SB2 - The psychology of very public displays of possessions

Notes, thoughts and quotes from article. 

Summary: article suggests their is an issue that people do not seem to be aware of. The repeated use of social media for pleasure can lead to unhealthy addictions. However the issue seems to be more around our culture and how people want to be percieved within it, people want an identity. 

'Research on why people use social networks, particularly Facebook, suggests that personal factors like neuroticism, narcissism, shyness, self-esteem and self-worth contribute to their need for self-presentation on the internet.'

This article addresses some issues and positives of using social media to fulfill needs they are unaware of. For example using the likes from a selfie as a way to enhance thier mood. This is clearly an unhealthy way to achieve happiness and could lead to a problem down the line. Ayesha Almazroui states that 

'Focusing on self-esteem, psychologists say that online oversharing could be driven by – and have an impact on – a person’s confidence. For example, the self-esteem of those posting many selfies may be tied to the comments and "likes" they get from other people, who would actually judge them based on how they look like, not on who they really are.'

This can then actually build into a addiction. Because almazoui goes on to say 'While seeking some approval is normal, psychologists say these people risk getting addicted to taking selfies and getting positive feedback. In cases when they received negative comments or didn’t get enough "likes", their confidence could plummet and this might have an impact on their mental health'

The article then gives an example of a boy of attempted to commit suicide after becoming obsessed with capturing the perfect selfie. He would spend 10 hours a day and taking up to 200 photos. The boy 'underwent intensive hospital therapy to combat his technology addiction, OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder – a form of anxiety that causes sufferers to worry excessively about their appearance.' 'Dr David Veal, a psychiatrist at the London clinic where Danny was treated, told the Mirror: “Danny’s case is particularly extreme. But this is a serious problem. It’s not a vanity issue. It’s a mental health one which has an extremely high suicide rate.”' Danny himself says “It’s a real problem like drugs, alcohol or gambling. I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through.” This is evidence of something going on which is not right, I believe it has a lot to do with addiction being created by social media which youths are using to help mask an issue they may be suffering with. Stress, depressions, aniexty, low self estem etc 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/selfie-obsession-made-teenager-danny-bowman-suicidal-9212421.html

The article points out that there is, even more, pressure on women this is something I myself worry about having a sister and two nieces because there does seem to be this fasard of Instagram women. Who are creating these personas of themselves which may not always be real? 

'A recent study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking found that females who base their self-worth on their appearance tend to share more photos of themselves online to ultimately compete for attention. Sharing too many pictures of oneself is often associated with narcissism, but on the contrary, it can also be linked to low self-esteem.' I tryed to read this study but it was 59$ for the hour so I will just take almazouis word for it. 

Some people's confidence is tied to how well their romantic relationship is going. You often see people on social media posting about their relationship regularly new research at Albright College in Pennsylvania. suggests. 

'Those people often have higher levels of relationship-contingent self-esteem – an unhealthy form of self-esteem that depends on the person’s romantic relationship – and so they use technology to express their happiness.This can also be applied to people who post pictures of their luxurious possessions on social media: their self-esteem can be tied up with the things they own.' This can then cause uplifting and positive affects which would help boost confidence but in the long term this is not a healthy way to gain these things and again could lead to addiction simlar to that of drugs. 

Because we live ina  society where many people identify themselves with their material possesions. sharing pictures of thus items would help express their desired identity and inclination to be part of a cetain group. In the process, individuals come to find pleasure and comfort whenever they post images of their things online, which simultaneously helps them to reinforce continuity in their identity.

'Another study from Harvard University, published this year in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirms this by finding that self-disclosure is strongly associated with increased activation in the brain’s pleasure and reward centers, which increases even more when people were told they had an audience.'

This, the research explains, could be driven by something really simple, such as creating "social bonds" with other people.

It is then concluded that people may not be away of this but they are addicted. 'Not all social media users are aware of the reasons why they share so much information about themselves online, or how the personal information they post is being perceived and interpreted by other people. But the psychological rewards of such activity surely makes it addictive.'


Sources 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911005149
http://apps.olin.wustl.edu/faculty/dirks/Psychological%20Ownership%20-%20RGP.pdf
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/the-psychology-of-very-public-displays-of-possessions