The Cyber Self: Facebook as a Predictor of Well-being

Growing research suggests that Facebook may relate to users' self-esteem, identity perceptions, and cognitive function by facilitating identity exploration and minimizing self-deception. The present study empirically investigated this possibility. A cross-sectional correlational design with a web-based survey was utilized. Participants (N = 446) were 24.3% male (N = 118), 67.2% female (N = 326), 2% transgender/in transition (N = 2). 59.6% of participants were ages 18-32 (N = 289) while 13.6% were age 23-27 (N = 66) and 18.3% over age 28 (N = 89). High frequency Facebook use significantly positively correlated with mature defense style (p < 0.05, r = 0.13). High self-esteem significantly positively correlated with mature defense styles (p < 0.01, r = 0.24) and negatively with immature styles (p < 0.05, r = -0.13). High frequency Facebook use also significantly positively correlated with Actualization Potential (p < 0.01, r = 0.20). In summary, higher levels of Facebook use appear to correlate with positive attributes such as low self-deception, mature coping, high self-esteem, and high actualization potential. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.