The Effects of Self-Control and Self-Awareness on Social Media Usage, Self-Esteem, and Affect

Background: With the increase in social media usage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, investigation into factors that mitigate excessive and problematic usage is warranted. Factors such as self-awareness were included in the analysis of social media usage as it leads individuals to focus on personal ideal standards, begging the question as to whether high self-awareness limits problematic social media usage. Self-control, strengthened by self-awareness, was measured to examine its involvement in limiting excessive social media usage. Self-esteem and affect were included in analyses as they have never been examined in relation to both self-awareness and social media usage. It was hypothesized that self-awareness would be negatively related to social media usage, given self-control levels are high. Furthermore, self-awareness would be positively related to self-control, self-esteem, and affect, given social media usage is low. Methods: 125 psychology students (73.6% female) completed scales on self-awareness, social media usage, self-esteem, self-control, and affect. Linear regressions with moderation and mediation were conducted.  Results:  No moderation occurred but it was found that self-control mediated the relationship between self-awareness and social media usage. Self-awareness was positively related to self-esteem, self-control, and positive affect. Social media usage was not significantly related to self-esteem, positive affect, or negative affect. Self-control acted as a mediator in numerous analyses involving self-awareness and social media usage. Conclusions: Self-awareness promotes self-control, resulting in reduced social media usage. Future research should focus on cultivating self-awareness and the consequent self-control to help avoid the negative outcomes associated with social media usage (e.g., reduced self-esteem).