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Applied Psychology: Reviewing from a Psychological Standpoint on the Impact of Social Media on Teens’ Mental Health
Abstract
The objective of this article is to examine the social psychological roots of how teens are impaired and influenced by the prevalence of social media. This publication will specifically examine how social media affects relationships, teens' self-confidence, and possible solutions for how teens can better themselves during a time of negative influences. Social media has played a crucial role in our world over the past decade. From the first social media site emerging in 1997, Six Degrees paved the way for more social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, and the newly popular TikTok. Although the prevalence of social media has increased positive connections between friends and family, social media usage has also been directly correlated with negative self-esteem from a social psychology perspective. Thus, this article will examine the psychology of social media and social media’s effects on the brain.
Self-Confidence: How is It Affected?
Social media’s ideals and standards can harm both men and women, but in most cases, women and young girls are most affected. One of the biggest struggles women deal with relentlessly is insecurities; whether it is surrounding their outfit, smile, or physical appearance, women are constantly influenced by external social media influences. Perloff’s (2014) research shows that experimentations have illustrated that exposure to media promoting thin-ideal content raises negative effects and discontent in women's bodies (as cited in Homan et al. 2012). In another study, it was proven that girls who were shown manipulated Instagram posts had a distinctively lower body dissatisfaction with themselves than girls shown the original and unedited photos (Kleemans et al. 2016).
Relationships: How Are They Affected?
When girls who struggle with their body image see posts of girls who they feel have “better looks” or portray to have a “better life”, they become more discontent as they feel that they aren't as good as those they see on social media. One of the things people love the most about social media is that they can control what the world perceives their life to be. People in most cases only post the good things in their life on their social media accounts. A lot of times people feel vulnerable when others see parts of their life that aren’t perfect; social media helps people display to others, "My life is perfect, look at my posts and pictures."
Neurological & Cognitive Psychology in Social Media
However, what happens in the neural connections formed in the brain when youth react to social media? Social media has not only taken control of emotions but also our brains. Research has stated that from the scope of cognitive psychology, the brain constantly rewires itself from different exposure to various stimuli. Neuroscientists have and are continuing to study the effects of social media from a neurological standpoint. Positive exchanges (likes, comments, etc.) on social media stimulate the same chemical reaction that is triggered by gambling and recreational bridges. An article from Harvard University researcher Trevor Haynes dissects this principle further. Haynes states that social stimuli result in the release of dopamine, which is a chemical produced by our brains that contributes to motivating actions. Dopamine is most often released when we are indulging in pleasurable events such as eating tasty foods, sexual activity, and drug use. When we have positive interactions with social media, our brain rewards us with the release of dopamine and prompts us to repeat those interactions. There are four “pathways” for chemical messages known as neurotransmitters in the brain. Three of the four pathways are most associated with rewards and activate when a person is foreseeing/enduring rewarding events (Haynes, 2018). “While the reward pathways (Figure 1) are distinct in their anatomical organization, all three become active when anticipating or experiencing rewarding events. In particular, they reinforce the association between a particular stimulus or sequence of behaviors and the feel-good reward that follows. Every time a response to a stimulus results in a reward, these associations become stronger through a process called long-term potentiation. This process strengthens frequently used connections between brain cells called neurons by increasing the intensity at which they respond to particular stimuli. (Haynes, 2018)” When our brains have been stimulated by the release of dopamine, it motivates us to repeat these same behaviors which can soon lead to social media addiction. This constant need for the simple reward of social media leaves our brains craving more; this leads to anxiety and stress over the deprivation of likes and little activity from others on our accounts.
Conformity in Social Media
Social psychology and conformity are major factors in social media. Dr. Saul McLeod defines conformity as “yielding to group pressures” (as cited in Crutchfield, 1955); he states that group pressure can take different forms such as bullying, persuasion, teasing, etc. Conformity, from a social psychological outlook, particularly impairs youth’s ability to differentiate themselves from others.
Individualistic vs. Collectivist Cultures
An alternative factor that plays into youth’s social psychology and conformity is individualistic cultures vs collectivist cultures. Youth in the US tend to conform to a certain way as a result of the constant societal pressure to hold up to societal standards. The typical US teenager’s individualistic goals are expected to include maintaining superiority, intelligence, sustaining good grades, looking flawless, and being a perfect child to one’s parents. This societal pressure also derives from the social psychological reasoning that the US is shaped as an individualistic culture. Americans do not like to be dependent upon others, and do not want others to be dependent upon them; this is looked at as shameful and embarrassing. US culture views every citizen as a self-functioning individual who typically embodies independence.
Psychology Behind Youth’s Use of Social Media
In the end, there are certain mental health consequences from the usage of social media. In an article written by Betul Keles, Niall McCrae, and Annamarie Grealish, state the studies show that people with low social support are at a higher risk for suffering from mental health problems (anxiety, depression, etc.) than those who received higher levels of social support from friends and family (as cited in Klineberg et. al 2006). Anxiety is one of the leading mental health problems that people experience when using social media. Frequently agonizing about likes, comments, and posts can lead to heightened levels of anxiety in a matter of days. Sleep deprivation can also follow; depressed moods and feelings of insecurity and unease can directly impact sleep.
Legislative Changes in Educational Infrastructure
To combat these negative influences of social media on youth, current legislators of our modern world today have been introducing bills and policies to govern children and teenagers. For instance, the recent introduction of The Kids Online Safety Act of 2022 has introduced an opportunity to offer privacy options, whilst also giving parents the tools to limit the usage of social media applications. For instance, recent introductions of complementary bills in the state legislature have ensured that social media platforms would be banned and perpetuated under heavy penalties of up to $7,500 per affected child in California if a violation of policies occurs. Similarly, federal lawmakers in this modern age have been tightening children’s privacy protections (Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Acts. 1628, 117th Cong. (2022) in reinforcing these consequences, alongside optimal tools that can be utilized to help parents better track and monitor their children’s internet usage, which was later finalized and approved by the US. Senate in 2022.
Solutions Involving Action-Oriented Initiatives
Despite legislation and policies around mental health awareness, there aren't enough action-oriented initiatives where youth have the opportunity to directly collaborate alongside educational institutes and professional psychologists/psychiatrists. My form of paradigm shift would be to open up discussions and seminars where teens can discuss what they would directly benefit from in terms of their psychological health. Providing seminars and discussions where teens can have an open atmosphere to ask questions, concerns, and ideas with educational institutes and professionals to equip themselves on how to protect their mental health, along with their social media issues. This can also provide a learning space for parents and educators to also assist them in being more intuitive to the management and perseverance of a teen's mental health, and to help mold them to be better role models for social media engagement. Solutions that can be advised by professionals include establishing usage boundaries, reducing time online in replacement for offline pleasure and interactions, and teens getting more involved in mental health awareness and solutions. Teens spend an average of five to seven-and-a-half hours a day on social media; spending the same amount of long hours on social media every day can multiply the amount of stress and anxiety that already stems from social media. Limiting time spent on social networking apps can help keep a healthy balance; apps such as Screen Time, Flipit, and AppBlock can help limit social networking apps for a custom period. While reducing time on social media, teens can replace their time for offline pleasures such as interfering with more in-person communication rather than online. Teens can find ways to connect with those who are like-minded and share common interests. Seeing a person’s face and genuine facial expressions, and body language make a conversation or interaction feel much more personable and pleasurable. While teens see professionals such as therapists as well as psychologists/psychiatrists, it is more difficult for disadvantaged youth who do not have the opportunity to access these professionals. To reach those who are less fortunate in terms of resources, more affordable solutions can be proposed for underprivileged youth to gain more financial access to mental health therapy and support. Teens and people of all backgrounds have mental health struggles no matter their income or social class.
Solutions - Tools and Psychological Therapy That Can Help Intervene Teens Struggling with Low Self-Esteem
A solution to be considered by those who are struggling with low self-esteem is seeking therapy. Therapy from a licensed professional is more accessible nowadays with an estimated 200,000 in the U.S. Although therapy is an available option for most teens, there is still a hesitance about reaching out to a professional. Teens and youth tend to associate therapy with a common stigma-- if you are attending therapy, you are in a bad place and need dire help. This stigma and its false teachings prevent thousands of teens mentally from seeking therapy. While false stigmas overshadow some forms of therapy, there are more alternative forms of therapy to consider. A type of therapy to consider is mindfulness meditation; mindfulness meditation is a form of mental training practice that can help slow thoughts, ease anxiety, and calm the mind and body. This form of self-induced therapy focuses on deep breathing and awareness of one’s body and mind. A study by Sara Laza, who is a neuroscientist and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, was the first to record that mindfulness meditation is capable of altering the brain’s gray matter and regions that associate with memory, self-awareness, and control over emotions. With its escalating popularity, mindful meditation has begun to find its place in schools and institutions as a result of demanding interest from students. An alternative route of therapy that is also suitable for stress and anxiety induced by low self-esteem is animal/pet therapy. Animal therapy is using animals to aid with emotional support and emotional/social well-being. Pet therapy can be easily confused with emotional support animals or service animals, which are all respectively different things. One of the key differences between therapy pets and service animals is that therapy pets help with emotional support, while service animals focus on aiding those with disabilities to perform tasks while keeping them safe. Interacting with pets has been proven to reduce blood pressure, advance cardiovascular health, and release calming endorphins.
While most solutions geared towards low self-esteem caused by social media involve major distances from social media altogether, there is still a way to maintain healthy usage of social media while preserving one’s mental health. Creating separation between social media and real life is a struggle for people of all ages, especially teens. Most people have a concept of faking a “perfect” life to feel better about themselves. The reality is far-fetched from what you see on your screen. Creating boundaries with social media can help deceased feelings of self-worth; instead of trying to uphold a false reality that cannot coexist with who you are, present an honest and raw perception of who you are.
When we take the time to protect our hearts and minds, we slowly make the environments around us, whether online or in-person, a more inclusive and accepting place. By increasing opportunities where youth can actively partake in mental health awareness and mental health-oriented solutions to foster discussions between teens and educational institutes, alongside identifying social psychology and cognitive psychology-oriented solutions, I hope to propose a global solution towards heightening the self-confidence of teens and enabling them to be less impacted by the negative impact of social media usage. My goal, ultimately, is to embrace a realm that highlights inclusivity and diversity at its core – in hopes of instilling confidence in our future generations, once and for all.
Sources:
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Mariska Kleemans, Serena Daalmans, Ilana Carbaat & Doeschka Anschütz (2018) Picture Perfect: The Direct Effect of Manipulated Instagram Photos on Body Image in Adolescent Girls, Media Psychology, 21:1, 93-110, DOI:
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