In the last few years, Instagram has been a topic of much contention, as it has been shown to be associated with both risks and benefits for young users. This study explores the influence of the use of Instagram on adolescents’ constructions of self and interpersonal experience. Forty Italian adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years were interviewed and completed repertory grids. The results showed that the adolescents’ self-construction and distance from others were mostly influenced by receiving, or not receiving, positive feedback, rather than by using Instagram itself. Specifically, there was an increase in self-acceptance and social desirability after receiving a “like” and an increase in social isolation after receiving no “likes”. The regression model also showed a decrease in self-acceptance on Instagram in the case of female adolescents, and in participants who edited photos. These findings are useful for understanding the constant need for approval adolescents require today and could be used as a guiding tool for future studies and intervention policies. The present study offers an innovative methodology that refers to the relevant dimensions of adolescents’ self-construction rather than investigating the more general relationship between personality traits and social networks’ use.

中文翻译：

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青少年如何从社交网络的使用中受益？ Instagram 上的 iGeneration


在过去的几年里，Instagram 一直是一个备受争议的话题，因为它已被证明对年轻用户来说既有风险也有好处。本研究探讨了 Instagram 的使用对青少年自我构建和人际体验的影响。四十名年龄在 11 至 16 岁之间的意大利青少年接受了采访并完成了曲目表。结果显示，青少年的自我建构和与他人的距离主要受到是否收到积极反馈的影响，而不是使用 Instagram 本身。具体来说，收到“点赞”后，自我接受度和社会期望值会增加，而在没有收到“点赞”后，社会孤立感会增加。回归模型还显示，女性青少年和编辑照片的参与者在 Instagram 上的自我接受度有所下降。这些发现有助于理解当今青少年对认可的持续需求，并且可以用作未来研究和干预政策的指导工具。本研究提供了一种创新的方法，涉及青少年自我建构的相关维度，而不是调查人格特质与社交网络使用之间更普遍的关系。