32nd Annual Student Research Conference
Facebook, Personality, and Political Orientation
Katherine E. Nace*, Taylor Coy, and Eleanor Gershman
Dr. Yuna L. Ferguson, Faculty Mentor
The major purpose of this research is to see if outside observers can determine individuals’ personality traits and political orientation based on the content from individuals’ Facebook pages through subjective assessments. Previous research has shown that outside observers can determine individuals’ personality traits from their Facebook profiles (Back et al., 2010). Using a method adapted from previous research (i.e., Back et al., 2010), two independent coders used predetermined descriptions of political orientation and personality traits to evaluate participants while perusing their Facebook pages. Regression analyses then examined the associations between participants’ self-reports and coders’ observations of participants’ Facebook pages. The hypotheses were partially supported in that the data did show positive correlations between the coders’ ratings and the participants’ self-ratings for political orientation. However, while there were no statistically significant correlations for the personality traits, there was marginal significance for extraversion.
References:
Back, M. D., Stopfer, J. M., Vazire, S., Gaddis, S., Schmukle, S. C., Egloff, B., & Gosling, S. D. (2010). Facebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality, Not Self-Idealization. Psychological Science, 21(3), 372-374. doi:10.1177/0956797609360756
Keywords: personality, political orientation, Facebook, coders, subjective assessment, self-ratings
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 7-3
Location: SUB GEO
Time: 3:00