SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND YOUTH WELL-BEING: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL APPEARANCE IN CONTRIBUTING TO A SENSE OF INFERIORITY

Authors

  • Sana Attah Department of Mass Communication, Government College University Faisalabad Pakistan
  • Sobia Shahzad Department of Mass Communication, Government College University Faisalabad Pakistan
  • Sumera Batool Department of Mass Communication, Lahore College for Women University Lahore Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v4i2.533

Abstract

Social media applications like TikTok and Instagram enable social comparisons and users' emotional experiences in everyday life, with negative consequences for their mental well-being. However, there is a discrepancy in that users' social appearance has altered as a result of their use of these social media applications. The current study intends to bridge this research gap by looking into how social appearances on TikTok and Instagram develop emotions of inferiority. For validity, a Social Appearance Anxiety Scale was used, with N=352 respondents in the sample. The statistics show that there is a substantial link between social appearance and inferiority complex. Social media users create and replicate videos for a short period of time, incorporating content that builds the dreamy image that has a major impact on their mental health and that of their followers. The findings confirm a strong relationship (R²=0.520) between social appearance and inferiority complex, proving the importance of social media appearance in terms of inferiority feelings.

Keywords: Self-representation, Social appearance, Inferiority complex, Instagram use, TikTok use.

Author Biographies

  • Sana Attah, Department of Mass Communication, Government College University Faisalabad Pakistan

    M.Phil Student

  • Sobia Shahzad, Department of Mass Communication, Government College University Faisalabad Pakistan

    Assistant Professor

  • Sumera Batool, Department of Mass Communication, Lahore College for Women University Lahore Pakistan

    Assistant Professor

Additional Files

Published

2022-06-30

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2022): Pakistan Journal of Social Research PJSR

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Sana Attah, Sobia Shahzad, Sumera Batool

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

How to Cite

[1]
“SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND YOUTH WELL-BEING: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL APPEARANCE IN CONTRIBUTING TO A SENSE OF INFERIORITY”, Pak. J, Soc. Sci., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 819–827, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.52567/pjsr.v4i2.533.

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