1

Gender and Uses and Gratification in Expressing Emotions on Facebook Abby Wexler Illinois State University

Abstract Uses and Gratification theory explains how we communicate to others in order to get a certain response. There are a number of studies involving social media, but not very many have measured how Uses and Gratification theory and emotional responses can correlate. This report examines how the different genders use social media and the emotional messages they send, measuring how comfortable they are with those messages in order to reflect the kind of response they hope to get from the multiple networks they share on Facebook. After giving a Likert-type survey to randomly selected college students, the results showed a low reliability with no statistically significant difference between males and females on their emotional expression on Facebook.

Gender and Uses and Gratification in Expressing Emotions on Facebook The purpose of this study was to determine whether a particular gender expressed themselves more emotionally on social media than the other. The method that was used in conducting this research took a convenience sample of 100 college students who completed a questionnaire, the questions based on a Likert-type scale. This survey included questions which reflected how comfortable or uncomfortable the participants are given a certain emotional action while on Facebook. Uses and Gratification theory, as described by West and Turner (2010), is an extension of needs and motivation theory, which originates from Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. This hierarchy lists the needs that people seek from a social setting to be able to find a the needs that people seek from a social setting to be able to find an acceptable level of comfort with a group. From the bottom of the pyramid to the top, those needs are biological/physical, security/safety, social/belonging, ego/self-respect, and self-actualization needs (Maslow, 1970). There are not very many studies that have done research the combined topics of emotional expression and responses in relation gender and Uses and Gratification theory. But, through this report, the research that was found on each of these topics should show a better understanding of how they can correlate and how it applied to the survey and results that our study had found. By defining Uses and Gratification and connecting it to the use of social media from each gender, the hope is that this study will show a statistically significant difference between males and females on emotional expression on Facebook.

Literature Review Uses and Gratification Theory Uses and Gratification theory explains the need for seeking media outlets in order to satisfy certain needs. Previous studies have shown users of social media like Facebook and Twitter have felt more gratified from engaging in social groups through these media. One such study, in 2007, measured a group of college students and their overall satisfaction in their social groups through interactions on Facebook (Park, Kee, & Valenzuela, 2007). The results of this study showed that there were four basic needs to achieve gratification while on Facebook, and they were socializing, entertainment, selfstatus seeking, and information. The socializing need was fulfilled when students would interact with their groups and achieve a sense of community. For the entertainment need, students engaged in a group for amusement purposes . Then, for the self-status seeking need, students would monitor their own social status as well as others to maintain and seek their own standing in a group. And, lastly, the information need was used by students to keep up with events on campus. Similarly, other research has been conducted via Twitter showing a positive correlation on networking with other users. The research showed that those networking with other users on Twitter felt a sense of camaraderie among them, based on their connection to a certain group or interest (Chen, 2011). Through our research, we hope to gain some knowledge on the differences between the two genders and how they express themselves in a social media setting. These examples, in relation to our research on gender and emotional expression, can determine how different genders express their needs through these social mediums.

Social Media Usage After gathering our research, we have finalized our study topic to measuring the emotional response in different genders when using Facebook. In this case, our independent variable is the use of Facebook by both genders. Since the creation of Facebook back in 2004, the uses of it have grown and adapted to a wide variety across all kinds of individuals and groups. It has vastly changed the way we communicate with others, especially across gender lines. In an article by Clipson, Wilson and DuFrene (2012), they examine many studies done observing gender roles on social networking sites such as Facebook and found an immense percentage difference in the many fields of the social media site. The results of this article conclude that Facebook is a mainly female dominated website. When applying Uses and Gratification theory, it shows that female users seek a certain level of satisfaction from social networking more than male users. A similar article examines the psychological standpoint on gender roles in social media outlets. This article observes the similarities between face-to-face interaction and social media interactions when applied to the roles of males and females in their selfpresentation needs. It was explained that just as females try to maintain their selfpresentation on social networking sites just as much as they do in face-to-face interaction, males didnt care as much about their own self-presentation in either setting (Haferkamp, Eimler, Papadakis, & Kruck, 2012). This shows that females seem to show a higher level of maintaining their self-image over males. Users of social media among each gender have different experiences and views on privacy settings when it comes to the kind of information they disclose. In a particular

study done by Hoy and Milne (2010), they find that, while both males and females participate in these behaviors, females are more likely to take action on privacy protection. This could apply to certain people or groups. For example, there are privacy settings on Facebook which allow you to pick and choose who sees what. This could be for a variety of reasons, but in the case that we are researching, this could be a behavior having to do with self-disclosure and what particular audience each gender cares to disclose to. In another similar study, a group of researchers found that women and men used the internet each in different ways and spent different amount of time, proving a widely believed idea, that both men and women used it just as frequently, to be false. When they conducted a survey on how frequently each gender used different social media, they found that females tended to use texting, social media, and video calls more frequently than men (Kimbrough, Guadagno, Muscanell, & Dill, 2013). This, again, shows the female dominance over social media but not just on social networking sites, but in other social networking mediums such as cell phone and webcam usage.

Emotional Expression and Gender As human beings, we use the expression of emotion in order to convey a certain message to a person or a group of people. In a sense, expressing emotion is an adaptable trait that we use in order to get what we want. In terms of Uses and Gratification theory, we use a certain emotion to gain a certain response from others when we post things on Facebook or other social networking sites. It is possible that one gender is more adaptable to this trait than the other.

Based on our own common knowledge, we would all agree that women express their emotions more openly, as well as more intensely than men do. Judging by the above analyses, women tend to take the reigns when it comes to expression in more than just the emotional sense. Based off of all these different articles, it basically shows that women express themselves in order to gain some sort of gratification in some shape or form. This also brings up the concept that females seek more gratification through these social media outlets than men, and this, in turn, may show that females use Facebook more often than men. So, with this information, our conceptual definition of our dependent variable is the amount of emotion expressed on Facebook. And, with those dependent and independent variables stated, our hypothesis is that females will express more emotion on Facebook than males.

Method Participants We took a convenience sample of about 100 students from a large Midwestern University, approximately half of them being female and half male, all of whom took a survey. We handed out these surveys to any willing participant and give a brief overview on the purpose of our research and to answer the questions as honestly as possible and that they are allowed to discontinue taking the survey at any time. Participants have also been notified that the questionnaires are taken anonymously. Design

The design of our experiment was in survey form, asking questions on a Likert-type scale from 1 being very uncomfortable to 5 being very comfortable with different actions performed on Facebook. The independent variable for this experiment is the use of Facebook by both genders and our dependent variable is the amount of emotion expressed on Facebook.

Materials The survey contained 11 questions on a Likert-type scale, aside from the first question, identifying the participants as male or female. The scale on each question will be ranked from 1 being Very Uncomfortable, to 5 being Very Comfortable. The questions ranged from how much each participant feels they express themselves on an emotional level to how they react in certain emotional situations while using Facebook. Other questions included the participants overall comfortableness on how much or what they self-disclose, using emoticons and the relationships they have with friends and partners. The questions of our surveys are as follows, with the prompt of, How comfortable or uncomfortable are you: 1. Displaying your anger through a status. 2. Displaying sadness through a status. 3. Using emojis (yellow faces) to express feelings. 4. Seeing other people using Facebook as a journal for their thoughts and feelings. 5. Posting my excitement about my personal relationship. 6. Not being tagged by friends in photos that youre in. 7. Posting song lyrics to express your feelings.

8. Disclosing personal information in a status 9. Seeing a status update about a previous partner in a new relationship. 10. Seeing a picture of a previous partner in a new relationship 11. Maintaining a friendship with a previous partner.

Procedure As described before, a convenience sample of 100 students, picked at random from a large Midwestern University had taken the survey. The participants were given a brief description on the study and that they should answer the questions as honestly as possible, assuring them that the surveys were completely anonymous. It took approximately 5-10 minutes to complete the Likert-type survey and participants were able to drop out of the study at any time. They notified us when they had completed it by raising their hands and were collected from them. At the end of the survey, participants were informed of the purpose for the study and what was hoped to be found to determine each genders emotional response in relation to Uses and Gratification theory.

Results The results were intended to show a significant difference between males and females and how they each expressed themselves emotionally based on Uses and Gratification theory. Our results showed a reliability score of p= .647. This was calculated using a SPSS data system with significance levels set at p= .05. Based on our score, our results are unreliable.

10

Our results were separated into two groups, males and females. The independent samples t-test was used to determine the difference between the amounts of emotional expression of males versus females. For the results in our independent samples t-test, equal variances were not assumed because our hypothesis was to conclude that females expressed themselves on a more emotional level than males on Facebook. The two-tailed showed with a score of p= .457 that there is no statistically significant difference between males and females in emotional expression. So with t(97.306)= .547 and the mean of M= 26.92 for males and M= 27.72 for females, the standard deviation for males was SD=5.57999 and for females, SD= 5.12712. These results proved the experiment inconclusive, that there was no significant difference that showed either gender expressing themselves more emotionally than the other. There was no significant difference on variance as well.

Discussion This study tested significance between males and females and emotional expression on social media. The hypothesis predicted that females would express more emotion than males when using Facebook. Results of the independent samples t-test showed that there was no significant difference between males and females because the two-tailed significance was above .05. This would conclude that Uses and Gratification does not explain the emotional expression and responses of either gender while using Facebook.

11

Limitations With our reliability score resulting in our research being unreliable, there were a number of factors providing limitations. First off was the limited timeframe for which our research was to be conducted, only having a few weeks after finalizing our surveys to actually hand them out to the students of the large Midwestern University. Another limitation in our research was the fact that a variety of students with different majors and ages were randomly picked to take the survey. Some age groups as well as different areas of study may have different experiences on using social media that doesnt involve how they express themselves emotionally. Within that limitation is the true intention of what we were trying to find was known to the students and they could have altered their answers to withhold honest information. Other limitations included mechanical issues in the survey. When writing the first draft of our instrument, the survey had 20 questions, all of which asked about the comfortableness the participant feels with a certain action when using facebook. After going through and making changes, the questions were cut down to 11. What was also neglected to be done was to make questions that negated the previous questions, to get a more significant difference on variance. Another limitation could also have to do with the wording of our questions and being able to correlate them to Uses and Gratification theory, and that the wording was not understandable, that the subject matter wasnt clear enough to the participants. Another limitation could be the threats to internal and external validity. The main form of internal validity causing limitations to our research was selection. As explained above, our subjects were randomly chosen from a variety of students in different majors

12

and different age groups so the information could have become confounded because of the different characteristics of the participants. There seemed to be more threats externally than internally. First of all, there was the limitation of situation, where multiple factors such as timing, setting, and how the experiment was administered affected the generalizability of the data. The other external threat was reactivity, similarly to the Hawthorne effect, where subjects tend to act differently when they feel they are being watched. Another factor that could have confounded the data was not just the external characteristics of the participants, but the internal ones such as what their values and beliefs are in relation to expressing emotion or while on social media. Many could have been a part of a religion or belief system that valued in-person interactions rather than social networking or value their privacy on disclosing their emotions on the internet. There is a variety of possibilities, especially the questions involving romantic relationships. A good few participants we reluctant to answer the questions on the subject matter, just putting neutral because they either have never been in that situation, or they felt uncomfortable answering truthfully. One last limitation that seemed to have taken an effect on the reliability was the lack of soundness of the correlation between the questionnaire and Uses and Gratification theory. Because comfortableness is a very broad subject matter when it comes to measuring emotion, the data ended up being inconclusive to the relationship to seeking gratification through social media. If the survey had questions that were worded in a different way, like You display sadness through a status to gain a certain response or You dont display sadness through a status to gain a certain response and rate it on a scale from 1 being

13

strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree, then maybe the data wouldnt be as confounding as our current questions.

Implications What this study was trying to show was how Uses and Gratification was a factor in the way that male and female students use emotion while on social media websites, in particular, Facebook. While Uses and Gratification theory was branched off from the Motivated Sequence and Maslows hierarchy of needs, it is a theory specifically used in the media, especially social networking media websites. As previously explained, Uses and Gratifications theory explains why individuals network with certain groups based on fulfilling certain needs, based off of Maslows Hierarchy. Because we live in a different age full of people who will do whatever it takes, how far they are willing to take a situation and turn it into something in order to gain a certain response from people. What was hoped to be accomplished through this research was to better understand how different genders utilize their emotions in order to get the responses they want, the gratification they seek through displaying it for all their Facebook friends to see. This is a highly attention driven society, the theory was that more females would try to gain the positive attention they sought by disclosing either personal information or bearing their very soul to people they may not know that well. And, because males tend to hold onto more masculine forms of expression, they are more likely to say less about their true feelings on a subject matter because they dont want to look non-masculine. While this experiment may have been inconclusive and unreliable, what could be done in the future is to take this as an example on what was done wrong and what could

14

added and improved to find a reliable score and a significant difference between males and females and emotional expression on social media. Given what limitations were listed above, future researchers can rewrite the errors made and create a survey with more reliable and clear questions in order to prove that there is a significant difference. If the results of the new survey is the same, if not similar, maybe content analysis research would prove a more reliable form of research, by interviewing similar groups of males and females on the way they express themselves in social media. Hopefully, one of these could result in more accurate data on finding gratification through emotional expression.

15

References Chen, G.M. (March 2011). "Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others". Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2): 755762. Clipson, T. W., Wilson, S. A., & DuFrene, D. D. (2012). The social networking arena: Battle of the sexes. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(1), 64-67. Haferkamp, N., Eimler, S. C., Papadakis, A., & Kruck, J. V. (2012). Men are from Mars, women are from Venus? examining gender differences in self-presentation on social networking sites. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 15(2), 91-98. Hoy, M. G., & Milne, G. (2010). Gender differences in privacy-related measures for young adult facebook users. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 10(2), 28-45. Kimbrough, A. M., Guadagno, R. E., Muscanell, N. L., & Dill, J. (2013). Gender differences in mediated communication: Women connect more than do men. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 896-900. Maslow, A. (1970). Maslows hierarchy of needs. Motivation and personality. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc. Park, N., Kee, K. F., & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(6), 729-733. West, R.L & Turner, L.H. (2010). Introducing communication theory: Analysis and application. (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.