Term of Award
Summer 2014
Degree Name
Master of Science in Experimental Psychology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Psychology
Committee Chair
Michael E. Nielsen
Committee Member 1
Rebecca Ryan
Committee Member 2
Janice Steirn
Abstract
The relationship between social media and empathy has not been explored extensively. Research on the expression of emotion and the association with empathy displayed on social media websites have been minimally explored. This study sought to support findings that chatting online leads to expressions of empathy (Rosen, 2012) and a positive relationship exists between conversing with others online and empathic expression (Ivcevic & Ambady, 2012. Empathic concern was hypothesized to show a positive relationship with one’s likelihood to chat, time on Facebook, and emotional connection to Facebook or Facebook usage. Empathic concern also was predicted to be greater among computer users, relative to tablet or mobile phone users. Finally, it was predicted that the extent to which one uses Facebook would be associated with greater expression of empathic concern. Pearson's r was calculated to assess the correlation of empathic concern with the variables likelihood to chat, time on Facebook, and Facebook usage, and an independent samples t-test was conducted in order to compare concern by device type. Analyses confirmed the positive correlation of empathic concern with likelihood to chat, time on Facebook, and Facebook usage, but did not find that empathy varied by device type. A regression analysis revealed that Facebook usage did not improve predictions of empathic concern beyond that of the control variables. Strengths, limitations and implications for future research were discussed.
Recommended Citation
Collins, Franklin, M. "The Relationship Between Social Media and Empathy" (2014).
