The Need for Attachment: Demonstrations through Teens’ Photos on MySpace and Facebook

1. David E. Szwedo, Amori Yee Mikami, Joseph P. Allen, & Meredyth A. EvansUniversity of Virginia The Need for Attachment: Demonstrations through Teens’ Photos on MySpace and Facebook David E. Szwedo dszwedo@virginia.edu This study was made possible by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator (Grant# R01-MH58066) Introduction Method 2. Preoccupied adolescents posted: - more pictures featuring same-age peers (β = .37, p < .01) - more pictures of deviant behavior (β = .28, p < .05) SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES: - Allow users to share information with others in their network including: - Name, current location - Interests, favorite music, TV shows, movies, books, etc. - Photos - Messages to one another than can be seen by all network members - Facebook and MySpace have a combined 165 million active users - Evenly distributed by gender (ComScore, 2007) - 93% of U.S. youth are online (Lenhart et al., 2007) - More than 50% of these youth interact via social-networking websites • Participants • Data were collected from a larger multi-method, multi-reporter, longitudinal • study of adolescent social development • 62 adolescents (24 males and 38 females) • mean age = 14.72; SD = 0.74 at Time 1; • mean age = 20.53; SD = 0.97 at Time 2 • 68% White; 21% African-American; 3% Asian; 8% Mixed/Other • Median income = $40,000-$60,000 Table 3. Predicting pictures posted featuring same-age peers from preoccupied attachment. Table 4. Predicting pictures posted of deviant behavior from preoccupied attachment. Measures Adult Attachment Interview and Q-sort(AAI, George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996; Q-sort, Kobak et al., 1993). Participants were asked to explain their childhood relationships with each of their parents and to recall examples supporting their depictions. Individuals were assigned adult attachment classifications based on the coherence of their responses. The Attachment Q-sort procedure was used to determine continuous measures of qualities of attachment organization. Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents(Harter, 1988). The social acceptance scale from this measure was reported by youths’ close peers to assess youths’ in-person peer acceptance (alpha = .80). Adult Behavior Checklist(Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003). The rule-breaking behavior and intrusive behavior scales were combined to create a general in-person deviancy scale. Reliability for the scale was high (alpha = .88). Pictures of Youth with Same-Age Peers (Szwedo, Mikami, & Evans, 2007). Photos posted on youths’ MySpace or Facebook pages were assigned a global rating 0-3 to indicate the degree to which they featured the presence of same-age peers (intraclass r = . 85). Pictures of Youth Featuring Deviant Behavior (Szwedo, Mikami, & Evans, 2007). Photos posted on youths’ MySpace or Facebook pages were assigned a global rating 0-3 to indicate the degree to which their photos featured behavior that might be considered inappropriate by an employer or authority figure (intraclass r = .76). ATTACHMENT IN ADOLESCENCE: - Secure state of mind has been associated with: - increased peer competence (Allen, Moore, Kuperminc, & Bell, 1998) - more supportive best friendships and wider social acceptance (Zimmermann, 2003) - lower levels of deviant behavior (Allen et al., 1998) - Preoccupied state of mind has been associated with: - lower acceptance from peer groups (Zimmermann, 2003) - higher levels of deviant behaviors (Allen et al., 2002) - Dismissing state of mind has been associated with: - lower friendship quality and less involvement in peer groups (Zimmermann, 2003) - higher levels of deviant behaviors (Rosenstein & Horowitz, 1996) † p < .10* p≤ .05 ** p < .01 *** p < .001 † p < .10 * p < .05 3. Dismissing adolescents: - trend toward posting more pictures featuring same-age peers (β = .28, p < .10) - did not post more pictures of deviant behavior (β = .22, NS) Table 5. Predicting pictures posted featuring same-age peers from dismissing attachment. Table 6. Predicting pictures posted of deviant behavior from dismissing attachment. THEORY: - Deviant behavior may be a signal for attention and express a desire for attachment-related behaviors from others (Allen & Land, 1999; Kobak et al., 1993) - Perspective-taking that occurs during adolescence may permit youth to anticipate others’ reactions to such deviant behavior (Kobak et al., 1993) - On social-networking websites, displaying many photos of a) oneself with many friends b) oneself and peers engaging in deviant behavior may be attachment-related behaviors intended to increase attention from others Results † p < .10 * p≤ .05 † p < .10 * p≤ .05 Conclusions 1. Secure adolescents posted: - fewer pictures featuring same-age peers (β = -.32, p = .05) - fewer pictures of deviant behavior (β = -.39, p < .05) Secure youth may feel more satisfied with their in-person relationships and might not be motivated to attempt to attract the attention of others by posting photos online that display their friendships or deviant behavior. Preoccupied youth may choose to display more photos featuring peers and deviant behavior on MySpace and Facebook in an attempt to draw more attention to themselves. These individuals may do so in an attempt to appear more socially desirable to others and with the hope of making new social connections online. Dismissing individuals may also utilize MySpace and Facebook to reach out to others. Although these results were not significant, their direction suggests that these youth may also tend to try to signal a degree of desirability to others with the kinds of photos they post. It is possible that they too desire to connect with others and think that demonstrating this need online is emotionally safer than in person. Hypotheses Table 1. Predicting pictures posted featuring same-age peers from secure attachment. Table 2. Predicting pictures posted of deviant behavior from secure attachment. 1. Secure adolescents will post: - fewer pictures featuring same-age peers - fewer pictures of deviant behavior 2. Preoccupied adolescents will post: - more pictures featuring same-age peers - more pictures of deviant behavior 3. Dismissing adolescents will post: - more pictures featuring same-age peers - more pictures of deviant behavior * p≤ .05 * p≤ .05