Media Psychology
ISSN: 1521-3269 (Print) 1532-785X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hmep20
Feeling Better But Doing Worse: Effects of
Facebook Self-Presentation on Implicit Self-Esteem
and Cognitive Task Performance
Catalina L. Toma
To cite this article: Catalina L. Toma (2013) Feeling Better But Doing Worse: Effects of
Facebook Self-Presentation on Implicit Self-Esteem and Cognitive Task Performance, Media
Psychology, 16:2, 199-220, DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2012.762189
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2012.762189
Published online: 30 May 2013.
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Date: 28 March 2016, At: 04:58
Media Psychology, 16:199–220, 2013
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1521-3269 print/1532-785X online
DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2012.762189
Feeling Better But Doing Worse: Effects of
Facebook Self-Presentation on Implicit
Self-Esteem and Cognitive Task Performance
CATALINA L. TOMA
Downloaded by [Monash University Library] at 04:58 28 March 2016
Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
This study uses self-affirmation theory to draw predictions about
the effect of Facebook profile self-presentation on two psychological outcomes: users’ state self-esteem and their performance in a
cognitive task. In an experimental procedure, participants were
randomly assigned to examine either their own profiles, which
tend to highlight social connectedness and treasured aspects of the
self, or a stranger’s profile. Afterward, participants reported their
self-esteem using an implicit measure that is immune to reporting
biases, and completed a serial...