The Role of Facebook on Body Image Consciousness Among Adolescents Ages 12-15 Prior to Social Acceptance

The Role of Facebook on Body Image Consciousness

Among Adolescents Ages 12-15 Prior to Social Acceptance

A Thesis

Presented to the Faculty of

Glendale School

Paradise Village Campus

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Completion of

Junior High School Program

Anne Raelene Felipe

Rodolfo Alcantara Jr.

Aeron John Pagaoa

February 19, 2018

ABSTRACT

This study examines the influence of Facebook on the body image consciousness of adolescents ages 12-15 prior to social acceptance. It aims to determine the factors from Facebook that causes an effect on adolescents’ body image. 40 students were chosen as respondents for this study that are from Glendale School Inc. These students are selected with a strict rule of only within the 12-15 age range. The methods used in this research are both qualitative and quantitative methods. To gather data, a survey questionnaire was used and some questions were based from previous studies done by previous researchers from Glendale School Inc. The results stated that Facebook isn’t really playing much of a role on how they act and how they think about themselves.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

            According to Brandon (2011), adolescents are more impressionable than any other age group. This is because this is a time when they are developing their identities in such a way that society will accept. As what Brandon said, adolescent period is the point in time when you start developing. You start developing yourself into someone that you think the society will accept and you mold your own identity to who you should be so you’ll be accepted by the society. 

On Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory (1963) Adolescence is the stage of identity versus role confusion. This is the stage where individuals attempt to find their own identity, struggle with social interactions and grapple with moral issues. As per Erikson said, the adolescence period is where a human being starts to have that seeking for identity and to add to that like what Brandon said those who are in their teenager years or adolescent years, this is really the stage where you go and find or create your identity.

According to Greg Sterling (2013), there are 94% of teenagers who has or uses Facebook. It is quite a big number therefore we can say that in an everyday of someone who is in his/her adolescence period at this time is a Facebook user.

Statement of the Problem and Research Questions

            This study aims to identify the impacts of Facebook to the body image consciousness of Filipino adolescents within the age range of 12-15 years old. Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions: 

1. How can the respondents be known?

• Age (Preferably 12-15 yrs. old)
• Gender
• Grade Level

2. Is there a difference on the effects of Facebook to the body image satisfaction between Filipino adolescents with the classification of:

• Age (Preferably 12-15 yrs. old)
• Gender
• Grade Level

3. What are the common factors of being socially accepted according to the respondents?

4. How does the usage of Facebook affect the respondents’ need for social acceptance?

5. What is the relationship between using Facebook and the body image consciousness of the respondents?

Significance

The significance of this study is to know the relationship between social media, specifically Facebook, and the body image consciousness of Filipino adolescents within the age range of 12-15 years old. To be able to differentiate these impacts in terms of the respondents’ gender and grade level. And lastly, to be able to know the various factors that influences social acceptance with body image on Facebook.

Scope and Delimitations

This study focuses on identifying the different aspects of the connection between Facebook and the Filipino adolescents’ body image consciousness. One of the limitations of this research is that it relies on the research and data got from the respondents’ honesty. The researchers limited the age as well of adolescents to 12-15 since this is the age that kids develop mostly of his/her maturity.  The researchers also focus only on one social media or social networking site which is Facebook and no other SNS or Social Media.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Social Media and Body Image Connections

Social media may not be connected to the views of the people on their own body image but it is clear that there are indeed connections between the social media and the body image of several people and that these connections are influencing the latter for the worse. Social media refers to some forms of media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Advertisements, etc. Body image refers to the vital aesthetics of a human body, such as weight, height, skin color, etc. There are many things that can go wrong when it comes to influences of social media on body image.

These are some of the accounts from various forms of literature that seek to support the claim that there are indeed connections between social media and body image.

           The number of daily users is 890 million who spend 21 minutes on Facebook on average. From these two numbers, we can calculate that users spend 35,559 years on Facebook every day. If we paid 5 USD for 1 hour of Facebook use, it would cost 1,557,500,000 U.S Dollars per hour (Bőthe, Gábor, Tóth-Király, 2015).

Valkenburg and Peter (2013) stated that young women with the previously-described vulnerability characteristics, preexisting body image disturbances, and eating disorder symptomatology should be particularly likely to seek out pro-eating disorder sites, as transactional perspectives suggest (Perloff, 2014).

            The study conducted by Kratzer, Fetchenhaver & Belschak (2009) was designed to determine

 if internet bullying was as prevalent as bullying in person in school-aged children. 

They were interested in learning if victims of cyberbullying were simultaneously victims in other environments such as school or if the victims of cyberbullying were completely different from other types of bullying. They found that some students that are bullying victims at school often use the anonymity of the internet to become bullies themselves (Balogun, Omolayo, Omole, 2013).

Conversely, Filipino culture places value in not being ultra-thin; being too thin raises concerns that an individual is undernourished and more prone to sickness (Farrales & Chapman, 1999). Many Asian cultures value plumpness over thinness as it has also been viewed as a status symbol signifying wealth and affluence (Hall, 1995). A Canadian study conducted by Farrales and Chapman (1999), which measures the attitudes towards body weight and image of Canadians and first-generation Filipino women found that, although the Filipino respondents answered similarly to their Canadian counterparts in regards to wanting to be thinner, they also responded that they ultimately did not feel that they were dissatisfied with their figures based on the Filipino value in favor of plumpness (Dionisio, 2016),

Social comparison behavior not only lowers body satisfaction and increases attractiveness standards like seen time and time again in the studies mentioned above, but it can also lead to severe consequences such as anorexia and bulimia (Wallis, 2013).

Conceptual Framework

            This conceptual framework will help us the researchers to gather proper information that will

 lead the researchers to the answers to know THE ROLE OF FACEBOOK IN BODY IMAGE CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG ADOLESCENTS AGES 12-15 PRIOR TO SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE.

           Firstly, Data Gathering, under it is researching from past works, and also of course conducting a survey of respondents. The first thing to do is that the researchers will distinguish their demographics such as how old they are and their gender. 

Then after that on the survey we also asked on how much time they spent on using the Facebook, their activities on Facebook such as what do they share, what do they like, what do they post and also why. With these, the researchers believe that the answer to questions may be answered through this process.

Definition of Terms

Body Dissatisfaction: Defined as “...the experience of negative thoughts and esteem about one’s body” (Dittmar, 2009, p. 1). It is someone’s lack of satisfaction with her/his body.

Body Image: Defined as the way in which a person views his or her body; it is a part of a person’s identity and sense of self, impacting mental and physical well-being (Dittmar, 2009). It is a person’s identity. It is one’s sense of self.

Body Satisfaction: Defined as “...the degree of with one’s current physical self (size, shape, general appearance)” (Jones, 2001, p. 645). Being satisfied with the current body that you have.

Social Acceptance: “If you turn on the television set, and watch any reality TV program, most of them are about rejection and acceptance,” he says. The reason, DeWall says, is that acceptance—in romantic relationships, from friends, even from strangers—is absolutely fundamental to humans (DeWall N. 2011). It often has a norm that follows to be accepted by a society. The norms vary depending on the society he or she lives in.

Social Media:  Forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos) (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). It is a media platform that uses the internet that connects people all around the globe.

Facebook: Facebook is defined as an online social networking website where people can 

create profiles, share information such as photos and quotes about themselves, and respond or link to the information posted by others (YourDictionary, 2017). It is one of the Social Networking Sites used to connect people around the world, share information, such as photos, posts, and lets you create a profile for others to know you.

CHAPTER 3:

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

            In this chapter, the researchers will be ready to gather information that will determine the conclusion of this thesis. They will also be ready to make special accounts about the topic of the thesis itself. To this point, they will use methods and procedures for collecting information from their samples as well as making special accounts about the topic that they are trying to tackle. These methods range from conducting survey questionnaires to making graphs in order to finalize their statistics. The procedures for those methods are rather specific, following a certain pattern that makes those methods easy to use. This chapter basically shows all of the methods and procedures that the researchers are doing to find the answers that will tackle their own topic. They will consider which methods to use and how to exactly use their methods before finally making conclusions.

Data gathering and procedure

The first step for data gathering is creating the survey questionnaire. This survey will serve as an instrument for gathering the response of the participants on questions that are related to their usage of Facebook, body image and social acceptance. The title of this study and the basic information of it was presented on the first page of the questionnaire. The names of the researchers and the purpose of this study were explained. For the benefit of the participants, it was also explained that their answers are kept confidential and will only be used for the benefit of this study.

For choosing the participants that will answer the survey, the researchers intended to find the respondents based on what is needed for this study. Since it is needed to differentiate the answers based on Grade level, the researchers decided that students will be the one to answer it. They also based on the age range which is 12-15 years old. In terms of sex, both male and female students will be given the questionnaire.

When the time of giving the survey questionnaires to the respondents approached, the respondents were expected to answer the survey within 10 minutes. But even then, the pressure to answer quickly was not tolerated for the benefit of having more accurate answers and let them answer it as fast as they can.

Once the survey questionnaires were answered and gathered, the researchers will go through it one by one before analyzing the whole survey. This is for knowing if the answers will be eligible enough to be used for the analysis. After that, the researchers will proceed to analyze and organizing the answers of each respondent.

Respondents

The researchers gathered students with ages 12-15 from Glendale School as participants for this study. These students are enrolled in the School Year 2017-2018. Both female and male students were gathered from different grade levels and all in all, there are 40 students that answered this survey.

Researchers

The researchers of this study are named Anne Raelene Felipe, Rodolfo Alcantara, and Aeron Pagaoa. We are Grade 10 students in Glendale School Inc. located in the Philippines and are enrolled in the School Year 2017-2018.

Research Design

This study used both qualitative and quantitative. A Survey questionnaire was used to gather information and to collect data from the respondents/participants. The independent variables are how much the respondents are exposed to Facebook, the hours spent on using Facebook, their age, and their gender. The dependent variable of it is the social acceptance of each participant.

Instruments

The instrument that will be used to gather and organize information for this study is a survey questionnaire. This questionnaire will include items concerning their use of Facebook and their response on social acceptance based on their body image. All of the information gathered through this instrument would be organized through the use of graphs such as pie graphs, bar graphs, and line graphs.

Variables and Measures 

The following formula is what the researchers used to indicate the percentage of the data gathered from the respondents’ answers on the questionnaire that is provided by the researchers.

The researchers used this formula:

Percentage (%) = f/n *100

The equivalent of the variables in the formula are the following:

f = no. of response/answers from the respondents

n = total number of the respondents

100 = constant

CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

Table 1. Facebook Account

This chart shows that 92% of our respondents said yes that have and they are using Facebook. 

Table 2. Using Facebook

    Pie graph number 2 shows the percentage of how often do they use their Facebook accounts.

            47% of the respondents answered that they sometimes use their Facebook accounts, which means the majority of the respondents are not so active Facebook users. Followed by respondents who are always using Facebook which is 34% of the researchers’ respondents which means that 34% of the respondents are active Facebook users. Follow by rarely with 11% and lastly by Frequently at 8%.

Table 3. Status Update on Facebook

This pie chart shows how often do Facebook users update their status on their Facebook accounts. Leading with 55% answered by the respondents which is rarely, means even though there's a lot of active Facebook users, they don't update their status that much. Follow by sometimes with 39% and then 6% for always, and 0% both for frequently and never. 

Table 4. Uploading Pictures

This pie chart indicates how many of our respondents upload pictures on their respective Facebook accounts.

            A majority of 89% out of 100% of our respondents answered yes, yes they do upload pictures on Facebook, although they don’t update their status that much, they still upload pictures on Facebook. 11% said that they don’t upload pictures on Facebook.

Table 5. Times Uploading Pictures

This pie chart goes to show how much or how often the respondents upload pictures on Facebook.

            With a 46% respondents answered this choice which is rarely, which basically means that even though they upload pictures, they rarely do it. Followed by sometimes with 43% and Often with 11% and never and always both at 0% which shows that most or majority of our respondents' posts pictures but not so often since majority said they rarely upload photos.

Table 6. Other Ways to Use Facebook

               This chart shows what other things do the respondents do other than uploading pictures and updating status on Facebook.

      As seen on the chart majority of the respondents answered that they connect with Family/Relatives at 17%. With that followed closely by Sending and receiving messages at 16% followed by connecting with friends at 15% and then at 12% both getting updated on current events and reading news and information. 11% of being updated with school works. And then it’s followed by Playing games with 5% and then both at 4% is buying products and service also is downloading/uploading videos. At 3% Downloading/Uploading music and finally at 1% Selling products and services. 
                            The chart shows that majority of the respondents other than uploading pictures or updating the status, they use Facebook to communicate primarily with their families and then to communicate with their friends. So basically, they use Facebook for communication.

              

Table 7. Matter of Likes

            This chart shows if the respondents care for likes that their posts get. If it bothers them on how many likes they get, 66% of the researchers’ respondents say that they're neutral about the topic. Followed by 17% saying that they Agree that the Likes on their Facebook posts matters to them. While 14% disagrees there’s still 3% that strongly agrees or admits that the like matter to them while no one answered that they strongly disagree with it. 

            Some say that they are neutral about likes because their family and/or relatives like their posts and they support them. Some strongly disagree because the likes that they get don’t really what they are in real life. 

            This chart or pie chart shows how often do the respondents like posts on Facebook. 

           The thesis data indicated with a graph shows that 54% or the majority of our respondents that they sometimes like posts on Facebook. Followed by often at 24% and then 19% with always and then 3% for rarely and no one answered that they never like posts Facebook posts.

             This part of the thesis questions what kind of things the respondents like and are interested in.
            The thesis data show that 17% or majority shows that mostly likes Facebook posts that are known as fun facts.This is followed by posts about comedy with a percentage of 16%. Next, are
posts about fun facts and posts about pictures with 13% each. Next, are posts about tips or hacks with 11%. Next, are posts about news and posts about stories with 8% each. Lastly, posts related to education and posts about quotes with 7% each. 

               This chart shows how many of the respondents care about the comments they get on their Facebook posts.

            The chart shows that 68% or the majority of the respondents are undecided if they agree or disagree. Followed by 16% of respondents agreeing that they care and that comments matter to them. 11% said that they disagree followed by strongly agree with 5% and Strongly disagree at 0%.

             The respondents answered that they disagree that the comments on their posts matter to them, they said that it doesn’t really matter to them really. To those who said that they strongly agree said that so they know what others reaction and what are their thoughts about them. 

Table 11. Times Commenting on Posts

          This chart shows the number of times the respondents comment on different posts on Facebook.

             The chart shows that most of the respondents said that they rarely comment on posts with a percentage of 47.50%. This is followed by “sometimes” with 30%. Next is “often” with 15% and then “never” with 7.50%. Lastly, “always” with 0%.

Table 12. Posts they Comment On

            This chart shows what posts that the respondents are most interested in the point that they chose to comment on it.

              The data shows that posts concerning the topic of comedy have the highest percentage which is 67.50%. This is followed by posts about entertainment with 52.50% and then posts about pictures with 47.50%. Next, post about tips or hacks with 27.50% and posts about stories with 22.50%. In 6^th place post about the news with 20% and in the 7th post about quotes with 12.50%. Lastly, posts related to education with 10% only. 

Table 13. Using Filters or Enhancers

            This chart shows how many of our respondents use filter or enhancer on their photos before uploading it.

            The chart shows the majority of the respondents does not use filter or enhancer on their photos with a percentage of 57%.

Table 14. Reason Behind Using Filter or Enhancer

That chart shows the reasons why the respondents use filter or enhancer on their photos before uploading them on Facebook.

The chart shows that 44% or the majority of respondents rarely use the filter on their photos, followed by 38% of respondents claiming that they used such utilities to enhance the quality of the photos. 6% of respondents claimed that they used the utilities to hide their blemishes, pimples, scars, etc. The other 6% of respondents claimed that they used them to feel more attractive. 3% of respondents claimed that they used the same utilities to feel more confident. The other 3% of respondents claimed that they used the same utilities as well, just to get many likes. None of the respondents claimed that they used them for the purpose of getting their photos to garner more comments.

This chart shows how many of the respondents took selfies.

It reveals that the majority of the respondents (68%) said that they did take selfies and that the minority of the respondents (32%) said that they don’t take selfies.

Table 16. Reason Behind Taking Selfies

This chart seeks to analyze the reasons why the respondents take selfies.

 It shows that the majority of respondents (47%) said that they took selfies just because they wanted to take one. The minority consists of 24% of respondents saying that they don’t take selfies, 16 respondents saying that they took selfies so that they can see how they look like, 11% of respondents saying that they took selfies just to have something to post o Facebook, 6% of respondents saying that they took selfies for the sake of letting others see how tey look like right and 3% of the respondensts saying that they took selfies for the sake of letting their social media friends to see what they really looked like. None of the respondents claimed that they took selfies to lure other people to like them and eventually be friend with them.

Table 17. Times Taking Selfies Within a Day

This chart shows how many selfies the respondents took in a single day.

It reveals that the majority of respondents (67%) said that they never took even a single selfie in a single day. The minority of respondents said they took some selfies in a single day. 18% of them said that they took one or two selfies in a day, 8% of them said that they took three, four or five selfies in a single day. 7% of them said that they took six or more selfies in a single day.

Table 18. Number of Photos Before Uploading

This chart shows how many shots that the respondents have made before uploading the best one for them would-be photos.

It reveals that the majority of respondents (43%) have taken between 1 and 3 shots before picking the best shot to post as their would-be photo. 35% of respondents have taken between 4 and 7 shots, 11% of respondents have taken between 8 and 11 shots, 6% of respondents have taken between 12 and 15 shots and 5% of respondents have taken 16 or more shots

Table 19. Changes Because of Facebook

This chart demonstrates the influences Facebook has imposed on the respondents based on their looks.

It states that the majority of respondents (54%) haven’t changed even after viewing some content in Facebook. The minority of respondents have claimed to have been changing after viewing some content in Facebook. 14% of respondents have changed their hairstyle, 13% of respondents have changed their clothing style, 3% of respondents have tried putting on make-ups, other 3% of respondents have begun a diet and other 13% of respondents have changed their ways they viewed others, all because of Facebook.

Table 20. Opinion on Own Body

 This chart determines whether if Facebook is really influencing the respondents to change their body image for the better or not.

Turns out, majority of respondents (32%) have agreed about this argument, while 30% of respondents are uncertain about this argument. It is also worth noting that 22% of respondents have strongly agreed to this argument. Only 13% and 3% of respondents have disagreed and strongly disagreed, respectively.

Table 21. Influence of Social Media Especially Facebook on Teenagers

This chart does the same purpose as #20, except it explains the views of respondents on several forms of social media (including Facebook) based on its influences on body image.

It determines whether social media is influencing the body image for the better, according to the accounts of the respondents.

Turns out, the majority of respondents (53%) have agreed to this statement, while 30% of the respondents are uncertain whether this statement is validated or not. It is also worth noting that 17% of respondents have even strongly agreed. In the other hand, no one has ever disagreed or strongly disagreed. 

CHAPTER 5

          CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 

Conclusion

Based on the survey that was conducted and research about the Role of Facebook in body image consciousness on adolescents ages 12-15 years old prior to social acceptance, the study now concludes what is the role of Facebook is playing on how adolescents view themselves, how conscious they are about their body.

The respondents were first asked the time spent and what sort of activities that they do on Facebook. Even though mostly of the respondents said that they rarely update their Facebook statuses, they still post pictures online. Other than posting pictures and updating status online they also use Facebook to connect with Family/Friends.

The next part was asking the respondents if the likes and comments they get from posting on their Facebook accounts matter to them, and majority said that no, it doesn’t really bother them. The primary reasons why are that it doesn’t really bother them if they get any likes. Also that likes or comments doesn’t really determine who they really are.

Then the respondents were asked if they take selfies and majority said yes and the reason behind that is they just want to take a selfie and they were asked how many do they take before posting and they answered only 1-3 shots. They were also asked if they use any filters or enhancers to their photos before posting it and majority said no.

As the data is stating that the adolescents who develops body image consciousness, Facebook isn’t really playing much of a role on how they act and how they think about themselves. Seeing that they are active Facebook users but then again contradicting on what the society say that kids do what they see online, kids do this because of what they see online, but as the data says. It isn’t all true.

Recommendations

These recommendations are made for the improvement of this study and for the next researchers.

1.      1.      The researchers only focused on what Facebook can do to the body image consciousness of Filipino adolescents. For a wider description of it, find other aspects of Facebook that can be seen as a factor of being an influence on body image consciousness.

     2. Since this research is all about the personal opinion of adolescents on their body image, it is recommended to not just use a survey questionnaire for gathering data but also doing an interview. This will help the researchers in explaining the results in a more detailed way.

1    3.   Using a wider age range for this study is recommended since this research only focused on the starting point of the adolescent stage. This may be done as long as it is still included in the adolescent range. 

1    4. This study only conducted a survey on 40 respondents and not all of them have Facebook. Because of this, it is recommended to have a larger number of respondents to be able to have a broader data.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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