Mediating Effect of Self-display on Interactions on Social Media Platforms and its Effect on Subjective Well-being

Description

Anand Shankar (Department of Psychology, Sundarvati Mahila Mahavidyalaya (SM College), Tilka Manjhi University, Bhagalpur, Bihar)

Every person tries to impress others through their actions, expression and disclosure of information (Baumeister & Hutton, 1987). These expressions are disseminated through social interactions (Baumeister, 1982). Self-display, often manifested in social space is aimed at impression management. This is done through either the expression of the true self or the portrayal of a more idealised self. On social media platforms, this is done through photos, posts, comments, likes, etc. These are all aimed at gaining approval and managing impressions. These medium of interaction on social media platforms have the potential to have an effect on our understanding of ourselves, which in turn has the potential to influence our subjective well-being (SWB). These effects could be positive or negative (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2013). The study here intends to see how self-display mediates the relationship between interactions and SWB. Social Networking Sites Usage Questionnaire (SNSs) by Shi, Luo, Yang, Liu, and Cai (2014) and The Subjective Well Being Inventory (SUBI) by Sell (1992) were used for this study. The sample was collected from Bihar and Delhi. The result showed that self-display fully mediated the relationship between interactive usage and subjective well-being.