Imaginary Audience

 

Decreases in Psychological Well-Being Among American Adolescents After 2012 and Links to Screen Time During the Rise of Smartphone Technology

This article has 2 goals. The first goal is to document trends in adolescent wellbeing and behavior. The second goal is to focus on possible mechanism behind these trends. There are two mechanisms this article looks at economic conditions of adolescents as well as screen time spent on electronic devices including social media, texting and internet use. This article studies Eighth, 10th, and 12th graders between 1991 and 2016. Student were asked six items from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale. The results showed that between 2012 and 2016 students reported that their self esteem decreased significantly. This is a strong study because it is longitudinal. It studies people over different time periods. This helps compare results of adolescents over different decades with different social influences.

The power and the pain of adolescents’ digital communication: Cyber victimization and the perils of lurking.

In this article psychologist study the effect of social media and cyberbullying on the adolescent psyche.In this study psychologists seek to understand more about the subtle but potentially serious risks that cyber bullied adolescents might face. Even a single episode of cyberbullying and the pain of social exclusion and social comparison can be a result of vast amounts of time reading large social media feeds and seeing friends doing things without you and comparing your inner emotional experience to everyone else’s highly groomed depictions of their seemingly marvelous lives. This article is very powerful. Cyber bullying is a huge and relatively new threat on adolescents in today's society.

Understanding the experience of imaginary audience in a social media environment: Implications for adolescent development.

This article studies how social media heightens adolescents sense of the imaginary audience. Imaginary audience is the belief, typically heightened during adolescence, that others are looking at and thinking about you at almost all times. Due to this sense of an imaginary audience adolescents are more cognizant of what they post on social media, as well as what others think of their social media post. this research indicates that Facebook use is related to characteristics of adolescent development. This is a good study because it combines aspects of developmental psychology and applies it to current adolescent issues.

Media as Social Influence: Racial Differences in the Effects of Peers and Media on Adolescent Alcohol Cognitions and Consumption

This article studies how the influence of media effects drug use amongst different races. From social media, to tv, to film the media glorifies alcohol and drug use. Studies show a correlation between the amount of media viewed with images of drug and alcohol use with the age adolescents start using. This study shows that black adolescents start using drugs later and at a less alarming rate than white adolescents who use drugs and alcohol at an earlier age and a more alarming rate. This is a surprising finding in spite of the fact that black adolescents are living in environments with easier access to substances. Although many researchers have discussed this important paradox, there is no consensus as to why it exists. One hypothesis, explored in this study, involves social influence: Black adolescents are thought to be less vulnerable to peer pressure than are White adolescents. This article is a great one because it challenges myths about the african american community.

A conceptual framework for examining adolescent identity, media influence, and social development.

This article outlines linkages between media exposure and adolescent development, in particular adolescent identity formation and social competence. In this day and age adolescents develop in an environment saturated with technology, multiculturalism, and mass media imagery. This article discusses a framework to solving the problem of media and its influence on adolescents. It is clear that millennial are growing up in the digital age. But how can psychologist help them develop in a healthy way in spite of the many media influences. 

Cite this page