Why The Need For Social Media

Running head: FACEBOOK: WHY THE NEED 1

Facebook: Why The Need and How To Integrate It Into Therapy From A Client's Perspective

Michael Shawn Ellis

PSY 5201-Integrative Project for Master's Degree in Psychology

FACEBOOK: WHY THE NEED AND HOW TO 2

Table of Contents

Abstract...................................................................................................................................Page 3

Chapter 1-Introduction............................................................................................................Page 4

Chapter 2-Literature Review............................................................................................. Page 5-14

Chapter 3-Method............................................................................................................Page 14-22

Chapter 4-Expected Results.............................................................................................Page 22-24

Chapter 5-Discussion.......................................................................................................Page 24-28

Chapter 6-Conclusion......................................................................................................Page 28-30

References........................................................................................................................Page 31-32


Abstract

One's psychology study will focus on how social media has begun affecting adults of all ages in

their behavior, communication, and self identity plus it has created a need within this culture to

have a Facebook or some form of social network account. This learner basis this research study

on a reference to a source in a article by (Reich, 2010) which states “social behavior and

interpersonal relationships are essential to the development of emerging adults, and social media

appears to play an increasing role in these areas” (Jenkins-Guarieri, Wright, Johnson, 2013). To

support any form of research there must be some form of theory or theories to validate the

research in which this learner's chosen theoretical orientation for this project will be research on

Attachment Theory and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and how these theories explain the

phenomenon behind Facebook.


This learner has become intrigued how the number one source of communication to talk

to somebody, to find out how someone is doing, or just know what it is going on is through some

form of social media. In fact, some of the later revisions of the Capella University iGuide is

centered around a Facebook type feel and since pretty much the majority of people have a

Facebook account this helps learners who are taking online through Capella feel more

comfortable. This learner does not have a Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, etc., account due to this

student seeking a professional career in psychology and it was recommended at the track 2

colloquia that it is ethically smart that one not engage in social media. One's psychology study

will focus on how social media has begun affecting adults of all ages in their behavior,

communication, and self identity plus it has created a need within this culture to have a Facebook

or some form of social network account. This learner basis this research study on a reference to a

source in a article by (Reich, 2010) which states “social behavior and interpersonal relationships

are essential to the development of emerging adults, and social media appears to play an

increasing role in these areas” (Jenkins-Guarieri, Wright, Johnson, 2013).

Based on the paragraph above and this learners desire to present a literature review on

this topic, this learner researched and chose sources whose main topic was identifying whether or

not Facebook provides a way for people to feel connected or disconnected by looking at the

amount of usage which ties into the social behavior and interpersonal relationships of emerging

adults. According to one of the sources, “greater Facebook use was positively correlated with

both positively worded indicators of relatedness need-satisfaction (which we call connection)

and negatively worded indicators of relatedness need-satisfaction (which we call disconnection).

That is, frequent users felt both more connected and more disconnected, more close to others and


more unappreciated by others, and so on” (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011). To support any form

of research there must be some form of theory or theories to validate the research in which this

learner's chosen theoretical orientation for this project will be research on Attachment Theory

and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and how these theories explain the phenomenon behind

Facebook. The proposed research question that will be presented and answered in this papers is

as follows: What are the psychological theories that explain the purpose and the need that people

have integrating social networking sites into their lives?

Why Social Networking Sites Are Based On Psychological Theory (Literature Review)

Introduction

One source presented information that “a recent survey of social media use indicated that

about 10% of adults and 14% of adolescents maintain a personal online journal or blog, while

47% of adults and 73% of adolescents reported participating in social networking sites (Lenhart,

Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). According to that survey, the most commonly used social

networking site is Facebook, with more than 500 million users as of June 2011 (Facebook,

2011)” and as this writer is putting these words to the page the number of users has risen to 1.11

billion users as of March 2013 (Tunick, Mednick, & Conroy, 2011). These numbers reveal that

there is a need, a want, and a purpose for social networking sites, Facebook for example, in our

society and culture and more so now with the increase of technology devices like smartphones

and tablets. As the reader, one is probably thinking “yeah I have a Facebook, Twitter, and

Instagram account so this information is old news” but what if the writer was to inform the

reader that there is a purpose and a reason why one took the time to create these accounts plus

takes the time to keep them current and updated while also taking the time to check up on their


friends and family accounts?

The reader would probably respond by stating, because this is how everyone stays

connected now, prefers to stay connected, peer pressure, or needing to stay with the times and

with one's smartphone and tablet one can never miss what all their friends and family are up to.

The writers response would be that this is valid but it is more basic than that to why upcoming

adolescents, current adolescents, and adults are seeking out and creating social networking

accounts in which this writer will present to the reader the reasoning but in order to fully

understand he will first take the reader on journey through time.

A Journey Into History

Mankind since the beginning has always had a desire to tell one's story and in order to do

that one must be able to communicate it in which drawings on cave walls and word-of-mouth

were the first forms of documentation, then writing began with discovery of the Rosetta Stone,

which would be the number one form of communication in the world on how history was

recorded plus how people would stay in contact through what became known as letters. Then

Alexander Grand Bell would invent the telephone that would allow people no matter where they

were located in the world a chance to call family and friends up and speak what they wanted to

say instead of having them wait days to months for a letter to arrive in the mail. This technology

would continue to go through many upgrades until the internet and email would be introduce

allowing people a cheaper and faster way to send communications to people around the world

instantaneously regardless of time zones.

Then mobile phones were invented allowing the person to call someone rather than

having to wait to get home or go to a pay phone which would lead to text messages allowing the


person to send typed messages to a person if they were not able to talk allowing conversations to

take place just by typing what one wanted to say. Due to the increase of the internet, chat rooms

became a place for people all over the world a chance to spends hours meeting new people and

sharing their life events faster than waiting for an email. Then mobile phones got an upgrade by

being able to have a phone that is able to connect to the internet, run a operating system like

windows or mac, allow one to send and respond to emails, and engage in regular chatting plus

video chatting through applications like skype in which this device became known as a

smartphone. Due to the advancement of the internet, email, chatting, video chatting, mobile

phones, and smartphones allowing people to stay connected in many different ways computer

developers realized this is where the world was moving towards so why not create one place

where anyone could chat, share files like pictures, blog about one's life plus read about friends

and family members life, and add current friends and family members while being to meet new

friends.

This spawned the development of social networking sites and based on the research that

was presented in the writer's introduction reveals the continue increase in users ranging in ages

from adolescence to adults of all ages. By knowing the history and the evolution of how people

of all cultures have evolved in the ways they communicate and stay in connect are at the basic

need of our psyche and our psychological development that begins at birth then continues to our

death. Understanding two psychological theories that explain this basic psychological need will

help one understand the purpose behind social networking sites like Facebook and these are

integrated at the heart of these sites plus drawing the reader to want to keep and be involved in

these sites.


Attachment Theory

The attachment theory can be explained or defined as “to bring the infant into close

proximity with its caregiver, thereby protecting the infant from harm and predation (Elliot &

Reis, 2003)” and depending on the caregiver of the infant three types of attachment styles will be

executed: secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant. Secure attachment style encourages the

child that their caregivers are there for them to protect them from the world, encourage them to

explore the world, and to support plus help them transition into a dependent adult.

Anxious/Ambivalent attachment style presents to the child that their caregivers maybe or may

not be there to protect them from the world, encouragement may or may not come, and

transitioning into adulthood could pose as a problem because that support was not always

available. Avoidant attachment style basically is a style of parenting to which the caregiver was

never there to protect the child from the world, making them fearful of exploring the world, and

leaving them fearful of becoming an adult because they were never taught how to be an adult.

Based on these three attachment styles, it is clear to understand how they affect every

child into adulthood because the caregivers represent what the world is composed of therefore

these learned behaviors and cognitive developments are at the core of the attachment style a

person came from. The other part of the attachment theory is the exploration system which

“exists to propel the infant into the world to learn about the environment, thereby enhancing the

likelihood of its safe and effective functioning” and based on this the results from this research

revealed that “insecure forms of attachment, however, are likely to evoke avoidance-oriented

motivational processes across life domains, as the person vigilantly seeks to evade negative

possibilities that could put him or her in danger of rejection or abandonment” revealing ones


from secure attachments did not have these views or fears (Elliot & Reis, 2003). One source

commented on attachment theory in this way, “these early relationships help to form a child's

style of attachment that impacts relationships and personality characteristics throughout

development and the life span” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, and Johnson, 2013).

To conclude and summarize the importance of attachment theory is to validate that parent

or caregivers relationships whether a healthy or unhealthy one with their children will allow the

children to view the world based on this attachment giving birth to their behaviors, personalities,

and identities in which they will take these into the world around them into the last cycle of the

life span, which is late adulthood. Understanding the importance of attachment theory will allow

one to have understand themselves and others plus how it supports the second psychological

theory at the core of this psychological need, which is the Self-Determination Theory (SDT).

Self-Determination Theory

SDT is composed of three psychological needs: competence (feeling effective and

efficacious in one's behavior), relatedness (feeling close and connected to important others), and

autonomy (feeling ownership and internal causation of one's behavior) in which “it is logical that

evolution would reward us with positive feelings when we do something that has adaptive

significance, such as producing or succeeding at something, experiencing a close relationship

and alliance with another person, or becoming more behaviorally autonomous and self-

regulating” (Sheldon & Schuler, 2011). This other important psychological theory reveals that in

order to feel satisfied about one's life, all three of these needs must be being met or have some

form of positive continuum that leads one to experience a satisfying, healthy, and happy life. It is

clear that these needs are impacted due to the attachment style one comes from which validates


how both these theories are intertwined with each other and SDT is the driving force that

explains why people are where they are in life.

Research done on SDT and the advancement of understanding in how it applies to the

richness of life and people's lifestyles generated from these psychological needs reveal that “it

appears that psychological needs can be fruitfully conceptualized and measured as both

motivating forces and as experiential rewards...” and “...those who habitually rely on a particular

need for their mood-regulation and happiness boosting efforts may end up with fewer overall

paths to satisfaction and may suffer disproportionately when their habit is thwarted” (Sheldn &

Schuler, 2011). Being motivated to achieve these needs and maintaining these needs reveal that

one can enjoy one's life but all three needs must be incorporated or equally be attended to

because concentration on one need will leave a person feeling not so satisfied once this need has

stopped being met or become stale. To further explain this, the body requires many different

vitamins and nutrients to maintain its health, like iron and vitamin C; if one just took vitamin C

one would have a pretty healthy immune system but ignoring iron would cause someone to

become anemic. Looking at the needs of the SDT in the same way will help understand how all

these needs need to be developed and maintained but based on the attachment theory different

people will be able to maintain all three in a healthy way while others will not be able to.

Since both psychological theories have been presented and how they explain what our

most basic psychological needs are, one will now present how these two theories have led to the

development of social networking sites and why they have become a psychological phenomenon

plus the topic of this writer's paper. This statement will be the foundation that the writer is basing

the next section on which will also answer and reveal to the reader why one has a social


networking account, “The positive correlation of Facebook use with connection exists because

people who go onto Facebook a lot must be getting something out of it—connection results from

Facebook use, rewarding and maintaining such use” (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011).

Psychological Theory created Social Networking Sites

The main purpose for social networking sites is to provide a way for people to connect,

establish and build relationships, a place to create or validate one's identity, and a place to

showcase oneself to the world in which these social networking sites have generated connection

results that have also generated some form of rewards for maintaining such usage. These rewards

are different for different users but these sites are providing a need and that is integrated at the

heart of attachment theory and SDT providing an outlet for people regardless of attachment style

to seek out people they can successfully attach to while incorporating a easier exploration system

and meeting competence, relatedness, and autonomy needs.

To further explain how attachment theory is incorporated into these social networking

sites one will reveal results from a study that was conducted on this topic because the researchers

believed that a “link between attachment and relationship satisfaction has clear support in the

literature (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007) and may be mediated by variables such as

communication style, with some evidence that attachment style was related to communication

style and effectiveness (Jang, Smith, & Levine, 2002)” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson,

2013). It is clear to why the researchers approached their study from this theoretical perspective,

someone from a secure attachment style would be willing to communicate openly with current

and newly obtained friends or strangers while someone from an insecure attachment style would

avoid communication at all costs unless it was with people they knew or would be anxious and


fearful about communicating because of fear that they may not say the right words or what

people would think of them which could lead to rejection. To explain one's personality presented

on social networking sites the researchers approached this study from the personality traits

contained in the FFM in which they concentrated mainly on extroversion, openness, and

neuroticism in which these personality traits are sure to be a result form one's attachment.

This study's results revealed that “young adults with higher levels of insecure attachment

reported lower levels of extroversion, higher levels of neuroticism, and less developed

interpersonal competency. In addition, those who reported higher extroversion also indicated

greater interpersonal competency and Facebook use...” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson,

2013). Based on the approach the researchers applied and the incorporation of the attachment

theory, it is clear how people would use Facebook according to their attachment upbringing

which poses the question why would people from a insecure attachment style seek out Facebook

due to fear of rejection, avoidance, abandonment, or bullying? One source explains it this way,

“Those who seem seem to not want a particular need...gained just as much benefit from having

that need met as those who claim to want the need (Sheldon & Schuler, 2011)” bringing to light

the psychological needs from SDT.

The major psychological need that tends to get satisfied or met through the use of social

networking sites, like Facebook, is the need for relatedness and since any user is able to connect

to anybody in the world, people who are getting this need met or the who ones are not, are able

to either maintain this need or begin to get this need met. One study revealed how Facebook was

affecting one's relatedness in which they hypothesized that “Facebook use results from

dissatisfaction (specifically, the presence of disconnection drives Facebook use), just as


motivations to approach needs resulted from dissatisfaction...that connection results from

Facebook use, serving to reinforce that use” (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011). The reason for

this hypothesis is whether one feels like they are getting the relatedness need met or not

Facebook allows one seek out this need whether the person is experiencing satisfaction or

dissatisfaction therefore driving Facebook use.

The researchers results revealed that Facebook, whether one was experiencing

satisfaction or dissatisfaction from their use, does indeed provide an avenue for people to get the

relatedness need validated but it also “provides important new avenues for conceptualizing

adaptive and maladaptive behavior within SDT” and “ ...may also offer an overly tempting

coping device for the lonely, one that feels good but does not actually address underlying

feelings of social disconnection in life” ( Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011). Based on SDT and

how SDT was applied to the phenomenon of social networking sites, especially Facebook, it

provides one a way to get the basic psychological needs met, more importantly relatedness, but

also allowing one to seek out this need at any cost, even to the point of addiction.

Social networking sites have found their way into this technological driven society

because without the technology, sites like Facebook, would not exist but whether the technology

is here today and gone tomorrow the fact remains that our psychological needs will always be

there. Based on the presentation of two important psychological theories, attachment theory and

SDT, this writer was able to present to the reader how these two theories have spawned the social

networking sites and how these sites are helping people meet these basic psychological needs

revealing why the reader has chosen to be apart of these sites in which validates the statement he

sited above, “The positive correlation of Facebook use with connection exists because people


who go onto Facebook a lot must be getting something out of it—connection results from

Facebook use, rewarding and maintaining such use (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011)” validating

the attachment and SDT.

Method

Since it has already been presented that the purpose of this paper is to look at the

psychological theories that explain the purpose and the need for people to integrate social

networking sites into their lives, what those theories are, and why those theories spawned the

creation of social networking sites, like the most popular Facebook; the writer will now present

the method behind the research that validates the already presented literature review.

Attachment Theory and Facebook

Research Question(s) and/or Hypotheses

Based on the research from the attachment theory, it has been theorized that adults can

present a range of low to high on two continuums: “attachment anxiety” and “attachment

avoidance” in which the researchers incorporated both “attachment anxiety” and “attachment

avoidance” into their hypothesis. This hypothesis for this study is as follows: “The purpose of the

present study was to develop a model that explained the interrelationships among personality

characteristics, interpersonal competence, and Facebook use for the users of online social media”

and how attachment was integrated was “this investigation will include adult attachment, the

FFM personality traits extroversion and neuroticism, and interpersonal competency along with

Facebook use” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013).

This purpose for having this hypothesis presented in this way is to reveal how the

attachment theory and the components that have been integrated into this theory, like


“attachment anxiety” and “attachment avoidance”, affects a persons use on Facebook as well as

their behavior with other users of Facebook plus other social networking sites. Approaching their

hypothesis from an attachment theory perspective will helps validate how attachment theory is at

the heart of human relationships and interactions whether face-to-face or online but also

validates the type of attachments users came from due to results of the FFM traits of extroversion

and neuroticism.

Methodology

The methodology that was used in this study was a quantitative study with the use of

structural equation modeling to test how their theoretical approach explains the already presented

hypothesis. This type of methodology and approach will allow the researchers to validate their

hypothesis while also reveal why “young adults are increasingly integrating social media into

their daily lives and social behavior, and empirical work on the personality traits and

interpersonal competency associated with use and the potential consequences of use on social

behavior is still emerging” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013). The participants of

this study were college undergraduates between the ages of 17 through 22 from a medium Rocky

Mountain region university in which the students were instructed to take a survey via

SurveyMonkey.com. The sample size was 630 students with 617 of that 630 having a active

Facebook with 71.2% reporting being female and the data collected from the online survey was

adapted to measure Facebook use, attachment, Five-Factor Model (FFM) Personality Traits, and

interpersonal competence.

The questions from the survey that helped gather data about Facebook use were two

questions that centered around how minutes the users were logged onto Facebook and the


number of “Facebook friends” while the other remaining questions were centered around the

emotional attachment and the intensity of Facebook use. The questions from the survey that

helped gather data about attachment were 18 items that measured “attachment anxiety” and 18

items that measured “attachment avoidance” measuring a total of 36 items. Questions from the

survey that helped gather data about Five-Factor Model personality traits were 44 items that

made up five subscales corresponding to the five different traits that compose the model. The

questions from the survey that helped gather data about interpersonal competence were 40 items

that also made up five subscales of internal competence: initiating relationships, providing

emotional support, self-disclosing appropriately, challenging others, and managing conflict.

Data-Collection

Based on the information presented above, the data-collection process was an online

survey hosted by SurveyMonkey.com in which the results from this survey were used to develop

measures in four areas: Facebook use, attachment, Five-Factor Model Personality Traits, and

interpersonal competence. The purpose for the researchers collecting the data in this manner is

tied back to the development of proving their hypothesis because providing “a more

comprehensive model including multiple relevant constructs may help to inform psychologists

about the interrelationships among personality traits and online media technologies” (Jenkins-

Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013). By collecting the data in this way, the researchers were

also able to take the data from the four areas already presented to develop a final model

presenting to the readers the construct validity of this study.

Data-Analysis

In the area of Facebook use, the items used were based on two scales that measured


Facebook use, Ellison's scale on Facebook use and the Social Media Use Integration Scale

(SMUIS), and these items were integrated into a 5-point Likert-type rating scale ranging from 1

to 5. In the area of attachment, all items were based on the Experiences in Close Relationships-

Revised scale (ECR-R), and these items were integrated into a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging

from 1 to 7. In the area of Five-Factor Model personality traits, all items were based on the FFM

traits and these items are integrated with a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 5. In the

interpersonal competence area, these questions were based of the Interpersonal Competence

Scale (ICS), and again these items are integrated with a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1

to 5. This learner does find the data-analysis procedures appropriate for the methodology

because of the fact that the researchers chose the appropriate instruments to measure what the

hypothesis is wanting to validate and the integration of these four area along with their

designated measurement is sure to help with proving this study's hypothesis.

Reliability and Validity

This study has many different aspects in how the study was conducted and how the data

was collected that makes it a valid and reliable source more than just the face validity from the

online survey the participants took. The two scales that was used in measuring Facebook use

revealed the reliability of these scales: 1) Ellison's scale developers “found a Cronbach's alpha

reliability coefficient estimate of .83 and provided initial validity evidence by comparing scale

mean scores to measure of social capital and specific uses of Facebook” and 2) the SMUIS

produce strong convergent and discriminant validity, strong test-retest reliability, and a

standardized mean score (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013). The Five-Factor Model

personality traits have “adequate internal consistency estimates (.75-.90)” and strong convergent,


concurrent, and discriminant validity. The ICS used in the internal competence area also

demonstrated a Cronbach's alpha internal consistency estimates of its subscales ranging from .77

to .87 as well as concurrent and discriminant validity. It is clear that the reliabilities and the

validity's contained in the scales and subscales used to help collect data for this study reveal the

researchers approach their hypothesis from a valid and reliable way.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Facebook

Research Question(s) and/or Hypotheses

The first research question the researchers used, “are Facebook users thriving or

suffering?” in regards to the relatedness needs based on the SDT. The second research question

in the form of a hypothesis is “Facebook use results from dissatisfaction (specifically, the

presence of disconnection drives Facebook use)” while the third and final research question in

the form of a hypothesis is “that connection results from Facebook use, serving to reinforce that

use” (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011).

Answering these questions would solve the problem because they will provide answers to

why people feel the need to use Facebook in the first place, answering this will provide the basis

for the relatedness element of the SDT. From this point the positive and negative effects of using

Facebook in respect to relatedness will be revealed while also revealing how much someone will

use Facebook to satisfy that relatedness. In conclusion evidence produce will provide results

about the ones using Facebook because they feel disconnected and the ones that use Facebook as

a reward to show people that they are popular and a connected individual.

Methodology

The methodology used for this study was a quantitative study with a correlational


research approach which was experimental based on the way the data was collected in each of

the four studies. This type of methodology and approach will allow the researchers to answer the

questions presented above because since the researchers are looking at more than one

characteristic from a particular group, this group being young to older adults using Facebook,

plus the fact that the researchers are using a four part study to acquire this data reveals why this

type methodology is appropriate to answer above mentioned research questions.

Since this study was four part study that made up the study as whole the sample and

sampling procedure for each study is as follows: 1) in study one, the sample was that of 1,002

introductory psychological students that were recruited from the University of Missouri, that

took part in this research to help meet a research credit and the sampling procedure was that

these students took an online survey that measured relatedness and need-satisfaction; 2) in study

two, the sample was that of 96 introductory psychological students that were recruited from the

University of Missouri who were also regular Facebook users that were sent a link to a online

survey that measured both relatedness and need-satisfaction; 3) in the third study, the sample was

98 that took part to fulfill a research course requirement that were directed to a to sign up and

take a survey entitled “Online Survey of Facebook User's Attitudes” also that help measure both

relatedness and need-satisfaction; 4) in the fourth and final study, 94 introductory psychological

students that needed to fulfill a research requirement who represented a population that used

Facebook too much in which they were thinking about cutting down on their usage were sent a

link to take an online survey that was going to help measure their connectedness and

disconnectedness when using Facebook.

Data-Collection


Based on the information presented above, in all four studies the data-collection process

were surveys that the participants took, based on a qualification process done by the researchers,

in which these surveys would help measure and validate what the researchers were trying to

measure based on SDT. Although the data-collection process did help provide information into

how Facebook tied into SDT, especially relatedness and need-satisfaction, this learner does not

think the data-collection procedure was fully appropriate for the methodology because there was

no control group to based the findings against and the only validity that surveys validate is face

validity allowing the researchers to be a little to trusting with the data that they have collected.

What would have made the use surveys more appropriate is if they were used to help validate

another type of data-collection process like interviews or an assessment tool that utilizes both

observation and validity and reliability scales.

Data-Analysis

In the first and second studies, the six items that measure relatedness were subjected to a

axis factor analysis that contained an oblique rotation. Study three was based on 48 hour period

in which the participants took the survey and then again after 48 hours based on the same six

item scale from studies one and two, and the six item scale was used to measure connectedness

and disconnectedness in which both scores from the time the first survey was taken and the one

taken after 48 hours revealed high correlation that lead to standardization and then combined. In

study four, the same six item scale that was used in the first three studies was used was paired

with a t-test to help reveal whether the participants took answering the survey seriously. This

learner does find the data-analysis procedures appropriate for the methodology because of the

fact that since this study is being measured from a six item scale that was taken from the SDT, it


only makes since that the different data-analysis procedures used in each of the four studies be

based off this six item scale measuring the three components of the SDT.

Reliability and Validity

McDermott (2002), stated, “Experimental measures strive for reliability as well as

internal and external validity. Reliability and validity are central concepts in all experimental

measurement.” How this study contained internal validity was there was not a lot time that took

place between measurements, no intersession history took place in that there was no external

factors that prevented the study from taking place, the participants being tested did not need to

mature in their role over time, no performance effects were involved since the measure of study

were online survey's, there was no regression towards the mean because participants were picked

at random, there were no mortality's among the participants during the study, there were no

unreliable measures since there was no population shift or some other experimental condition

that was added.

The external validity this study contained was the experiment population was

representative to the population, the use of professional subjects, lack of spurious measures, and

no irrelevant measures. The reliability that this study contained was that the the true score theory

was applied in that the observed score was equated based on true ability and random error, low

measurement error in that a t-test was used to identify whether participants were answering

correctly, it validates the theory of reliability in that based on the growth of Facebook and its

users this study set itself up to be repeated, and one last form of reliability that this study utilized

was test-retest reliability on study three. By identifying the internal and external validity's plus

the reliabilities this makes the study this learner is discussing a credible source.


Expected Results


This source stated, “Given its increasingly prominent role in the developing identities,

interpersonal communication, and social behavior of young adults, new research must seek to

understand the personality characteristics associated with online social media use integration and

the potential impact of this use on their development (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson,

2013)” and it is from this statement that is at the center of what this writer believes the expected

results will reveal. On the area of Facebook use, the expected results are to reveal that people use

Facebook to feel “connected” or “in touch” with others while encouraging more Facebook use to

strengthen that social network plus increasing one's social network. Results on Facebook use all

will reveal those that use Facebook is because they do not feel “connected” or “in touch” with

increasing Facebook use to obtain that social network they are wanting to develop therefore

revealing the emotional results of Facebook use.

On the area of attachment, expected results are to reveal that one's from a secure

attachment regardless of a large or small social network will not present any form of “attachment

anxiety” or “attachment avoidance” versus those from a insecure attachment will present

evidences of “attachment anxiety” and “attachment avoidance” because Facebook allows people

to reject friend requests or remove them as friends which will play into validating the attachment

style Facebook users came from as well as encouraging successful attachments or the opposite

effect. On the area of the Five-Factor Model personality traits, the expected results are to reveal

people that presented extroversion personality traits due to the amount of friends, Facebook

usage, and attachment style while openness could be associated with people with either


extroversion or neuroticism personality traits, excluding “attachment avoidance”, and

neuroticism personality traits will also be revealed due to people testing positive for both

“attachment anxiety” and “attachment avoidance” in the attachment area.

The final area of interpersonal competence, the expected results are to reveal that that

people who did present “attachment anxiety” or “attachment avoidance” encourage the full

exploration of Facebook use whether it be initiating relationships, providing emotional support,

self-disclosing appropriately, challenging others, and managing conflict while the one's that

showed symptoms of “attachment anxiety” would use Facebook for seeking out emotional

support through self-disclosing or starting conflict while one's that showed symptoms of

“attachment avoidance” would do neither of these. These are the expected results which tie into

the presented statement as well as revealing how Facebook explains and provides an avenue for

people, regardless of attachment style, to express themselves and seek out new relationships.


The expected results for this study using the SDT as their guide in response to people

using Facebook is that: 1) it will validate that Facebook seems to be helping needs based on

SDT, 2) Facebook could provide new ways for “conceptualizing adaptive and maladaptive

behavior within SDT” (Sheldon, Abad, & Hinsch, 2011), and 3) “Such activities offer an easy

and painless route toward a social experience that people need, a route that indeed supplies

positive feelings but that does not manage to replace more concrete social relations” (Sheldon,

Abad, & Hinsch, 2011). Expected results will also reveal that Facebook can be viewed as a

double-edge sword in that it can provide the access for people to build, establish, and maintain

the need to belong and help other people feel a since of belongingness, relatedness, and


connectedness expanding on SDT but it can also aid in a persons already lack of belongingness

and relatedness therefore increasing in the disconnectedness they are experiencing if one cannot

manage to build the social group one is looking for. In conclusion, the expected results from this

study will “suggest that feelings of relatedness an competence satisfaction may offer a more

precise way of considering the positive feelings that reinforce attainment” due to what Facebook

can offer from a SDT lens (Sheldon & Schuler, 2011).

Discussion


When it comes to the attachment theory and its role that it plays into the users of

Facebook plus their use of Facebook, the literature does reveal that this psychological theory is

one of the main theories at the heart of this popular social networking site as well as others. One

source stated that “considerable evidence indicates that different types of attachment insecurity

(e.g., anxious ambivalence, avoidance) lead individuals to regulate their attention, emotion, and

behavior, emotion, and behavior in different ways (Elliot & Reis, 2003)” which Ellison,

Steinfield, & Lampe (2007) believes that this is one of the reason it leads young adults to

“develop new relationships through Facebook, maintain established relationships, and use this

medium for interpersonal communication” because it provides people of different attachment

styles to obtain some form of attention and attachment. This statement is also validated because

another source stated, “a rapidly accumulating body of research shows that personality

judgments based on Facebook pages can be accurate (Ivcevic & Ambady, 2012)” and the reason

this can be stated is because one's personality is at the heart of ones attachment style upbringing.

This writer would like to inform his reader that although you may or may not agree or


may not have even thought about how one uses Facebook first comes from one' attachment style,

the fact is that research presented here and current research being conducted on Facebook agrees

that one's Facebook use comes from one's attachment. To make the point even clearer, a credible

source states, “that attachment style may be the more influential competence construct predicting

interpersonal competence and online social behavior, and should be accounted for when

investigating the predictors of interpersonal variables” (Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson,

2013). This statement basically states that whether one is online on Facebook or engaging others

in face-to-face, ones attachment style follows them and it predicts how one's interactions,

communications, and behaviors will be executed in both mediums. Just like one cannot ignore

one's genetic make-up in certain aspects of a person, the attachment style can be viewed as the

genetic makeup for one's Facebook use.

To conclude these statements and to validate the literature, the above mentioned study on

attachment theory and Facebook results were presented in this way “with insecure attachment

style positively associated with neuroticism and negatively associated with

extraversion...individuals with more secure attachment will feel more comfortable and capable in

interpersonal relationships and social behavior, and by implication online social behavior”

(Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013). Based on these results, the writer would like to

inform to the reader that if one enjoys Facebook and is experiencing a positive social experience,

chances are either one is from a secure attachment in which it is in one's nature to engage in this

behavior or one is seeking out some positive secure social experience because of the insecure

attachment one comes from in which one is looking for people to either securely attach to or due

to avoidance one might not get to close although one has the desire to get close. When it comes


to Facebook use and the supported literature, attachment style will be at the heart of the user and

how one uses Facebook validating the second and other main psychological theory integrated

into social networking sites.


The above mentioned research and the expected results have made it very clear that the

three psychological needs composed of the SDT, especially relatedness, validate that this other

important psychological theory is also at the heart of these social networking sites like Facebook.

Ryan (1995) presented it this way, “In other words, the more people report experiencing these

three needs the better they feel and do, just as plants thrive fully when their needs for sun, soil,

and water are met” in that it could be viewed that Facebook as being one of the rays from the sun

that one receives on a daily basis to help their social circle grow and flourish. In order for people

to receive this daily ray of sunshine (relatedness), it is clear Facebook and other social

networking sites have become one the number one ways to receive theses rays consistently due

to technology where people are always connected and have access. “As technology affords more

opportunities to connect easily and efficiently with expanded networks of social relations, human

psychology adapts by increasing network size and creating specialized functions for different

network members (Manago, Taylor, & Greenfield, 2012)” which allows one to maintain their

relatedness at anytime but just like a plant too much sun will cause it to dry out if there is not a

lot of soil or water, too much water will cause the plant drown, and not enough soil will cause it

not receive the nutrients and this can be said the same to what technology is doing for people.

The reader can see now that Facebook helps the users, including the reader, feel and stay

connected to their friends and family members regardless of where they live plus with many


types of technology (laptops, smartphones, and tablets) validates that people can have many

ways to have that psychological need of “relatedness” met. While this a benefit to people in

getting this basic psychological need met it also cause the users of these sites to develop

addictive behaviors or not be beneficial if not used in moderation because just like it was

mentioned with the plant too much of anything is not good causing malnutrition. The study on

SDT and Facebook revealed that “these studies have interesting implications for a number of

issues, including theories of basic psychological needs, theories of addiction and coping, and

theories to explain the popularity yet potential downsides of social networking (Sheldon, Abad,

& Hinsch, 2011)” and just like how internet gaming disorder was added the new DSM-V, this

provides avenue for a new type of addiction to be studied and researched because there has been

news reports of babies injuring themselves or dying because of parental neglect due to the parent

paying more attention to Facebook than their child. One last important aspect to reveal to the

reader on how the psychological need of “relatedness” from SDT and how it has been implicated

into social networking sites is the transformation of intimacy between friends, family members,

and romantic relationships which is part of feeling like they are related as one source stated “this

finding indicates that self-disclosure, a hallmark of intimacy, has gone public, transforming the

nature of intimacy development for emerging adults” (Manago, Taylor, & Greenfield, 2012).

In concluding SDT and Facebook, people have a need to connect and relate in which

these social networking sites help encourage plus providing an avenue for people to do this

especially with the advancement of technology and connected devices. This need for relatedness

validates the psychological need described in SDT as well as the two (autonomous and

competent) in which Facebook allows the users seek out this need, maintain, and develop but it


also provides an avenue for the users to develop maladaptive and addictive symptoms to the

point to where the users could neglect their responsibilities and real life experiences. Sheldon,

Abad, & Hinsch (2011) revealed that “such activities offer an easy and painless route toward a

social experience that people need, a route that indeed supplies positive feelings but that does not

manage to replace concrete social relations” which should be a word of caution for all users that

Facebook has its benefits and disadvantages but face-to-face relationships are more satisfying

when it comes to the psychological needs of the SDT because this writer sees Facebook as being

an easy and lazy way when it comes the psychological needs of SDT.

Conclusion

This learner's proposed research question that was presented and answered in this paper

was as follows: What are the psychological theories that explain the purpose and the need that

people have integrating social networking sites into their lives? This learner connected the

literature and the research of two psychological theory's: 1) Attachment Theory and 2) Self-

Determination Theory (SDT), that not only explains the reasoning behind our attachments to

various people in the world while also explaining the three basic psychological needs,

“relatedness” for example, that our world strives to get met through social interaction with our

world, but this learner also used this literature and research to reveal that the most popular

growing social networking sites, like Facebook, are built on these two theories which is why they

have been so successful. In order for this paper to be relevant and the research used to be valid to

the reader and future readers, it must contain some form of a scientific merit, have an ethical

integration, and be able to be applied from a multicultural and diverse aspect.

The research used were products of good scientific merit and scientific merit is important


because “Scientific merit is the degree of quality of a research project. When the scientific merit

of a research study is high, this means that the research has contributed valuable, meaningful,

and valid information to a scientific discipline” (Capella University, 2013). Having a high

scientific merit is a must for any a research study and in order for a research study to have

scientific merit it must contain at least one, if not all three dimensions: 1) Advance Knowledge

Base, Contribution To Theory, and Hallmarks of Good Research. Based on the information

presented in this paper reveals that the research used were prime examples of scientific merit

because this paper is an example of advancing the knowledge base of both attachment theory and

SDT, the research also took two psychological theory's and were able to contribute to how theory

validates the theory around social networking sites, and based on the validity and reliability

presented reveals that the research met the hallmarks of good research. The ethical integration

can be stated in this manner when it comes to psychological professionals and their social

networking use, “If an online relationship allows a client with poor boundaries an opportunity to

gain access to personal information about their clinician, this can be construed as a dual

relationship, which has the likelihood to negatively impact the effectiveness of therapy, and

would be discouraged by our code of ethics” (Tunick, Mednick, & Conroy, 2011).

Social networking sites are appealing to everyone regardless of one's profession, age, and

culture which is why as a psychological professional it is one's primary ethical obligation to “do

no harm” and when using these sites one should use strong ethical reasoning to decide whether

maintaining a membership is worth the risk because as psychological professionals we are called

to a higher calling and if that Facebook account is very important to the point one cannot delete it

or leave it then it is the responsibility of the professional to use the highest security settings


possible so that dual relationship does not get established, abiding by confidentiality, and to

uphold the “do no harm” ethical obligation. Since it was presented that Facebook users has

exponentialy increased since its launch while also making it a world-wide phenomenon reveals

that this paper, the literature, and the research has multicultural and diversity appeal regardless of

the sample sizes that the data was collected from, which was primarily American college

students and young adults. To tie it back to the information that was presented in the Journey

Into History section, everyone has a story to tell as well as being able to communicate that story

to friends, family, and future generations in which the users of Facebook plus other social

networking sites have the global platform to tell their story that starts at the heart of what

attachment style they came from while also having the desire to get those psychological needs

met based on SDT.


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Why The Need For Social Media

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