The combined influence of new information and communication technologies and gender on self-esteem and social support
Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT's) are developing into the primary source from which children interpret their world.Exploring and explaining how NICT's influences and impacts on different systems needs to be addressed.This study surveyed 435 male and 567 female students at 11 ex-Model C schools in the Cape Metropole.The survey instrument included a biographical questionnaire, the Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-A) of Vaux, et al. (1986) and Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale.The results indicate that the gender gap is closing regarding most NICT's, while using NICT's moderately is preferable to excessive or no use.Moderate use of NICT's should thus be encouraged rather than the extremes of using these technologies excessively or not at all. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION New entertainment and communication technologies' interaction with children have become key topics in modern social research.These technologies include audiovisual equipment such as television (TV), video and video gaming consoles, personal computers, cellular phones and the Internet.These and other similar equipment are referred to as new screen technologies or New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT's) (September & Savahl, 2003).The rapid growth of these NICT's has significantly changed the current context of social society and has given rise to the international catchphrase 'universal access' (Scholtz & Steyn, 1998).Individuals are addressed as economic entities or technological consumers rather than citizens of national communities (September & Savahl, 2003).Children in particular are thought to influence the purchase of new media equipment including NICT's.Casas (2001) reports that children are influential when it comes to buying NICT equipment.This is especially evident in the purchase of personal computers (PC's).Similarly, Suess et al. (1998) found that households with children between the ages of six and sixteen possessed more recent models of media equipment than those with no children.It is therefore no surprise that Horner (1998) refers to children as 'surrogate salesmen' (p.5) especially with reference to NICT's.Casas (2001) and Greenfield (1998) have argued that NICT's combined with changes in family structures (such as working moms, or children being raised by grandparents) are creating the opportunity for NICT's to become the prime socialization agents.Socialization refers to the "learning of information, cognitive processes, values, attitudes, social roles, frequency of use of these NICT's independently influences self-esteem and perceived social support from families and friends.Casas (2001) contends that relevant research in the area of New Information and Communication Technologies is urgently needed.September and Savahl (2003) have identified the role that these new technologies play in children's socialization processes as well as issues pertaining to gender, culture and the interrelationships and communication between children and NICT as areas that demand urgent attention.This study will thus contribute to the broader literature on the effects that NICT has on adolescents.More particularly, this study will contribute to both the vast literature on self-esteem and social support as well as the emerging literature on the effects of NICT's on adolescents' lives. Significance Outline of thesisChapter 2 commences with a review of relevant literature, starting with a review of literature regarding adolescent use of new information and communication technologies (NICT's).This is followed by a review of the self-esteem literature, more particularly the influence of self-esteem on academic performance, gender differences in self-esteem, selfesteem in adolescence and the role of self-esteem in relationships.Literature regarding social support is reviewed next, starting with a contextualisation of social support for this thesis, followed by a review of studies reporting gender differences in network orientation, support network resources, supportive behaviours and support appraisals.The review of social support literature culminates with a review of the literature regarding social support 4 in adolescence.Chapter 2 concludes with a description of the theoretical framework within which this study locates itself.Chapter 3 describes the methodology used in this thesis by outlining the sample, procedure, instruments used, hypotheses and data analysis used.Chapter 4 reports the results of the thesis, delineated by the type of NICT.Each NICT is reported on in terms of the results obtained for both the crosstabulation and the general linear model analyses, the latter further stratified into gender differences and frequency of use differences.Chapter 4 concludes with a summary of the crosstabulations and the general linear model for all of the NICT's and an overall summary of the results.Chapter 5 discusses the results obtained by discussing each of the NICT's individually and concludes with limitations and recommendations for further research.
Author: Zuhayr Kafaar
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W816434005