Running head: SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 1

The Effect of Selfie Posting Frequency on Self-Esteem

Robert Cocchiola, Brett McNeil, Jake Pellegrino, Micayla Rothberg, and Devyn Vinson

Bryant University
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 2

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between frequency of posting selfies and self-

esteem of individuals. Subjects answered a survey about their self-esteem and their frequency of

posting selfies on various social media platforms. Analysis of the data revealed that there is no

relationship between self-esteem and frequency of posting selfies.

Keywords: selfie, self-esteem, frequency of posting

SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 3

The Effect of Selfie Posting Frequency on Self-Esteem

Social media is a way to stay connected with individuals we may not be in contact with

anymore, or to simply let our followers know what we are doing. A social media concept that

attracts a lot of attention is a selfie. A selfie is the act of taking a picture of oneself from a

webcam or cell phone camera (Tiidenberg, 2016). Then, an individual will choose to post that

selfie or not to one or more social media platforms. Each social media user is different, and

therefore have different individual goals and agendas. This study examines how different

frequencies of posting can cause us to have different levels of self-esteem.

Review of Literature

Frequency of posting on social media is impacted by a groups view of their own social

norms. With millennials, frequently self-disclosing personal information over social media can

be viewed as oversharing. In a study about depressed adolescents, Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, and

Miller (2017) concluded that younger groups, as audiences of selfies, are not typically

comfortable with oversharing. They also identified that depressed adolescents are more likely to

self-disclose more information over social media. With regards to the genders as a whole,

females spend more time on social media than males because they take more time to edit the

things that they post. Females spend a majority of their time editing selfies that they plan to post

(Dhir, Pallasen, Torsheim, & Andreassen, 2016). Both females and males of all age groups spend

a large amount of time on social media/checking social media, but their usage patterns are

different because of social norms (Dhir, Pallasen, Torsheim, & Andreassen, 2016). Adolescents

usually post on social media more frequently than other age groups as a way to connect with one

another (Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, & Miller, 2017). Numerically, the frequency of social media
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 4

usage is hard to track. Time spent on social media is recorded more often than frequency of

posts.

One of the most frequently mentioned facts regarding self-esteem is that humans have a

need for self-esteem (Schlenker, 1980). Self-esteem is defined as an individuals positive or

negative evaluation of himself or herself (Smith, Mackie, & Claypool, 2014). According to

Schlenker, it is reasonable to assume that people with low self-esteem will be more eager to

engage in activities that are likely to raise self-esteem. In contrast, Baumeister (1982) shows that

people with high self-esteem strive to increase it further through elaborate self-presentation while

people with low self-esteem prefer consistent self-presentation and do not attempt to engage in

compensatory presentations. Gabriel (2014) states that although social media allows people to be

more social, it also can lead to cyberbullying which often decreases self-esteem. One way to

attempt to increase self-esteem is through taking and posting selfies. According to Shin, Kim, Im

and Chong (2016), taking selfies actually decreases self-esteem; this study had participants take a

selfie and then post it to social media or save it to their phone. They discovered that saving

selfies on a phone rather than posting them on social media had a negative effect on peoples

self-esteem level. Posting a selfie online allows people to see an individuals image and usually

results in receiving likes which could lead to an increase in the persons self-esteem.

Rationale and Hypotheses

Posting selfies is a current fad that college students are immersed in. Many studies have

been conducted on selfie posting, but have neglected the frequency of posts and their effects on

self-esteem.

As Schlenker (1980) stated, all humans have a need for self-esteem. In todays world,

the most common way for people to achieve an optimal level of self-esteem is through social
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 5

media. Because social media is a convenient way for large groups of people to view a users

activities, users try to portray themselves in a manner which will allow them to have positive

self-esteem. Shin, Kim, Im and Chong (2016) conducted a study in an attempt to find a

relationship between posting selfies online and self-esteem. They found that when people took a

selfie and posted it on social media they recorded higher self-esteem than those who took a selfie

and saved it to their phone instead of posting it. We assume that this is a result of converting

received likes from followers into a feeling of achievement, resulting in higher self-esteem. This

particular study did not dissect how the frequency of posting could connect to the self-esteem of

that individual. Therefore,

H1: How frequently a social media user posts selfies to their social media platforms

directly correlates negatively with their level of self-esteem.

In a previous study conducted by Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, and Miller (2017) the

researchers measured time spent on social media and its effects on self-presentation, but did not

measure time by frequency of posting and did not touch upon effects of posting on self-esteem.

This study will aim to identify correlations between frequency of posting selfies and self-esteem.

Method

Procedure and Sample

The research participants were individual students from Bryant University in Smithfield,

Rhode Island. We anticipated these individuals to be between 18 and 24 years of age. These

individuals will be classified as freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior. The participants will be

clustered in the various organizations that the researchers are involved in. We believe that Bryant

University students are representative of all college-aged individuals because of the diverse

backgrounds that are represented in the student body. Of the 297 participants, 36 were excluded
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 6

from the analysis leaving a total of 261 valid responses. Of the 261 responders, 137 (52.5%)

were male, 118 (45.2%) were female, and 6 (2.3%) did not wish to disclose their gender. The

average age was 20.65 years.

Measurement and Analysis

For our research plan, we decided to collect data through an online survey. The first half

of the questions consist of those that we came up with ourselves. All of which will pertain to the

frequency of posting selfies. There is minimal research recorded in regards to the relationship of

frequency of posting selfies and ones self-esteem.

Frequency. Frequency of posting a selfie is conceptually defined as how often one posts

a self-picture to a social media platform. We have chosen to define frequency of posting a selfie

operationally as how often an individual posts a selfie picture to Facebook, VSCO, Instagram,

Twitter, and Snapchat (including selfies sent to individuals/groups). Our survey questions

allowed us to identify our participants frequency of posting, by having the participants identify

how many selfies they post to each social media platform on an average week. These numbers

were then compared to their Rosenberg scale score to identify if there is any relationship.

Self-Esteem. Self-esteem is conceptually defined as an individual's sense of his or her

value or worth, or the extent to which a person values, approves of, appreciates, prizes, or likes

him or herself. The second half of the survey that will be given to responders is Rosenbergs

(1989) Self-Esteem Scale. The scale included 10 personal statements and had respondents state

which level the question applied to them (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree).

Our initial plan was to conduct face-to-face interviews. However, it was quickly learned that

individuals are more likely to be honest through a Likert scale via the computer; self-esteem can

be a touchy subject. A Likert scale is most effective in our study because it allows attitudes and
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 7

feelings to be measured, without much socially desirable responding. These questions are more

deeply thought out, which is why they are going to be the last half of questions in our survey

(Rosenberg, 1989). Also, we want responders to have their thoughts on selfies in their

subconscious as they respond to Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale.

Results

Our hypothesis predicted that there would be a negative correlation between frequency of

posting selfies to social media and their self-esteem. Pearsons Product-Moment Correlation

(PPM) was used to test whether there was a positive or negative relationship between our two

variables. Results showed that between frequency of posting (M= 17.64, SD= 6.647) and self-

esteem (M= 46.81, SD = 8.492) there was in fact no correlation. Our correlation coefficient was r

= -.097 showing that there was clearly no relationship between the two variables meaning our

hypothesis is refuted. In terms of reliability, Cronbachs alpha for frequency was 0.690 which

shows that our scale for frequency of posting is did not entirely measure what it was supposed to.

For self-esteem the Cronbachs alpha was 0.823 showing that our self-esteem scale was effective

in finding what we aimed it to do.

Discussion

By testing the correlation between the frequency of posting selfies to social media and an

individuals level of self-esteem, we came to the conclusion that there is essentially no

correlation between the two. The result of no correlation is not at all what we were expecting.

We expected that the data collected would show that the more selfies an individual posts, the

lower their self-esteem would be. However, our data proved the complete opposite.

Our groups study was tainted by a few limitations. The first limitation being that our

Cronbach Alpha score of our relative frequency for self-esteem was poor with a score of .690.
SELFIES AND SELF-ESTEEM 8

Therefore, this led to the disconnection of the variables in our hypothesis. A second limitation

was that some survey responses were answered in a joking or impartial manner. From some

responses, it was clear that the individual taking the survey was not intent on answering the

questions wholeheartedly, but rather in a quick manner. A third limitation came when our

professor, Kevin Pearce, was helping our group analyze our data. Our self-esteem was supposed

to be on a 1, 2, 3, 4 scale, but was accidentally registered as a 1, 2, 6, 7 scale. This made it more

difficult for him to analyze our groups data efficiently, and was a minor setback for him.

Another limitation was that there was minimal research done on the frequency of posting on

social media. We were required to create our own questions on frequency of posting.

Something we realized from our disproven hypothesis was that future research could

hopefully help us. Even though frequency of posting selfies was found to not influence levels of

self-esteem through our survey, it is possible that personal interviews on these two variables

could prove otherwise. By speaking face-to-face in an interview setting, researchers could dive

more deeply into an individuals insecurities when posting selfies to social media platforms.

More future research that could be conducted could find that the number of likes one receives on

a selfie could impact their levels of self-esteem. By examining Baumeisters (1982) research on

people, possible research can be done to prove that people with high self-esteem strive to

increase it further through elaborate self-presentation of posting extravagant selfies on a regular

basis.
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References

Baumeister, R.F. (1982). Self-esteem, self-presentation, and future interaction: A dilemma of

reputation. Journal of Personality, 50, 2945.

Dhir, A., Pallesen S., Torsheim, T., & Andreassen, C.S. (2016). Do age and gender differences

exist in selfie-related behaviours? Computers in Human Behavior, 67, 549-555. doi:

10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.053.

Gabriel, F. (2014). Sexting, selfies, and self-harm: Young people, social media and the

performance of self- development. Media International Australia, 151, 104-112.

Radovic, A., Gmelin, T., Stein, B.D., Miller, E. (2017). Depressed adolescents positive and

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10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.002

Schlenker, B.R. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity, and

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Shin, Y., Kim, M., Im, C., & Chong, S. C. (2016). Selfie and self: The effect of selfies on self-

esteem and social sensitivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 111, 139-145. doi:

10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.004

Smith E. R., Mackie D. M., & Claypool H. M. (2014). Social Psychology. New York, NY:

Psychology Press.

Tiidenberg, K. (2016). Boundaries and conflict in a NSFW community on Tumblr: The

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