, Norris DT, et al. (2008) Social networking websites in India
and the United States: A cross-national comparison of online privacy and
communication. Issues in Information Systems, IX 2: 87–94.
Mislove A, Marcon M, Gummadi KP, et al. (2007) Measurement and analysis of online
social networks. In: Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCOMM conference on
Internet measurement, ACM, pp. 29–42. Available from:
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1298311 (accessed 22 October 2015).
Myer L, Stein DJ, Grimsrud A, et al. (2008) Social determinants of psychological distress
in a nationally-representative sample of South African adults. Social science &
medicine (1982) 66(8): 1828–1840.
National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of home affairs (2014) Crime in India
compendium 2013. Available from: http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-
CII2013/compendium%202013.pdf accessed (10 September 2015)
Nelson LJ and Barry CM (2005) Distinguishing features of emerging adulthood the role
of self-classification as an adult. Journal of Adolescent Research 20(2): 242–262.
Nelson LJ, Badger S and Wu B (2004) The influence of culture in emerging adulthood:
Perspectives of Chinese college students. International Journal of Behavioral
Development 28(1): 26–36.
Nieminen T, Prättälä R, Martelin T, et al. (2013) Social capital, health behaviours and
health: a population-based associational study. BMC Public Health 13: 613.
Norris P (2004) The bridging and bonding role of online communities. Thousand Oaks,
California: Sage Publications.
65
O‘Dea B and Campbell A (2012) Online social networking and the experience of cyber-
bullying. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 181: 212–217.
O‘Keeffe GS, Clarke-Pearson K and others (2011) The impact of social media on
children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics 127(4): 800–804.
O‘Reilly T (2007) What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next
generation of software. Communications & strategies (1): 17.
O‘Reilly T (2009) What is web 2.0. O‘Reilly Media, Inc. Available from:
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NpEk_WFCMdIC&oi=fnd&pg=
PT3&dq=features+of+web+2.0&ots=OYPDPahDDT&sig=F1t1Xofjy9G97tDFOp
JcsomkPCA (accessed 22 October 2015).
Padilla-Walker LM, Nelson LJ, Carroll JS, et al. (2009) More Than a Just a Game: Video
Game and Internet Use During Emerging Adulthood. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence 39(2): 103–113.
Patel V, Flisher Alan J, Hetrick S, et al. (2007) Mental health of young people: a global
public-health challenge. The Lancet 369(9569): 1302–1313.
Phua J and Jin S-AA (2011) ‗Finding a home away from home‘: the use of social
networking sites by Asia-Pacific students in the United States for bridging and
bonding social capital. Asian Journal of Communication 21(5): 504–519.
Putnam RD (2001) Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community.
Simon and Schuster ,22-23 Available from:
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rd2ibodep7UC&oi=fnd&pg=PA
13&dq=++putnam,+R.+D.+(2000).+Bowling+Alone+.+New+York:+Simon+%26
+Schuster&ots=G4HcrXspWZ&sig=Pg1HQv6hk5bqUo8VDOvLtKiHfAc
(accessed 22 October 2015).
Reis HT, Collins WA and Berscheid E (2000) The relationship context of human
behavior and development. Psychological bulletin 126(6): 844.
Rideout VJ, Foehr UG and Roberts DF (2010) Generation M [superscript 2]: Media in the
Lives of 8-to 18-Year-Olds. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Available from:
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED527859 (accessed 22 October 2015).
66
Riumallo-Herl CJ, Kawachi I and Avendano M (2014) Social capital, mental health and
biomarkers in Chile: Assessing the effects of social capital in a middle-income
country. Social science & medicine (1982) 105: 47–58.
Roberts DF, Foehr UG and Rideout V (2011) Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8–18
Year-Olds. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; 2005.
Robins RW, Trzesniewski KH, Tracy JL, et al. (2002) Global self-esteem across the life
span. Psychology and aging 17(3): 423.
Ryan T, Chester A, Reece J, et al. (2014) The uses and abuses of Facebook: A review of
Facebook addiction. Journal of Behavioral Addictions 3(3): 133–148.
Smartphone Users Around the World - Statistics and Facts [Infographic] (2012) Web
Design Dubai - Dubai Web Design and Web Application Development Company.
Available from: http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/smartphone/ (accessed 10
September 2015).
Shaw LH and Gant LM (2002) In defense of the Internet: The relationship between
Internet communication and depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and perceived
social support. CyberPsychology & Behavior 5(2): 157–171.
Shin D-H (2010) The effects of trust, security and privacy in social networking: A
security-based approach to understand the pattern of adoption. Interacting with
Computers 22(5): 428–438.
Sponcil M and Gitimu P (2012) Use of social media by college students: Relationship to
communication and self-concept. Journal of Technology Research 4: 16–28.
Steinfield C, Ellison NB and Lampe C (2008) Social capital, self-esteem, and use of
online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology, Social Networking on the InternetDevelopmental
Implications 29(6): 434–445.
Subrahmanyam K, Reich SM, Waechter N, et al. (2008) Online and offline social
networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology, Social Networking on the InternetDevelopmental
Implications 29(6): 420–433.
67
Valenzuela S, Park N and Kee KF (2009) Is There Social Capital in a Social Network
Site?: Facebook Use and College Students‘ Life Satisfaction, Trust, and
Participation1. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14(4): 875–901.
Valkenburg PM, Peter J and Schouten AP (2006) Friend networking sites and their
relationship to adolescents‘ well-being and social self-esteem. CyberPsychology
& Behavior 9(5): 584–590.
Watkins J, Kitner KR and Mehta D (2012) Mobile and smartphone use in urban and rural
India. Continuum 26(5): 685–697.
Wellman B (2001) Physical place and cyberplace: The rise of personalized networking.
International journal of urban and regional research 25(2): 227–252.
Williams D (2006) On and off the‘Net: Scales for social capital in an online era. Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication 11(2): 593–628.
Wilson RE, Gosling SD and Graham LT (2012) A review of Facebook research in the
social sciences. Perspectives on psychological science 7(3): 203–220.
Wu AMS, Cheung VI, Ku L, et al. (2013) Psychological risk factors of addiction to social
networking sites among Chinese smartphone users. Journal of Behavioral
Addictions 2(3): 160–166.
68
ANNEXURE I
1 A* 12 38 50 4 11 15
2 B* 2 48 50 1 14 15
3 C* - 50 50 - 15 15
4 D* 157 99 256 45 28 73
6 F# 17 51 68 5 15 20
7 G# 79 67 146 22 18 40
8 H@ 64 124 188 17 33 50
9 I@ 50 39 89 14 11 25
* Modern medicine (includes students from medical college, nursing college and dental
college), # students from arts and science stream, @ students from engineering stream.
ANNEXURE II
Sl. NO:
ID NO:
INFORMATION SHEET
Hello, I am Athulya Thomas, Master of Public Health (MPH) scholar at Achutha Menon
Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and
Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. As a part of my curriculum, I am conducting a study
to find out the influence of social networking sites usage on the development of self -
esteem and social capital formation among emerging adults. I request you to spend some
time & participate in the study, which will take 20-30 minutes time. For the study, I have
designed a questionnaire asking your responses on the pattern of usage of social
networking sites, self-esteem and social capital.
There might not be any direct benefit for you individually by participating in this study, it
is possible that the findings of the study will enhance scientific knowledge and may
enable to develop policies related to young adults. I therefore, request you to participate
in this study. Your participation in the study is purely voluntary and you can withdraw
from the study at any point of time, and refusal to participate will not involve any form of
penalty.
I would like to assure you that all the information shared with me will be kept
confidential and will only be used for research purpose. Your personal identity will not
reveal to anyone. If you have any questions about this study, you may contact me through
the following details. For additional queries, you may contact the Member Secretary,
Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of SCTIMST.
Thanking you.
Athulya Thomas
SL NO:
ID NO:
CONSENT FORM
I have read the details in the information sheet. The purpose of the study and my
involvement in the study has been explained to me. I understood that the participation in
this study is purely voluntary. In addition, I understand that my identity and personal
information will be kept confidential. I knew that I can withdraw my participation at any
time during the interview without any explanation. I have also been informed who should
be contacted for further clarifications.
Place: ...........................
QUESTIONNAIRE
SERIAL NUMBER :
PLACE: …………………………………………
1. Please read all the questions and answer each question by a tick mark () as your response
in the most appropriate box
2. Write your answers in words in the blank spaces provided if needed.
3. Do not need to write your name on the questionnaire.
4. Please see the instruction column provided for specific instructions to particular questions.
3. After filling the questionnaire, please check and ensure that you have answered all the
questions.
Page 1 of 9
SECTION A
SL QUESTIONS RESPONSES INSTRUCTIONS
NO:
I SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
1 What is your age (in completed
years) Years
2 Sex 1. Male
2. Female
Page 2 of 9
7 Family structure: 1. Nuclear family
Nuclear: parents and siblings only 2. Extended family
Extended: parents, siblings,
grandparents or any others.
8 Family income 1.<5000/month
2 .5001-10000/month
3.10001-25000/month
4. 25001-50000/month
5. >50001/month
9 On whom are you depend for daily 1. Income by self
expenses?
2. Father’s income
3. Mother’s income
4. Scholorships
5.Others
(specify)…………..
…………………………….
II GENERAL INFORMATION –SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (SNS) MEMBERSHIP
Social networking sites (SNS): Social networking sites are web-based services that allow
individuals to create a public profile, to create a list of users with whom to share connections, and
interact with other users with different forms of communication methods like chatting,
messaging, sharing photos and videos.
…………………
Are you registered with any of the
10 SNS?
(such as face book, twitter, 1. Yes 2. No
LinkedIn, Google +, whats-app,
others)
11 Have you ever used any of the 1. Yes 2. No
SNS?
12 Have you used any of the SNS in 1. Yes 2. No
the past 12 months?
13 Have you used any of the SNS in If yes, please go
the last 30 days? to14.
1. Yes 2. No If no, please go to
38.
Page 3 of 9
14 Please select the SNS which you Multiple options
have been using for 1 month or 1. Face book ( yes / no) can select.
more 2. Twitter ( yes / no)
1. Face book 3. Whats-app ( yes / no)
2. Twitter 4. Google + ( yes / no)
3. Whats-app 5. LinkedIn ( yes / no)
4. Google + 6. Others (specify)
5. LinkedIn ……………….
6. Others (specify ……………………………….
……………………………..
15 How old were you when first used
SNS (age in years)? years
III GENERAL INFORMATION –SNS USAGE
1. Smart phones Multiple options
16 Please specify the devices you are ( yes / no) can select.
using for accessing SNS 2. Tablets ( yes / no)
3. Lap tops ( yes / no)
4. Desktops ( yes / no)
5. Others
1 ………………………
2 ………………………
3 ………………………
17 From where do you get access to 1. College ( yes / no) Multiple options
SNS? 2. Home ( yes / no) can select.
3. Hostel ( yes / no)
4. Internet café ( yes / no)
5. Others
1 ………………………….
2 ………………………….
18 Who is your internet service Multiple options
provider? (BSNL/Airtel/Vodafone ……………………………. can select.
etc )
19 In a month, how much do you
approximately spend on SNS usage …………………Rs./month
charges?
IV SNS USAGE PATTERN
20 How many hours did you usually
spend on SNS on holidays? ……hours……………minutes
21 How many hours did you spend on
SNS last Sunday? ……hours……………minutes
22 How many hours did you usually
spend in SNS on working days? ……hours……………minutes
23 How many hours did you spend in
SNS on last working day? ……hours……………minutes
Page 4 of 9
24 How many times did you use SNS
last working day? ………………………………
……
25 How many times did you use SNS
last Sunday? ………………………………
……
26 During last three days, What were 1. Chatting More than one
the activities you did on SNS? 2. Messaging answer you can
3. reading timeline posts select
4. Sharing photos, videos
5. Profile updates
6. Status updates
7. Liking wall posts
8. Commenting
9. group messaging
10.Others(specify)
1 ……………………………
2 ……………………………
3 …………………………
27 When is your maximum SNS usage 1. Early Morning
hours concentrated on weekdays? 2. Morning
Early morning(12.00am-6.00am) 3. Afternoon
Morning (6.00am- 12.00pm) 4. Evening
Afternoon(12.00pm-4.00pm) 5. Night
Evening (4.00pm-7.00pm) 6. Late night
Night (7.00pm-9.00am)
Late night (9.00pm-12.00am)
28 If you are using
How many friends do you have in multiple sites, add
SNS? number of friends
in each sites and
(please confirm with SNS profile if then report.
possible)
29 Categorize the number of friends (please confirm
you have in SNS according to the 1.Close friends with SNS profile if
following categories possible)
2.Acquaintances
Close friends: best friends,
very good friends, good 3.Online only friends
friends, family, relatives.
Acquaintances:
schoolmates, college mates,
met only once friends.
Online only friends: Do not
know in real life.
Page 5 of 9
30 Do you think the information 1. Yes 2. No If yes, go to 32
provided in the SNS are always If no, go to 31
true? 3. Don’t know
Page 6 of 9
39 If yes, what was the purpose?
1. Study purposes
2. Browsing
3. Mailing
4.Others (specify)
1 ……………………….
2 ……………………….
3 ……………………….
42 Why you are not using SNS? 1. 1.I am not interested in If 2 coded in
having an account in SNS. Question numbers
2. I think it is useless 10, 11 12, or 13.
3. I am afraid about misuse
of information in SNS
4. My parents not allowed
using SNS.
5. I have no time to spend
on SNS
6. I do not like to disclose
my personal information.
7. others (specify)
………………………………
………………………………
………………………………
Page 7 of 9
SECTION B
General Instructions:
1. Please read the questions and put a tick mark ( ) on the appropriate response column as
your response.
SECTION B.1
SL QUESTIONS RESPONSES
NO
strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
1 On the whole, I am satisfied with myself
Page 8 of 9
SECTION C
SL QUESTIONS RESPONSES
NO
1 2 3 4 5.
strongly disagree Neutral agree Strongly
disagree agree
1 Interacting with people online makes me
interested in things that happen outside of
my town.
2 Interacting with people online/offline makes
me want to try new things.
Page 9 of 9
ANNEXURE V
ANNEXURE VI
ANNEXURE VII