GLOBALIZATION, SOCIAL PRESSURE AND THEIR

IMPACT ON THE TERTIARY STUDENT: PSYCHOSOCIAL

IMPLICATIONS

Blessing Agbo Ntamu (Ph.D.)

drntamuba@gmail.com
Melvina M. Amalu (Ph.D.)
melvinaamalu@gmail.com
Department of Educational Foundations
University of Calabar, Calabar
Introduction

Globalization is a phenomenon of the 21st century. For developing countries the

impact of globalization seems to be more pronounced now than ever as the advent of internet
or rather the increased accessibility of internet to the middle and lower economic class has
further broken down the existing borders and indeed has made the world a global village.
Recently, the word ‘globalization’ has featured significantly in scholastic literature. Turken
and Rudmin (2013) noted that the word ‘globalization’ appeared in English abstracts and
literature for the first time in the year 1947, it featured two times in the 1970’s, 3 times in the
1980’s, it appeared 199 times in the 1990’s, and 4602 times in the first decade of the 2000’s.
This demonstrates the increasing importance of the phenomenon to human existence. This
being said, what exactly is globalization?

The meaning of globalization, like all constructs, differs subtly depending on the
individual, his origins, persuasions and his perspective. Globalization refers to the closing of
the distance that existed between continents, countries, races, cultures and people generally,
it refers to the breaking down of the barriers to inter racial, intercontinental, intercultural and
international connectionism, interdependence and synchronization in economic, religious,
Social, educational, political, professional and technological practices and innovations.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Chiu, Gries, Torelli and Cheng(2011)
defined globalization as a process of interaction and integration among people, companies
and governments of different nations driven by international trade and investment and aided
by information technology. Information technology is the key driving force for globalization.
The Social media, which is an aspect of information technology that has become more
popular in in recent times and has many benefits; has also served as a medium for social

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pressure on the tertiary student. The rate of social pressure on the tertiary student has greatly
increased with the advent of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 2go,
WhatsApp, Snap Chat etc. This Social pressure seems to have a negative impact on the
overall wellbeing of the tertiary student; his academics, his interpersonal relationship, his
psychological wellbeing etc.

Chiu, Gries, Torelli and Cheng(2011, p. 665) iterated that “globalization has led to a
rapid diffusion of economic, political and cultural practices across national borders, creating
optimism in global acceptance of the finest universal values of humanity as well as fear of
erosion of local cultural traditions” This statement is indeed true and one of the sources of
concern in this discuss is the erosion of local cultural traditions as a direct impact of
globalization and the resultant impact on the Nigerian Tertiary level student; bearing in mind
the fact that the impact is both positive and negative.

The impact of globalization was nicely portrayed in the statement of Dana and Allen
(2008, p. 26) that globalization has “ altered concepts of space and time, increased cultural
interactions, provided common problems, and fostered new problem solving by
comprehensive networks of transnational actors and organizations”. Globalization has indeed
compressed and maximized time, this function of globalization has been captured in a single
sentence definition by Steger in Akram, Faheen, Dost and Abdullah (2011) that globalization
refers to the shrinkage of space and time. Individuals can communicate across continents in a
matter of seconds exchanging information and transacting businesses. It is however important
to note that the problems created by globalization may differ from the problems to which
globalization provides new and improved strategies for dealing with. Globalization has led to
improved methods of transacting business and intercontinental collaborations but is said to
have created a dearth in physical interpersonal relationships. Two individuals can travel side
by side for hours without even knowing each other’s names because throughout the journey
they were chatting with unknown persons on the internet. These virtual relationships are fast
replacing physical relationships.

Chiu and Kwan (2016) outlined a five cluster dimensions of globalization from cross
cultural studies by Yang, Chi, Chen, Cheng, Kwan, Tam and Yeh (2011); this five clusters
were derived from 26 items perceived by Lay people in the United States, Taiwan, Hong
kong, and Mainland China. They include: 1. Global consumer brands. 2. Information
Technology. 3. Human mobility. 4. Global Calamities and 5. International trade. Some of the

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26 items from which this clusters were constituted include; Facebook, the United Nations,
McDonalds, Olympics, global warming. Yang et al (2011) measured the impact of these five
clusters of globalization on competence and interpersonal warmth, results revealed that
people believe that globalization has a positive impact on competence and a negative impact
on warmth. Hence, as a result of globalization individuals and groups can access and
incorporate global best practices in their respective fields and become more competent, on the
other hand globalization makes individuals less warm in their relationship with each other. It
is left to be determined if competence reduces warmth. Importantly, the impact of
globalization is both positive and negative.

For a tertiary level student in Nigeria, the impact of globalization is also binary,
positive and negative. A single issue is of concern in this paper, social pressure and
globalization as it affects the tertiary level student. This effect of Social pressure on students
is discussed from the point of view of social pressure emanating from social media use.
Social media here refers to all media available on the internet through which individuals
share information, interconnect on a global basis and entertain themselves. Some of this
social media outlooks include: Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter, 2go, Snap chat, Instagram,
YouTube etc. According to (American Psychological Association, APA (2017) the
percentage of adults who use this social media sites include: Facebook 79%, Instagram 32%,
Pinterest 31%, linkedin 29%, and twitter 24%. The study by Pew centre also showed that
72% of high school and 72% of college students spend time on twitter, Facebook, Instagram
etc., APA(2017).

Social pressure is a predominant issue among adolescents and young adults, ( Brown
in Bursztyn and Jensen, 2015) Adolescence is believed to be the period of greatest
vulnerability to peer pressure and is a period during which the desire to be popular and to fit
in is most acutely felt. Social pressure is sometimes used simultaneously with peer pressure.
Scott (n. d.) defined social pressure as consisting of comments, criticisms, attitudes, and
emotions of people directed against other people who act or say things contrary to the
believe of the person or people applying the pressure. This is one significant conception of
social pressure. This definition captures social pressure as a slightly different concept from
peer pressure. The difference basically is that this social pressure may not necessarily
emanate from peer group members. Peer pressure is defined by dictionary.com as social
pressure by members of one’s peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or
otherwise conform in order to be accepted. This definition highlights two cogent factors;

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conformity and acceptance. Teenagers and young adults want to conform, or be seen to
conform in order to feel accepted, especially in this generation in which the number of likes
and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wechat, Snapcha etc. have become a very
important factor in evaluating the individual’s popularity and acceptance.

Dobrin (2014) stated that group pressure is enormously effective in producing social
conformity. The study by Solomon Asch which was replicated by Gregory Berns in 2005
demonstrated that social pressure can cause people to change their perception of reality,
(Dobmrin, 2014). Nugent (2013) defined social pressure as the influence that is exerted on a
person or group by another person or group which includes rational argument, persuasion,
conformity and demands. For this group of individuals conformity is a very influential factor
in social pressure. Group acceptance is very important in the psychosocial development of
adolescents. It is important in their identity formation and it influences their self-esteem. In
order to be accepted in a group, they are sometimes compelled to conform or they sometimes
think it is necessary to conform. Bursztyn and Jensen (2015) defined social pressure using
some interesting economics terms as follows, taking actions that are different from what is
privately considered as the optimal action in order to achieve social gains or void social costs.
Social gains in this definition can be said to include acceptance and popularity while social
cost may include rejection, stigmatization, ridicule etc. In this work Social pressure connotes
external pressure on the social life of the individual, through social media that could exert an
influence on the psychosocial, academic and physical health of the individual.

The individuals in question here are the tertiary students. This refers to students in the
universities, in the polytechnics, in colleges of education, Schools of Nursing, Psychiatry
Institutions of learning etc. It refers to students who have completed their secondary
education and have proceeded to a higher level of education than the secondary level. These
students usually have to leave their homes, families and the guidance of their parents and
travel to a different state, country or even continent. Those that school in the same state may
have to live in the hostels in order to be able to focus more on their studies. Tertiary students
fall within the age range of 15 – as much as 60, 65 who come in to run adult education and
sandwich programmes. The focus in this discus however, is on the undergraduate students
ranging from age 15 – 26. This adolescents and young adults, who have just left home, are
sometimes intoxicated by the idea that they have gained admission into tertiary institutions
and their newly found freedom. If not properly guided, some of these students may end up
not achieving their goals after many years have been lost in tertiary institutions. One of the

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distractions or challenge these students have to face is social media involvement, managing
their time and interactions on social media and conquering its seductions and threats.

Based on the above conception of social pressure, pressure is put on the tertiary
students by individuals of similar age groups who could be from the same or different
continents, cultures and religious backgrounds through the social media to adopt behaviours
that may be alien to their culture, beliefs and which may hamper the actualization of their
goals both academically and other wise. These behaviours that the tertiary students acquire as
a result of social pressure may also portend dire consequences for their health and significant
relationships. Parents, teachers, the school psychologists, and even the curriculum designers
and policy makers need to be aware of the different ways in which the current day tertiary
student’s exposure to and participation in social media affects his psychosocial wellbeing and
also his academic goals. This knowledge will prepare them to guide these teenagers and
young adults in such a way as to avoid negative influences and consequences of globalization
on the tertiary student. They teenagers should also be guided to be able to identify and
overcome social pressure arising from social media participation in order for them to be able
to attain their academic goals and maintain a good state of physical and psychological health
in spite of their participation on social media. This paper examines the concept of
globalization, new perspectives on social pressure, the tertiary student’s involvement in
Social media, social pressures associated with globalization, the psychosocial implications
and attempts to highlight the role of the school psychologists and parents in providing
adequate guidance.

Theoretical Review

Uses and Gratification Theory: Jay Blummer and Dennis McQuail (1972)

This theory explains the reason why people watch and make use of media. It holds
that the consumers of media are not passive but active consumers who watch or use media to
meet their respective needs. This theory enumerates five types of needs people may satisfy
using media: a) cognitive need b) Affective needs c) Personal Integrative needs d)Social
Integrative needs and e) Tension free needs. Three types of needs are of interest in relation to
the subject of this study; affective needs, personal integrative needs and social integrative
needs. Tertiary students who may feel an emotional vacuum because they have left their
families and support system behind; or because they have moved to schools far away and
have left their boyfriends behind may use social media interactions to fill this vacuum.

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Personal integrative needs here deal with self-esteem needs. Tertiary students of the group
under consideration, teenagers and young adults may use social media interactions to satisfy
their self-esteem needs. Young stars these days the number of friends they have on Facebook
and the number of followership with pride and this boost their self-esteem. Individuals with a
low amount of friendship and followership are viewed with disfavour. Greater involvement
with social media may lead to greater number of friends, likes and followers. A student may
thus occupy himself on social media in a bid to get more likes, followers and friends.

Social integrative needs deals with the need for social interaction. Social interaction
on its own is satisfying and reduces boredom and also raises self-esteem. Hence the increased
use of social media according to this theory is related to the differing needs of the users. The
needs of individual users are also related to the kind of pressures they are subjected to as a
result of their engagement with social media. This however, will be dealt with subsequently.

Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura (1977)

Social learning theory attempted to bridge the gap between the behavioural and the
cognitive theories. It agrees with the stimulus-response theories to an extent but opines that
there are mediating processes that occur between the stimulus response processes of the
individual. It recognises the cognitive processes of attention, encoding, storage and recall. It
posits that learning occurred through the processes of modelling, observation and imitation.
He states however that the learner does just imitate any behaviour but there are mental
processes that note the consequence of the behaviour on the model and that influences
imitation. It states that learning may not necessarily involve reinforcement of the learner but
reinforcement of the model. The mediating processes outlined in Social Learning theory
include; attention, Retention, Reproduction and motivation.

This theory explains the fact that as tertiary students interact on Social media they
tend to imitate behaviours observed on social media. These behaviours which may be
detrimental to the attainment of their goals and their physiological and psychosocial
wellbeing seem reinforced in terms of large numbers of likes and followership on social
media. These likes and followership signify acceptance and popularity which at this stage of
their lives are important motivating factors.Parents, counsellors and School psychologists
must be aware of these factors in order to be capable of providing adequate guidance for the
tertiary student.

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Globalization and the Tertiary Student

There are different dimensions of globalization and their possible effects on the
tertiary student. The focus for this discuss however, is the internet, specifically the social
media which is one of the drivers of globalization and its impact on the tertiary student.
Generally, Social media refers to every medium that provides an opportunity for people to
interact, share information, ideas and communicate generally. In the last few decades
however, the term seems to have been adapted to mean internet based media of interaction.
One would have said that this definition seems to exclude the television stations, the radio
houses and the print media, but for the fact that virtually every television station and radio
house in this climes have their internet based outlets. Social media according to Nations
(2017) refers to web based communication tools that enable people to interact with each other
by both sharing and consuming information.

Globalization as a whole has varying impacts on the tertiary student. Globalization

has exposed the tertiary student to limitless possibilities in their chosen field. The tertiary
student is no longer limited to his environment but is exposed to practices in the global world.
Globalization has exposed the tertiary student to a limitless source of resources, both human
and material, in their chosen fields. Students can be in Nigeria and be part of study groups in
the United States or in the United Kingdom as they may please. This exposure has made
tertiary education less challenging in many ways. Gone are the days when a PhD student had
to travel across Universities in the country seeking materials for his thesis. Globalization has
made it possible for students to be in school and engage in online trade and be able to earn an
income without having to miss lectures, travel around and all. The tertiary student is exposed
to political and economic situations in developed countries and is now able to ask questions
and demand accountability. Globalization has provided bigger models and has widened the
range of possibilities for the tertiary student. Instead of an aspiring business man to look up to
becoming an Aliko Dangote he can now aspire to become a Bill Gates or even a Donald
Trump. Globalization has also raised the bar on the required standards. More is expected
from the tertiary student in Sync with worldwide events and this may inspire hard work in
students. There is a limitless number of opportunities available to the tertiary student via the
internet and willing students can avail themselves.

The impact of globalization has not been all positive. With the raised standards, raised
expectations and demands on the students, have come increased pressure on the students to

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perform. Parents, teachers and the world at large expect more from the tertiary students
without recourse to the limitations posed by their peculiar environments. Some students may
beat the odds and excel in spite of the limitations while some students may feel beaten.
School psychologists and Counsellors must be aware of the multidimensional effects of
globalization on the tertiary student and be able to help the students maximize their
potentials.

The focus here however, is the social media. Social media in which students are
active include but are not limited to, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. Any
tertiary students who is not active on social media, does not have a social media profile, will
be perceived unfavourably by colleagues. These students are likely to be stigmatized and
called names. In order to feel among and be accepted by peers not must the tertiary student
have several social media profiles, he must also have a huge followership on social media in
order to be viewed as popular and famous. Without being equipped with time management
skills many of these students may end up spending a lot of time on social media and these
may have negative effects on their academic performance.

A study by Owusu-Acheaw and Larson (2015) on the impact of social media on the
academic performance of tertiary students in Ghanna, in which a questionnaire was used to
collect data from 1,508 students; tertiary students mostly have phones with internet access,
had knowledge on available social media sites and their functions, and spend between 30
minutes and three hours on Social media daily. The study also revealed a direct negative
effect of social media use on academic performance. Okereke and Oghenetega (2014) carried
out a similar study on the impact of social media on the academic performance of tertiary
students. 100 studets were sampled from 4 Universities (private and pblic) in Nigeria,
Nnamdi Azikiwe University-Awka, Delta State University, Abraka, Madonna University,
Okija Campus and Anambra State University. Results revealed that social media usage
among students was not for academic purposes but rather for reaching out to close and distant
friends. The following analyses of the sites used by this students showed that 40. 81% of
students used Facebook, 20.40% use Whatsapp, 14.28% use 2go and Skype, while sites like
Myspace, Twitter, badoo, Blogs and Google+ was not often used by students. Some much of
students’ time is spent on social media, were this time channelled productively it would have
been beneficial but unfortunately that is not the case. The sample size of this research is quite
small considering the nature of the study. Were this research carried out today and a larger
sample drawn, the researchers would very likely have found students who spend up to 10

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hours on social media; students’ involvement in more sites would also have been found. In
fact social media addiction is currently a problem amongst tertiary students. It is said to have
led to negative consequences such as poor grammar and spelling, late submission of
assignment and poor study time.

Adams (2015) carried out a study on Social media network participation and
academic performance among senior high school students in Ghana, the study found out that
many senior high school students are addicted to social network. It also found that majority of
students use Whatsapp and Facebook for making friends and chatting and suffered negative
consequences such as, poor grammar and spelling, late submission of assignments, less study
time and poor academic performance as a result of heavy participation on Social networks.
The poor grammar and spelling may be due to the fact that the language used on social media
is a colloquial abridged language, students get used to this language and begin to utilize it in
formal writing.

The big question however is, is the effect of social media participation limited to the
academic performance of students? From the point of view of a psychologist, the answer is
NO! On social media students are exposed to new philosophies of life, new religious
orientations and ideas, different perspectives on morality amongst others and all these have
effects on the psychosocial wellbeing of the tertiary student. A lot of deception also goes on,
on social media. People open up false profiles and manipulate the minds of victims in desired
directions, these, in some cases, have led to the death of victims. This was the unfortunate
fate of Cynthia Osokogu a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University, the only
daughter of an Army General. Reporting on the incidence on the 23rd of August 2012,
Vanguard, reported that the culprits in their statement stated that Cynthia was their 5th victim.
They met young ladies on Facebook, chatted with them, promised them marriage, invited
them to hotels, raped them and dispossessed them of valuable belongings, Vanguard (2012).
Tertiary students must be guided on the seductions and threats on social media.

Besides meeting with death prematurely, there are other negative effects of social
media use. Armstrong (2012) outlined the following negative effects of social media use;
increased stomach ache problems, increased sleeping problems, anxiety and depression,
increased narcissistic tendencies, aggression and anti-social behaviours. These are problems
that could arise from social media use and the students must be made aware and taught to
moderate social media use.

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 Karadkar (2015) outlined several negative impacts of social networking that are
invaluable to this paper, they include:

1. Affords students the freedom to do whatever they want without the knowledge of
their parents and guardians.
2. Increases the identity crises students may face.
3. Moral decadence as students are greater influenced by peers; including virtual peers
with differing beliefs and persuasions, than their parents.
4. Increase in mood disorders. This is due to the fact that what they see on the profile of
their friends affect their moods. This may not be unrelated to feelings of envy and
competition.
5. Pressure to imitate behaviours that attract public attention in spite of them being
negative.
6. Addictions and development of bad habits.
7. Reduction in skill acquisition and academic performance as too much time is wasted
on social media.
8. Increase in self-esteem issues as very high standards for competition and imitation are
available online and students from humble backgrounds may be unable to meet these
standards.

These are some of the problems of concern in this paper. A lot of pressure is put on
students to measure socially with students of very high socio-economic background on the
internet. This may lead students into vices such as stealing, prostitution etc.

Social Pressures Associated with Social Media Involvement

The Social pressures associated with social media involvement that have been identified
in this study include:

1. Pressure to own sophisticated, expensive and branded devices: The first on the list of
pressure identified is the pressure to own sophisticated, expensive and designer
branded devices, such as devices by apple, Samsung etc. Students usually take
pictures of themselves and the devices they use and post the same on social media
outlets such as Facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat etc. Students who are unable to
afford such expensive devices feel pressured to do so at all cost and may engage in

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 vices like prostitution, stealing, lying to their parents to acquire funds etc. The males
become gigolos; people who satisfy the sexual desires of older women in exchange
for money and gifts. Acquiring these devices becomes a goal and their academic
activities surfers in the process. Students will rather keep updating their devices than
buy reading materials with the excuse that these devices are useful for their academic
work. When these devices are acquired they end up using them solely for the purposes
of taking pictures with higher resolutions and pasting same on Facebook.
Students who are unable to engage in vices in order to afford these devices may
develop an inferiority complex and low self-esteem as their rating among their peers
is low.
2. Cyber bullying, harassment and deceits: This connotes bullying or harassment using
electronic contact forms. This includes posting rumours about friends, posting
unfavourable pictures, disclosing personal information of victims, issuing out threats,
making sexual remarks about the victim, posting hate speeches. This can include
online stalking. Pressure to get into relationships etc. Online, innocent adolescents and
young adults are unsuspecting victims of high profile manipulators and crime
peddlers who create false profiles and lure victims to isolated areas where they
sexually harass, rob, rape sometimes gang rape and even kill them.
3. Pressure of competition to be the most popular and to be viewed positively. This leads
students to create a make believe profile. Some students go as far as borrowing
clothes and gadgets or even stealing them in order to be able to snap and post highly
rated pictures.
4. Pressure to conform in terms of dressing: This pressure occurs in two dimensions. The
first is to conform to the dress style that is observable and applauded on social media.
Dressing to expose body parts that are supposed to be covered, like the breasts, hips
and laps are in vogue and are highly rated. In the present day the less you cover up the
more popular you are on social media and among peers. Because of the stage the
students are in and the need for group acceptance many students are compelled to
conform. Students from modest home who have been taught to dress decently are
looked down upon, laughed at and some of them are forced to re-evaluate their dress
style and are seen changing their dress patterns within months of joining the
University environment. What is wrong with this change? The students put
themselves at risk of being harassed and raped when they dress seductively and when
they fall victims they are too ashamed and afraid to come out. They suffer in silence

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 with unwanted pregnancies, diseases etc. Secondly; The students because they are
mostly adolescents and still undergoing the physical and physiological transformation
process may not have the desired physical looks and may suffer from body image
problems and intimidation by the looks of more endowed peers.
The second dimension of this pressure, is the financial dimension; the ability to afford
fashionable, popular designers and expensive clothing. The concern does not end with
clothing only but also extends to designer make ups, hair extensions, like Brazilian,
Peruvian and Malaysian extensions. This sophisticated branded make-up and hair
extensions cost a lot of money. Students are under pressure to mop up thousands of
Naira in order to be able to afford these fashion trends. This becomes a source of
concern and anxiety among university students, increasing their levels of stress,
depression in the event of inability to meet up and motivating them to take up
negative vices.
5. Pressure to conform to media standards on body structure: Every individual has a
different genetic constitution and so are different in their physical looks. The media
has however created an image of the slim figured girl as the beautiful girl and this has
created pressure among students to maintain figure 8. The pressure is not limited to
the females the males also strive to attain macho figures, six packs (flat tummy and
heavily built muscles). This has led growing adolescents to dieting in such a manner
that may hamper their growth considering the fact that adolescence is a stage of rapid
growth and development. While the boys drive their bodies to exhaustion trying to
build muscles.
On the other hand, some friends have nicer breast, nicer figures, longer hair than
others and this is a fact that must be accepted. No one person has it all. However, the
adolescents fail to see this and accept their body the way it is. They also forget that
their body is undergoing a process and that they are likely to emerge out of the
process looking better. Almost every adolescent who is not properly guided is under
pressure to look better. Hence some of them are opting for body enhancement
procedures to look better. Botox, breast lifts, lip enlargement procedures are
becoming more popular. Some of them may not be able to afford these procedures
and may be lured by individuals offering cheaper but more harmful means of attaining
these ends. This may lead to serious health consequences as have been seen around
the world.

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6. Pressure to re-evaluate their value system: The internet; social media has become a
major source of information. The media largely promotes immorality. Premarital sex
is portrayed as fashionable and acceptable in advertisements, soap operas and home
videos that are available just by clicking on YouTube. Pornography is portrayed as
acceptable and is pedalled all over social media. With captivating pop-up adds.
Abortion is portrayed as acceptable and they are several pressure groups calling for
the lifting of the bands on abortion. Homosexuality, bisexuality and even bestiality is
portrayed as acceptable. The social media is gradually re-orienting students on what is
wrong and what is right. Students are under severe pressure to change their values to
conform to social media prescriptions. During adolescence, it is said that they may be
occasional feelings of attraction towards members of the same sex, but this however
does not mean an individual is wired as homosexual. With the increasing popularity
an acceptability of homosexuality, without proper education and guidance a single
hormonal surge may lead adolescents to make a decision on their sexual orientations.
7. Access to information on contraception and abortion.-Students have access to
information on how to self-abort and on various methods of contraception. They are
constantly under pressure to give in to premarital sex. The consequences seems less
daunting as there seems to be solutions to every possible problem on the net. Students
are more likely now than in the past, to give in to the pressures of engaging in
premarital sex.
8. Religion: Students are exposed to different types of religious practices some of which
may seem fashionable. Students are under pressure to re-evaluate the religious beliefs
of their childhood. This exposure is significant in the sense that, during the period of
adolescence, in the adolescents’ search for identity and independence, trying to tow a
different path of religious orientation is one of the ways they assert their
independence and define their identity. Since the adolescence at this time may lack
the ability for critical judgement, they may adopt a religion that is in fact evil, harmful
and contrary to that of their parents without their parents’ knowledge.
9. Language: The language of communication on social media is to say the least
improper. The social media has devised its own short hand means of communication.
In which words are contracted in different ways, wrong spellings and crudeness is a
major feature of social media language especially for the youngsters. Students with
good educational background are under pressure to conform, students with poor

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 educational background are also compelled to conform and the language and
communication skills of students are deteriorating.

Generally the pressure on the students via social media is the pressure to conform to
strange practices, immoral behaviour, harmful practices, wrong values etc. Sadly the students
are more versed in social media use than the parents, teachers, counsellors and school
psychologists. This implies that the significant adults who should device a means of guiding
these youngsters are largely oblivious of the dangers of social media use.

Psychosocial Implications

The psychosocial implications of the social pressure faced by students who are active on
social media include the following:

1. The students might be under a higher level of stress from this often overlooked
stressor. This may be due to pressure to conform which also leads to pressure to
gather money for expensive clothes, gadgets, hair and make-up, body reconstruction
procedures etc. Increased stress may also be due to exposure to distressing
information, social pressure to disclose personal information, maintaining a large
network of friends, feeling jealous of friend’s well-appointed and well-documented
lives, demands of replying to text messages, the addictive allures of photos on
pinterest, having to keep up with status updates, fear of missing out on interesting
events in lives of friends and family, and increased awareness of the stressful events
in the life of friends and family, (Hampton, Rainie, Lu, Shin & Purcell, 2015). A
study by American Psychological Association (2017, p.1) has shown 48% of
Americans are constant checkers, that is they constantly check their emails, messages,
and media profiles and update. According to the report “attachment to devices and the
constant use of devices is associated with higher stress levels”. The most potent
source of stress identified from this study is when technology does not work. That is
when their devices develop problems or when they cannot be connected for whatever
reasons they feel a higher level of stress. This is a veritable sign of addiction.
2. Identity crisis is more difficult to resolve in the face of numerous models, value
confusion etc. University students are very worried about creating an image on social
media that will be loved by the audience most of which they don’t even know. If their
true personality is not appreciated, they spend time creating one that will be in the
midst of that they loss a sense of who they truly are. Karadkar (2015) stated that a

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 recent survey showed that uploading a profile picture by a friend immediately
produces mood changes, stress, anxiety, and fear about personal identities in friends.
Karadkar (2015) also states that one of the biggest problems created by constant use
of social networking sites is Identity crisis.
3. Incidences of anxiety and depression will be on the rise among adolescents. This is
because it will be very difficult for some adolescents to be able to afford the kind of
devices, clothing and accessories that some wealthy kids on the social media
platforms possess. A study of college students Facebook use by Jay Campisi and
colleagues at Regis University in Colorado reported in Davey (2016) found that
almost all respondents experienced some form of Facebook induced stress and this
stress was directly related to health problems such as upper respiratory infections.
According to this study, the larger the Facebook network, the greater the stress. Davey
(2016) also reported the study of Julie Morin-Major and Colleagues at Harvard which
Larger Facebook networks correlated positively with higher diurnal cortisol
production which is associated with chronic stress, worry, burnout and is a
vulnerability factor for depression.
4. Addiction to Social media use and stress from its failure to work: Davey (2016) stated
that Facebook has been shown to activate the same brain areas as addictive drugs such
as cocaine. He asserts that this addiction poses a threat to physical health of users.
American psychological Association (2017) also states that social media users
reported highest level of stress to be related to the inability to connect to social media.
This is also a tell-tale sign of addiction. Davey (2016) that problematic addiction to
social networking sites cause different forms of anxiety and stress.
5. Eating disorders will be on the increase as adolescents with poor body image strive to
attain the figure 8 portrayed by media as the right figure.
6. The level of prostitution will increase as ladies and young men will turn to this as a
means to an end. Other vices like stealing and lying will also increase.
7. Incidences of premarital sex, unwanted pregnancies, abortion will be on the rise
among students.
8. Increase in the rate of sexually transmitted infections, complications from abortion,
complications from body reconstruction procedures will be on the increase.
9. Parents-adolescents conflicts will also increase. This is because the adolescents have
found a new method of evaluating their parents prescription and a new standard of
behaviour that in most cases eludes the parents.

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 10. The fact that their academic performance will be on the decline as they have less time
for home work and research has already been confirmed by research. Their language
proficiency has already been proven to decline with social media participation

This will be the case, if the parents, teachers, counsellors and school psychologists sit
with their hands folded on this issue.

The Role of School Psychologists in helping Tertiary students Cope with Social
Pressures and Avoid the Negative impacts of Social media Participation.

The school psychologists should:

1. Acquaint themselves with these social media platforms and their operations in other to
gain first hand understanding of the problem and be positioned to guide the students
accordingly.
2. Develop an on-going programme to sensitize the students on the seductions and
threats posed by social media platforms and the consequences of conforming.
3. Ensure proper value orientation.
4. Ensure that the students understand their developmental stage. This will enable the
students know that their bodies are still developing and will attain a final look after
the period of adolescence.
5. Ensure that students are given proper sex education. Be made to understand the nitty-
gritty on premarital sex, contraception, abortion etc.
6. Develop an awareness programme on the consequences of body reconstruction and
enhancement procedures should be carried out by school psychologists.
7. Ensure that students are trained on effective time management skills in other to enable
them manage their time on social media effectively.
8. See to it that the students are sensitized on the effects that constantly communicating
in short hand and colloquial languages is having on their language proficiency skills.
9. Factor in the social media dimension in an attempt to diagnose and treat students’
psychological problems.
10. Push for the creation of a psychological clinic in the university community. The
psychological clinic should be well equipped to ensure that students can come in
relax, get sensitized on issues of concern, interact with professionals and seek
professional assistance with their psychological problems.

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Role of the Parents in helping Tertiary students Cope with Social Pressures
encountered on Social Media and avoid the negative impact of Social media
participation.

In order for this issue of social media influence on students to be satisfactorily contained,
it will be necessary for the parents to re-evaluate their parental styles and make certain
adjustments. Research has proven the Authoritative parental to be the most effective parental
style for desirable results (Baumrind, 1991); parents should get acquainted with and adopt
this parenting style. Parents should also:

1. Acquaint themselves with the social media platforms, understand the operations of the
social media platforms, be their children’s friend on social media. This will enable
them have an idea of what the children are confronted with and how to assist them.
2. Give their children proper and age appropriate sex education from a very early age.
Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality development suggests that at age three, a
child’s genitals are sensitive to experience pleasure from fondling. This is the age at
which sex education must begin. Sex education should cover every aspect of human
sexuality and must be taken very seriously.
3. Ensure a friendly relationship with their children. They should interact with their
children regularly in other to understand their problems and help them deal with their
problems.
4. Ensure the children are taught about their religious beliefs early enough in order to
ensure crystallization before the age where peer influence becomes a significant
factor.
5. Provide value orientation for their children.
6. Teach the children on the dangers of social media before the children’s exposure to
social media. To be fore warned they say is to be fore armed.

Conclusion

Globalization is a phenomenon of the 21st century that has brought with it various
opportunities for international, national and interpersonal collaborations, interactions and
development. Social media which is one of the drivers of globalization also has positive and
negative implications for the tertiary students. Efforts must be made by stake holders in the
educational process to ensure that students maximize the benefits of globalization, including

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social media, while being equipped to overcome its seductions and threats to their
psychosocial and physical well-being.

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