Facebook Use in University Students: Exposure and Reinforcement Search

Social networking sites have impacted usual ways of relating, leading to new interaction scenarios. We focus attention on Facebook, which is the most widespread social platform (3 out of four global internet users participate in it), whose potential lies in the possibility of sharing information, tastes, feelings and experiences. The main goal of this research is to assess the use of Facebook and its relationship with the following variables: (a) personality traits (introversion, extroversion) and self-esteem (self-concept, self-worth); (b) use and abuse of mobile phone. The research involved 410 college students between 18 and 40 years (M = 22.38, SD = 4.53). Of the total, 69.3% were women and 30.7% were men. Self-report measures were used to evaluate the variables of interest: Questionnaire of Exposure and Reinforcement through Facebook (QERF) and Scale of Smartphone Dependency and Addition (EDAS). Results showed that high-extroversion and high-self-esteem participants obtained higher scores on the degree of exposure and reward in Facebook. Moreover, those participants who present high rates of anxiety when they stop using mobile phone, and high device interference in their lives, they scored higher on the QERF. In relation to gender, different pattern of using Facebook between men and women was found. Finally, significant differences in accordance with age were found, being the younger ones who scored higher in reinforcement and exposure of their personal life through this social networking site.