The purpose of this study was to investigate online social comparison and impostor phenomenon (IP) in undergraduate music education students. I employed a sequential explanatory mixed models design to explore the extent to which music education students experienced IP, used Facebook, and engaged in social comparison on Facebook. I explored participants' perceptions of how they engaged in online social comparison in the context of their professional lives. In Phase 1, I surveyed participants to measure impostor phenomenon, Facebook intensity, and Facebook social comparison. Analysis of the descriptive data revealed that 77.8% of participants experienced frequent to intense IP symptoms. Facebook social comparison emerged as the only significant predictor of IP in participants accounting for 13.3% of the variance in CIPS scores. In Phase 2, I conducted focus groups to investigate participants' perceptions of how they engaged in online social comparison as related to their professional identity. The themes that emerged from the qualitative data included: (a) comparing to peers online, (b) using Facebook for professional purposes, (c) psychological effects of online comparison, and (d) withdrawing from social media to avoid adverse effects. Lastly, I integrated the quantitative and qualitative data to expound upon and confirm findings in each phase. The results indicated that as participants progressed through their music education degree program, they used Facebook more frequently in each subsequent year, leading to increased social comparison and IP.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2256307 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Rinn, Thomas James |
| Contributors | Nápoles, Jessica, Montemayor, Mark, Taylor, Don |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, Rinn, Thomas James, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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