Psychology Report

Project Description:

For my Research Methods and Statistics module, I was requested to conduct a research study about the effects of social media usage on the happiness of males and females. This was an individual project, assigned during my second year.

Problem Statement:

Title: How does social media use influence happiness levels and the subjective well-being of its users?

In the era of widespread social media use, concerns have emerged about its influence on individual happiness, prompting the need for a gender-specific exploration. 

This research addresses the gap in understanding how social media affects the happiness of males and females differently. By employing surveys, interviews, and content analysis, the study aims to identify unique patterns and factors contributing to happiness outcomes within each gender. 

Learning Objectives:

For this study some of the learning objectives employed included:

• Acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the key dynamics of social media engagement.

• Porficiency in applying mixed-method research techniques.

• Demonstrating an understanding of ethical considerations when conducting research.

Learner Outcomes:

Throughout this study some of the key findings included:

• Understanding the key dynamics of social media engagement, including social comparison, cyberbullying, online social support, and self-presentation.

• Analysing existing literature to critically evaluate how males and females respond differently to social media interactions in terms of happiness and well-being.

• Applying mixed-methods research techniques, including surveys, interviews, and content analysis, to investigate the distinct effects of social media on the happiness levels of males and females.

• Demonstrating an understanding of ethical considerations in conducting research on social media, including privacy concerns, consent, and responsible data handling.

This study investigates whether social media use has a notable effect on the happiness levels of males, females, and non-binary people. This research has been guided by evaluating the relationship between happiness levels in males and females and their corresponding social media usage. This study was conducted by applying quantitative research based on a survey questionnaire. In total, 424 participants were surveyed via Microsoft Forms.  

Descriptive Statistics 

The sum of the participants is (N=424). The sample as a whole was relatively young (M=20.89, SD=4.57). 6 of the participants did not answer age. 37.5% of the participants are males, 54.2% are female, and 8.3% identify as non-binary.  

Measures  

Independent Variable 

Social Media Usage was measured by asking respondents to input their hours of usage based on the number of hours during the weekday and the number of hours during the weekend (M=14.91, SD=14.72). 7 of the participants did not offer an answer for social media usage. Gender was measured by asking respondents to categorize themselves as either male, female, or non-binary.  

Dependent Variable  

Happiness was measured using Lyubomirsky and Lepper’s (1999), 4-item scale (M=10.45, SD=1.76). Two of the items ask participants to describe themselves using absolute ratings and ratings relative to peers. The other two items provide short descriptions of happy and unhappy individuals and ask participants to characterize themselves based on each.  

Tests 

A Pearson’s correlation was computed to investigate the relationship between social media usage and happiness. There was a very small negative relationship between happiness and social media usage, r(416) = -.052, p= .289. This indicates that social media usage has a relatively small impact on happiness levels. The scatterplot is displayed in Figure 1. 

An independent t-test was conducted to compare social media usage and the happiness levels between genders. The assumption of equal variance was not violated. The difference in happiness and social media usage was not significant, t(386) = -.275, p = .783, the confidence interval for the mean difference is [-.412, .311]. The difference in happiness and social media use did not reach statistical significance.