A correlational study (also known as a cross-sectional study) is a research method in which participants are asked to complete a series of questionnaires or measurements at a single time point. For example, participants may be asked to complete a standardized measure of narcissism and also asked questions about their social network usage. Although these types of studies can be useful, they make interpretations about causality difficult. First, it is impossible to determine the direction of causality with such studies. For example, does social network usage cause narcissism to rise, or do people who score higher in narcissism simply use these types of technologies more? Second, correlational studies suffer from the third variable (or confound) problem. For example, it is possible that there is a correlation between social network use and narcissism because people from higher income economic backgrounds are higher in narcissism and also use such technologies more frequently. In other words, income could best explain this correlation.
Published in Chapter:
The Empathy Paradox: Increasing Disconnection in the Age of Increasing Connection
Sara Konrath (University of Michigan, USA & University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)
Copyright: © 2013
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2211-1.ch012
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize changes in personality traits that have co-occurred with the rise of new social media, and to evaluate the plausibility of the hypothesis that new social media are a partial explanation for these dramatic changes. Studies have found a rise in social disconnection among recent generations of young Americans. Self-esteem and narcissism have been rising in college students from the late 1970s to 2010, with simultaneous declines in empathy. Scholars and lay people alike blame the rise of the internet, and in particular, self-oriented and self-promoting “social” networking sites. This new media landscape could lead to increasing social disconnection even as it superficially increases our social connections, and several studies suggest a direct link between social media use and social disconnection. However, since most research thus far is correlational, interpretations are limited, leaving open more optimistic possibilities for new social media.