Building Social Networks and Developing Social Connections - Literature review Example

?A STUDY ON THE ATTITUDES OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IN RELATION TO PERSONALITY TYPES LITERATURE REVIEW Building social networks and developing social connections is a concept which is dominant in the instinct of human. The interactions between people give rise to civilisations and ever since the human has started to explore more ways of interactions and communications, the methods have been becoming more complex and sophisticated. Internet appears to be the major hallmark of human which has developed endless social connection opportunities for man. The social networking websites have become a popular way to interact with people and communities without any boundary limitation. The social networking websites are actually facilitating the development of social networks of people more efficiently, conveniently and cheaply. Some of the most famous social networking sites include Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn and these sites allow the people to make their personal profiles free of cost. The basic purpose served by these websites is to facilitate the people to develop their social network and to interact with people however; people join these websites for different reasons. Individuals may have different motives to socialise over the internet. Researchers have found a strong link between social networking site usage and personality types of individuals. They support that individuals who are more open and outgoing are usually more likely to use online social networking sites. The aim of this research is to analyse the attitudes of individuals towards social networking sites in relation to their personality types. This research is really significant to understand whether there is a strong link between social networking sites and personality types or not. This report also analyses the personality types or traits which appear to be more active in using the online social networking websites. Moreover, this report investigates whether social networking sites have any influence on personality traits of individuals or not. Therefore, this research study is really significant to study the relation between social networking sites and personality traits. In this section, the related research work of the researchers has been discussed. The cited literature is important to understand the focus, methodologies and findings of the researchers in the relevant subject. Internet and World Wide Web has brought radical changes in our lives by engaging us in communities and designing our own environment. The digital media has provided the consumers new ways to interact with people (Smith, Evans, Batty & Batty, 2002). Social networking is defined as the online community where individuals gather information, develop contacts and interact with other people (Harbaugh, 2010, pp.193). The online social network is become popular among the younger adults to mobilise their network capital through the online websites like Facebook and through these websites they are able to interact with a huge circle of friends and relatives more efficiently and less costly (Gibson et al, 2010). The Web 2.0 technology has spread widely among the people over the last five years and the social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook now attract above than 100 million visitors a month (Chui, Miller & Roberts, 2009). Social networking websites are playing a very important role in everyday social interactions and the role of these websites vary across relationships and in some contexts, these websites have supplemented the real-world social networks and in the other context, the existing real-world interactions are mediated by these websites (Evans, Gosling & Carroll, 2008). Early researchers were interested in determining the reasons of success of the online communities. The three kinds of perceived recognition in the online communities include identity, tangible recognition and expertise (Chan, Bhandar & Chan, 2004). However, today researchers are focusing more on personality traits, types and behaviours of the individuals on the online communities and networking sites. Actually marketers also find significant implications of personality traits in online social networking sites. Available literature on social networking sites support that users generally disclose their private information on online communities and different factors determine their behaviours however, very limited work has been done to study the influence and predictive power of personality traits on users’ activities on online social networking websites (Schrammel, Koffel & Tscheligi, 2009). Therefore, most of the research conducted on online social networking in relation to personality traits is very recent. Researchers have also been considering the theoretical models and frameworks to predict the relationship between social networking websites and personality traits of the individuals. The Self-Determination Theory of Motivation was presented by Deci and Ryan in 1985 which is related to the online social networking behaviour of the individuals. The theory suggests that differences among individuals are caused from the continuous interaction between individual’s needs, including autonomy, competency and relatedness, and structures provided by social environment (Miller & Prior, 2010). In other words, the social structure of the individuals can cause differences among individuals. Since the social structures of individuals have faced significant changes as a result of increasing online social interactions, therefore, in the light of Self-Determination Theory, it can be argued that online social networking sites have the potential to influence the individuals. Most of the researchers have taken into account the Big Five Personality traits to study the social networking behaviour of individuals. The Big Five Personality Traits include extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experiences (Srivastava, 2011). The Regulatory Focus Theory suggests that Big Five Personality Traits Model and social network structure has a very weak association because a particular personality trait can be associated depending on individual’s regulatory focus such as highly conscientious individuals may have adopted different strategies to build their social network like attending social events or by not missing any old friend request (Zou, Higgins & Ingram, 2008). Therefore, this theory makes the researchers to think that by only considering Big Five Personality Traits to study the social networking attitudes, they limit the association between online social networking and personality types. However, researchers consider Big Five Personality Traits Model really significant because they believe that the five dimensions of this model cover all kinds of traits of individuals. Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic (2010) argue that for all individual behaviour, social networking is affected by the significant individual differences which means that individual differs in the quality and quantity of their relations and the three personal traits which are responsible for this variability include extraversion, Machiavellianism and emotional intelligence. The study of environment impact on development and evolution of animal personality traits has always been considered very significant. Since the individual’s environment is its social network therefore, social networking analysis plays a very important role in understanding the personality types of different groups, communities and populations (Krause, James & Croft, 2010). Cozzens and Potter (2009) conducted a research to study the relationship between Facebook and personality by organising a survey with Wilmington College students. They have found that personality type did have a strong influence on social media usage such as Facebook. On the other hand, various researchers after determining the strong association between social networking sites and personality traits extended their research to study a specific personality type and its manifestation on a social networking website. One dimension of the Big Five Personality Model, extraversion, has played a significant role in the formation of social networking ties. By conducting an online survey in a major Swiss University, personality scores of 1560 students were collected and the profiles of students on the social networking site StudiVZ were observed. The findings of the research highlight that people with extraversion personality are more active on the social networking sites (Wehrli, 2008). Morse (2009) conducted a research to study whether personality traits have any impact on level and type of participation of individuals in the online communities. She has found that personality has a strong influence on online participation of internet users in online communities however; there is no evidence that people with a particular personality type are more or less dominant on community websites. For example, individuals with extraversion traits are less involved in online communities however, when they are involved they show a sense of friendship. Similarly, the individuals with neurotic traits are less active on online communities and when they are active they are encouraged by a sense of belonging. The opinion of Cozzens and Potter (2009), Morse (2009) and Wehrli (2008) are in harmony as they all support the relationship between social networking sites and personality traits. However, the findings of Morse and Wehrli are conflicting because Morse has found that one personality trait cannot be associated with a particular behaviour on the online social networking websites however, Wehrli has found that people with extroverted personalities are more involved on the social networking websites. Since most of the researchers are already admitting that a significant relationship exists between social networking websites and personality traits therefore, the next question is to determine how the researchers associate different personality types with different social networking behaviour. Buffardi and Campbell (2008) found that Narcissism personality trait has high level of social activity in the online community and people with this personality type show more self-promoting content such as main photo attractiveness and main photo self-promotion. Harbaugh (2010) studied the relationship between social media (such as Facebook) and the personality type. Harbaugh studied the basic behaviours and motivations of individuals and determined the amount of time they spend on social media. He found that the individuals who spend more than two hours daily on the social media site like Facebook are more outgoing and extroverted as compared to others who use less social networking sites. Both of these research studies have been conducted as empirical research studies however, their findings are completely conflicting. Buffardi and Campbell (2008) consider Narcissism whereas; Harbaugh (2010) considers extroversion as the major personality traits which increase the activity of individuals on the social networking sites. Some psychological researchers also conducted research to study the connections between personality traits and online social networking behaviour of individuals. People with extraversion personality trait predict more Facebook usage and engagement on the website and in the offline contexts, these individuals tend to achieve virtual social engagement which shows that extraverts seek to enhance their offline personalities into the domains of online social networking sites (Deepdyve). This opinion suggests that social networking sites influence the personality traits by enhancing their expression. In the context of extroversion personality type, these websites have provided these individuals a way to achieve their personality needs. Ben-Artzi considered the personality traits of male and female and then studied their influences separately on the behaviour of these individuals on the online social networking websites. Ben-Artzi has studied the extrovert and neurotic personality types and studied their pattern of social networking site usage. It was found that for female, neuroticism personality is positively related with social site usage and extroversion is negatively related with social site usage. For men, internet-based leisure was positively predicted by extroversion and level of information service use was positively predicted by neuroticism (Bibby, 2008). Therefore, Ben-Artzi highlighted the point that gender difference in the different personality types influence the role of a particular personality trait in social networking sites thereby, changing its influence. For example, if extroversion personality trait is a prediction of high online social networking activity then it will be true only in the case of men and not women. On the other hand, if neuroticism is a personality trait which is associated with high online social activity then it will be more justifiable in the case of women as compared to men. Correa, Hinsley and Zuniga (2009) have found that the personality traits including extraversion and openness to experience were positively associated with the use of the online social networking websites whereas, emotional stability was negatively associated with the individuals’ activities on online social networking websites. Hinsley and Zuniga also argued that age and gender influence these findings which mean that extraversion or emotional stability may show different results in the case of women or men towards social networking websites. Another important aspect of relationship between online social networking websites and the personality traits is the differences in behaviour of individuals while using these websites. Utz and Kramer (2010) analysed the behaviour of users of social networking sites towards privacy, impression management, narcissism, perceived norms of these websites and dispositional trust on the two websites Hyves and StudiVZ (Psypost, 2010). The findings suggest that the two personality traits including narcissism and trust do not influence the users privacy settings in the online social networking sites whereas, perceived norms and privacy concerns play a significant role in users privacy settings on these social websites. Similarly, various other researchers have chosen different aspects of social networking websites to study the behaviour of individuals based on their personality traits. The relationship between social networking websites and personality traits has significant implications for the managers and the applicants (Bohnert & Ross, 2010). A number of companies around the world are recruiting people through the social networking websites. Actually these organisations consider that people with the desirable personality traits for particular jobs can be more easily found through social networking websites. Bohnert & Ross found that applicants with professional or family oriented social networking websites were considered more suitable for the job as compared to the applicants who have alcohol oriented social networking websites. Therefore, the individuals with family and professional-oriented pages were likely to be interviewed and offered higher starting salaries. This study suggests that by manipulating the behaviour of the individuals on the social networking websites, the managers can analyse the aspects of their personality traits, thereby, completing their recruiting processes online. Moreover, the relationship between social networking sites and behaviour of individuals also has significant implications for the marketers. Sanaktekin and Aydin (2010) conducted a research to study the social media use in Turkey. They selected three personality traits including extraversion, neuroticism and self-esteem and their impact on social media use. The findings of the research suggests that various psychological dynamics and personality traits are involved in social media use and Turkish media producers, marketers and content providers are aware of the importance of these psychological dynamics. The literature cites has provided me significant insights to a number of aspects of social networking websites and personality traits and behaviours of the individuals. I have found that most of the researchers have agreed on the fact that personality trait and social networking websites have a significant relationship. In the previous years, recognition, identity and social interaction were considered as the major reasons for the popularity of these online websites however, the different patterns of individuals’ behaviours online have diverted the attention of individuals towards personality types and their role in determining the behaviour of the individuals on the social networking websites. The theoretical models and frameworks have been used to study the attitude of individuals on social networking websites in the context of their personality traits. Most of the researchers have generally taken Big Five Factor Traits Model into account to study the behaviour of individuals on social networking websites. The literature shows that different researchers have found different results. Some have found that people with extroversion personalities are more involved in online social networking activities whereas, other has identified other personality traits active on social networking websites. After studying the findings of various researchers, I actually could not conclude the results. Another interesting view is that one personality trait cannot be associated with a particular social networking behaviour. Moreover, researchers have also studied the behaviour of individuals on online websites based on their personality traits however, again a number of conflicting views have appeared. The cited literature shows that the limited study has been conducted to study the relationship between personality traits and online social behaviour. Even in this limited research study, various conflicting opinions and findings have been demonstrated. In order to fill the gap and to investigate the impact of personality traits and behaviours on the social networking attitude and vice versa, there is a need to conduct a research study. This report aims to determine whether social networking sites and personality traits of users of these sites are associated or not. This report has the objective to determine whether attitudes of individuals towards social networking sites are influenced by their personality traits or not. This report also aims to determine how the level of activity of individuals on the social networking websites influences the personality traits of the individuals. Another objective of this report is to investigate whether personality traits of individuals who are active online have an impact on their online social activities or not. Finally, this report aims to determine whether the attitudes of the individuals, who are active on social networking sites for their health, privacy and safety, are influenced by their personality traits. Moreover, through this report, I am to fill all gaps which have been left by the early researchers. Bibliography Bibby, A. P., 2010. Dispositional Factors in the Use of Social Networking Sites: Findings and Implications for Social Computing Research. [ejournal]SpringerLink. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/v8l87q2241180690/ [Accessed on 1 February 2011] Bohnert, D. & Ross, H. W., 2010. 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Constructing and Using Social Networks: A Regulatory Focus Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facseminars/events/ob/documents/ob_12_08_zou.pdf [Accessed on 2 February 2011] Read More