The Influence of Social Media Usage, Body Appreciation, Sociocultural Attitudes on Personality Functioning Among Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explain the predictive relationship of social media usage, body appreciation, sociocultural attitudes towards appearance on personality functioning of adolescents. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data through purposive sampling technique from 270 adolescents studying in different educational institutions of Islamabad. Respondents include 134 females and 136 males with age ranged from 11 to 20 years (M=16.44, SD=1.97). Data on study variables was collected through standardized instruments that was further analyzed by using the SPSS 25 version. The results of the Pearson Moment Correlation Analysis showed that social media usage and sociocultural attitudes are negatively associated with body appreciation among females. Sociocultural attitudes are positively related to impaired personality functioning among female adolescents, whereas for males, social media usage and sociocultural attitudes are positively related with impaired personality functioning. Body appreciation showed a negative relation with impaired personality functioning among males only. For further explanation at subscale level, the results of the Stepwise Multiple Linear Regression Analysis showed that muscular internalization and body appreciation predict sense of self among female adolescents, whereas among male adolescents, pressure from significant others, body appreciation, Instagram usage, muscular and thin internalization predict sense of self. Pressure from significant others predicts interpersonal contact among female adolescents, whereas among male adolescents, body appreciation, thin and muscular internalization, and peer pressure predict interpersonal contact. For relationship model, among female adolescents, muscular internalization and pressure from significant others were main predictors, whereas pressure from media, Instagram and snapchat usage, thin internalization and body appreciation predict relationship model among male adolescents. The findings of the One-Way ANOVA demonstrated that early adolescents scored high on impaired personality functioning as compared to other groups. The study informs that social media usage and body appreciation is main concern for impaired personality functioning among male adolescents and socio-cultural attitudes predict impairment in all domains of personality functioning. Thus, it is important to promote body appreciation development, positive self-esteem, and open communication among adolescents.