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Self-Esteem and Social Appearance Anxiety of TikTok Users: Appraising Social Support As Probable Moderator
Self-Esteem and Social Appearance Anxiety of TikTok Users: Appraising Social Support As Probable Moderator
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believe that people have suffered from poorer self-esteem women that are more attractive than their normal bodies
and self-growth as a result of increased use of social [25].
networking sites. On the other hand, how people view
themselves is a relevant matter because of the strong The purpose of the study is to determine if Self-esteem has
relationship between how one feels about himself and his an influence on Social Appearance Anxiety among TikTok
social media usage [12]. The TikTok application can help users and investigate if the level of Social Support they
increase self-confidence by frequently making videos and received could moderate the possible association. The
uploading them, so said users can garner appreciation from research aimed to answer the following questions in
other people as viewers [13]. Users of the TikTok app can particular:
express themselves freely, test their creativity, and present 1. What are the general themes of videos that the
themselves to alleviate humiliation and boost self- respondents watched on Tiktok?
confidence. [14]. 2. How can the respondents be described in terms of
the frequency of usage of TikTok?
The Use of TikTok as a means of Social Support to the 3. What is the level of Self-esteem of the
Users respondents?
Many internet communities were formed which leads to 4. What is the Perceived Social Support of the
the formation of social support because of personal and respondents in terms of:
social integration. Some of the billion users of TikTok use 3.1 Significant Other
this app to get sympathy and support from other users. 3.2 Family
TikTok is one of the most popular sites which may prove 3.3 Friends
this formation of social support [15]. The comments and 5. What is the level of the Social Appearance
positive feedback and reactions they receive bring positive Anxiety of the respondents?
feelings to the uploaders [16]. TikTok is particularly 6. Can Self-esteem significantly influence the
important for young people's identity building and self- Social Appearance Anxiety of the respondents
feedback since how young person joins and positions and be significantly moderated by Social
themselves in a peer group can provide social support. Support?
TikTok is a reflection of youth culture[17]. User profiles,
followers, customizable usernames, user-generated III. METHODOLOGY
material, and user engagement (e.g., likes, comments, and
features like "duets" that allow one to duplicate and This study utilized a descriptive quantitative research
interact with others' content) are all characteristics that it design, and simple moderation approaches.
shares with other social media sites [18]. These likes and Participants
comments in TikTok are important ways to communicate Originally, 71 respondents answered the questionnaires,
and support the uploader of the videos. Such supportive but 18 of them were not TikTok users so they were
communication via verbal and nonverbal messages was eliminated and not counted. Only 53 respondents remained
designed to provide assistance to individuals in need, and and part of this study: 33 or 62.26% are females, 19 or
as such applies to an online communication situation [19]. 35.85% are males and 1 or 1.89% is a member of the
Genuine or honestly grateful and supporting comments on LGBT community. There are 28 or 52.83% respondents
TikTok help users connect with others who share similar who are uploading their content, while the 25 or 47.17%
interests and experiences, making them feel less alone and were mere users. A convenience sampling technique was
that many others can relate to them [20]. As such it helps used to select the participants. Researchers opted to do this
ease and overcome social appearance anxiety [15]. Social sampling method for it is the most practical but still fits the
Appearance Anxiety, on the other hand, is a form of social needs of the research topic.
anxiety that is conceptualized by tension and distress
because of the perception of negative social evaluations of Research Instruments
one’s physical appearance. It has a positive relationship The following tools were used to gather data:
with social anxiety and a negative body image, but there is Demographic Profile questionnaire, Rosenberg’s Self-
no overlap with other constructs [21]. Studies have shown Esteem Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social
that the use of Social Media apps like Tiktok causes Support, and Social Appearance Anxiety Scale.
anxiety in some users, particularly adolescents [22].
Because of their needs for identity formation and social The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) is a ten-item
contact, adolescent groups are more active on the app [23]. questionnaire that uses a four-point Likert scale to assess
According to certain studies, TikTok users' motivations are self-esteem. Internal consistency was 0.77, and the lowest
linked to self-expression and user satisfaction. Tiktok has Coefficient of Reproducibility was 0.90, indicating that the
evolved into a platform for young people to express Scale had a good level of dependability. Independent
themselves in a variety of ways, ranging from lip sync studies using a variety of groups, including parents, men
videos to wild dance routines [24]. The platform's culture over 60, high school students, and public workers, showed
and structure encourage users to imitate one another and alpha coefficients ranging from 0.72 to 0.87. (all fairly
participate in trending topics. These social platforms high). The test-retest reliability for the 2-week interval was
consisted of unrealistic ideal images e.g. bodies of men and 0.85, and for the 7-month period it was 0.63.
43 51 Average
Apparently, in table 3, the level of Self-esteem of 39 or
52 60 Above Average 73.6% of the TikTok users was on Average. Which could
61 69 High be a good indicator.
70 80 Very High
Table 4: Levels of Social Support from Significant Others
Data Gathering/Procedure Levels Counts % of Total
First Step: The respondents were asked to answer the Low Support 4 7.5 %
Google Form Link containing the research Moderate Support 19 35.8 %
High Support 30 56.6 %
tools/questionnaires.
Second Step: The questionnaires were collated, computed,
and interpreted. The level of support from significant others that received
by the respondents is High with 30 or 56.6% as shown in
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 4, these participants have special persons that they
can depend on in time of needs, whom they can also share
Table 1: General Themes of Videos Watched their happiness and disappointments, could comfort them
Themes Counts % when they need it most and care about their feelings. While
Lifestyle 21 39.6% 4 or 7.5% of the respondents claimed to have a low level of
Fashion 20 37.7% support coming from their partners.
Memes 33 62.3%
Music Content 24 45.3% Table 5: Levels of Social Support from Family
Dance Cover 34 64.2%
Levels Counts % of Total
Food 31 58.5%
Low Support 7 13.2 %
Life Hacks 24 45.3%
Average Support 20 37.7 %
Prominent Personalities 26 49.1%
High Support 26 49.1 %
Not Applicable 18 34.0%
Others 6 11.3%
Funny Videos 1 1.9% Twenty-six of 49.1% of the respondents have a High level
Animals 2 3.8% of support from their families. This is usual for Filipinos
where kinship is being valued, that is why regardless of the A negative association between Self-esteem and Social
hardship or challenging situation Filipinos were always Anxiety Appearance, thus in every one unit increase in
persistent in life because the family and relatedness are Self-esteem there is an estimated decrease of 1.978 in the
strong. Social Anxiety Appearance of the respondents, but neither
is the main effect of the Overall Social Support nor the
Table 6: Levels of Social Support from Friends interaction Self-esteem*Overall Social Support are
Levels Counts % of Total significant.
Low Support 2 3.8 %
Moderate Support 16 30.2 % V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
High Support 35 66.0 %
In light of the findings of the study the following
Most respondents have a higher level of support coming conclusions were drawn: TikTok users mostly watched
from friends as depicted by 35 or 66.0% in table 6. This is Dance Covers, though Memes were closely patronized,
a reflection wherein the respondents have friends that time spent in watching videos is more than 6 hours a week,
could help and depend on. level of Self-esteem is Average, Social Support coming
from significant others, families, and friends were all High,
Table 7: Overall Social Support
most of the respondents have Above Average Social
Levels Counts % of Total Appearance Anxiety, Self-esteem is negatively associated
Low Support 3 5.7 % with Social Appearance Anxiety, thus, implying that
Moderate Support 16 30.2 % improving Self-esteem will help to lower Anxiety
High Support 34 64.2 %
appearance. Social Support does not influence the anxiety
level of the respondents nor the combining Self-esteem and
The overall level of Social Support of the respondents is Social Support, hence strong support coming from others
High as presented in Table 6 which comprises 34 or 64.2% are not factors to be considered in lowering anxiety level
TikTok users. over appearance level nor boosting it.
Table 8: Level of the Social Appearance Anxiety
Limitations in the number of the respondents and sampling
Range Counts % Description
are being acknowledged in this study. Other possible
16 to 24 4 7.5% Very Low variables maybe considered by the future researcher like
25 to 33 10 18.9% Low personality, self-concept, body image satisfaction or
34 to 42 5 9.4% Below Average dissatisfaction, social mishap and other possible
43 to 51 10 18.9% Average demographic profile.
52 to 60 12 22.6% Above Average
61 to 69 7 13.2% High ACKNOWLEDGMENT
70 to 80 5 9.4% Very High We would like to offer this endeavor to our Almighty God
for strength and wisdom he bestowed upon us to finish this
Most of the respondents have Above Average Social research. We want to express our gratitude to our families
Appearance Anxiety, as reflected in table 8 there are 12 or for the uplifting words of encouragement and unending
22.6% with scores that range from 52 to 60. This is an support.
implication of the feeling of the respondents’ anxiety about
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