SNSS USE IN GENERATION Z, EMOTIONAL STIMULI PROCESSING, AND ITS NEURAL CORRELATES. EVIDENCE FROM THE FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY

Abstract

The paper aims to examine the relationship between three factors among Generation Z members: time spent on SNSs (Social Network Sites) activities, visual vs. linguistic emotional stimuli processing, and neural activation during the performance of visual vs. verbal tasks. Although gene ra tion Z is described as having worse emotional linguistic competence than it does a visual competence, there is a lack of experimental research doc- umenting these dissimilarities. The study in volved a group of 57 adults born between 1995-2000, i.e. representatives of Generation Z.The experiment consisted of two parts: the first devoted to the testing of emotion recognition from images (The Scale of Emotional Intelligence – Faces), and the second performing linguistic emotional tasks (The Emotion Understanding Test). During the tests a neuroimaging technique (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) was applied to examine and register neural cortical activity in the frontal, temporal, and occipital areas. The Social Network Sites Scale was used to assess the level of social network site use.Results showed that individuals representing Generation Z perform better in visual emotional task than in linguistic tasks. There is an association between SNSs use and brain activation.Gen Z who overuse SNSs present greater activation of the brain regions responsible for a greater cognitive effort such as frontal and prefrontal areas. The activation differences in the frontal and temporal cortical regions between high users of SNSs and low users document the impact of SNSs utilization on brain functioning and confirm that SNSs overuse can have a negative impact on linguistic emotional stimuli processing.