1. RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012
www.PosterPresentations.com
The purpose of this research is to investigate possible links between personality and jealousy in
regard to time spent on social media. It was anticipated that extroverts would spend more
time on social media sites and therefore retain higher levels of jealousy. The first part of the
study was to determine time spent on social media by asking for the number of times per week
participants log in and average session length. The second part of was to determine jealousy
levels from social media by having participants view a slideshow of hypothetical posts and
responding on a Likert scale. The third part was to determine introversion and extraversion by
having participants take a short personality inventory. Participants logged on an average of 16
times per week with an average of eight minutes per session. The total time spent on social
media sites was positively correlated to jealousy (r=-0.457; p<0.5). The positive correlation is
represented with a negative Pearson's correlation value because on the Likert scale, lower
numbers indicated higher levels of jealousy. Data was then divided into introverts (n=15) and
extroverts (n=11). Introverts logged on more times per week but spent less time per session
than extroverts. Extroverts were found to have more jealousy, but it was not a statistically
significant difference. This research is important because there are a large number of people
worldwide who use social media sites regularly. This study is positively correlated to the use of
social media sites to a negative emotion. However, these results cannot be generalized because
the study was limited in age range (18-28) and social media type (Facebook).
Abstract
Facebook has become a part of daily life for many people worldwide. Facebook is a very
popular social networking sites (SNSs) that allows people to communicate with others via
“posts”. These posts are information the person shares via pictures, thoughts, videos, etc. with
everyone who can see their “wall”. Their wall is a bulletin board for expressing who they are
and what they like or dislike.
This study relates the fields of social psychology and the study of personality. Researchers
have completed studies on the relationship between Facebook and jealousy, and other studies
have found relationships between Facebook and personality, specifically extraversion and
introversion. This study was completed because no prior research has been done to see if there
is a significant relationship between jealousy and personality while first taking into account the
time spent on social networking sites.
Based on previous studies, my hypothesis was that introverts who spend more time on
SNSs, like Facebook, will have more jealousy than extroverts who spend the same amount of
time on the same social networking site.
This hypothesis was formed because previous research found that the more time people
spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to find something to be jealous of, which will
provoke more time to be spent on Facebook. Even though extroverts generally tend to spend
more time on Facebook than introverts, extroverts typically have higher interpersonal
competency, social skills, and an inclination to do things in person rather than online.
Introduction
Analyzing the data started by separating the data by personality type; introvert or
extrovert. In the 26 participants, 11 were extroverts, 15 were introverts. Of these 26
participants, 20 were female, six were male.
Participants indicated that they logged on to Facebook a mean of 16.629 times per week,
with a SD of 15.06. Participants spent a mean of 8.004 minutes per session with a SD of 10.81.
The mean for the total jealousy was 14.497 with an SD of 101.84. The total times on Facebook
positively correlated with jealousy (r=-0.457, p<0.5).
Extroverts logged on a mean of 13.00 times per week with a SD of 8.752. Extroverts
indicated that each session lasted a mean of 11.82 minutes with a SD of 9.001.Extroverts had a
mean jealousy level of 97.64 with a SD of 13.343.
Introverts logged on a mean of 16.57 times per week with a SD of 20.816. Introverts
indicated that each session lasted a mean of 10.07 minutes with a SD of 7.426. Introverts had a
mean jealousy score of 104.92 with an SD of 14.969.
No significant differences were found between introverts and extroverts in relation to
jealousy. The t-tests that were performed revealed no statistically significant differences
between introverts and extroverts.
It was found that extroverts in relation to number of times logged on, t=-0.058; df=24).
For their total minutes on Facebook, (t=0.543; df=24). For the relationship to jealousy, (t=-
1.282; df=24).
This test was repeated for introverts, finding that introverts logged on (t=-5.96;
df=19.941). For the total minutes on Facebook, (t=5.43; df=19.079). For the relationship to
jealousy, (t=-1.306; df=22.989).
Results
Participants for this study were mostly found in psychology classes. Some participants
were offered extra-credit in a class if they participated in a study. Participants for this study
were limited to only those who have active Facebook accounts. Participants were given a
packet as they were seated in front of a screen. On the first page of the packet there were
demographic questions including gender, how many times they log on to Facebook each week,
and approximately how long each session lasted. They were asked to not continue in the
packet until further instruction.
When the participants were ready to continue, they were asked to view a slideshow of
hypothetical Facebook posts (pictures and statuses) while indicating on a Likert scale jealousy
levels they would be experiencing if they were appearing on their screen during normal usage.
The Likert scale allowed between 1 and 10, indicating levels of envy. There were 26 slides
depicting 13 different topics ranging from getting a new puppy or new clothes to graduating
and getting engaged. Immediately after viewing the slide, the participant indicated how they
felt on the Likert scale and prepared for viewing the next slide. Each slide was viewed for
approximately eight seconds.
Participants then moved on to the personality test consisting of ten questions that only
gave outcomes for introversion and extraversion. After completion of the personality test, the
participants were done with their portion of the study. The total time for the participants to
complete the study was less than ten minutes including the slideshow and personality
inventory.
Methodology Discussion
This study confirmed previous research in that the more time spent on Facebook, the
more likely the person was to be jealous. There was a fairly even spread of introverts to
extroverts, but a large difference in the ratio of male to female participation. The data on
time spent on Facebook was self-reported data, and therefore may not reflect the actual time
spent on Facebook. Some of the times reported were of varying lengths, and a median had to
be found. Participants log onto Facebook around 16 times per week with an average of eight
minutes per session.
Results were limited to Facebook users and cannot be generalized to other forms of social
media networks without further research. All of the participants were between the ages of 18
and 28, making the results limited to college aged adults. Another limitation to this study is
that because it is unethical to impose jealousy on participants, the whole experimental part of
this study has to be based on a hypothetical situation, therefore the true levels of jealousy
may be slightly different.
Future studies can be conducted to see if any other personality traits, such as
neuroticism or openness to experience influence jealousy levels or time spent online. Another
data set to be analyzed would be what makes people more jealousy during different age ranges
online.
Literature Cited
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Acknowledgments and Contact
Researcher: Felicia Goff; felicia.goff@wallawalla.edu
Research supervised by Dr. Austin Archer; austin.archer@wallawalla.edu
Statistical analysis supervised by Dr. Linda Ivy; linda.ivy@wallawalla.edu
Walla Walla University
Felicia Goff
Personality and Social-Media Related Jealousy:
how introversion and extraversion affect levels of social-media related jealousy
Participants
Introverts
Extroverts
Participants
Males
Females
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Times Logged on per Week Time Spent per Session (minutes) Indicated Jealousy Level
Extroverts
Introverts