The Impact Of Self-Presentation In Social Networking Sites On Cognitive Flexibility Among College Students

The Internet,as a product of human civilization,has affected human thoughts and behaviors profoundly.The amount of Internet users in China has reached 854 million,and the Internet penetration rate has reached 61.2%(CNNIC,2019).The Internet has become a major communication tool for people.Like the actual communication,different self-presentation strategies are employed in social media.What effect will the tendency to use different self-presentation strategies in social networking sites have on individuals?Existing research has not reached a consensus on the impact of social networking sites use on individual cognitive ability.Therefore,this study intends to further research the impact of self-presentation in social networking sites on the cognitive flexibility among college students.This study included two sub-studies:Study 1 investigated the relationship between self-presentation of social networking sites and cognitive flexibility of college students through a questionnaire covering 488 college students aged between 17 to 25.The result shows that:those,who are more inclined to use social networking sites to present themselves positively,show a lower level of cognitive flexibility;those,who are more inclined to use social networking sites to present themselves truly,show a higher level of cognitive flexibility.This shows that different types of self-presentation in social networking sites have a separation effect on cognitive flexibility.Study 2 is based on the scores of the social networking sites self-presentation strategy scale.Participants,who score top 27%and the last 27%in the positive and real self-presentation strategy scales,will be selected.Then the two groups are cross-classified to a total of 61 participants.Among them,there are 30 participants in the group with high scores in positive self-presentation,and low scores in real self-presentation,and there are 31 participants in the group with high scores in real self-presentation,low scores in positive self-presentation.Two behavior experiments are conducted to evaluate the impact self-presentation of social networking sites has on the cognitive flexibility of college students.In the number/letter conversion experiment,a 2(Group:high level in positive and low level in real self-representation,high level in real and low level in positive self-presentation)× 2(Task type:transition condition,non-transition)condition mixed design is used.It was found that there was no significant difference in the cost of conversion between the two groups.In the word type conversion experiment,a 2(Group:high level in positive and low level in real self-representation,high level in real and low level in positive self-presentation)× 2(Word type:Network word,Neutral word)mixed design was used.The results showed that participants with high level in positive and low level in real self-representation responded to the words slower than those of participants with high level in real and low level in positive self-presentation.The result shows that the self-presentation in social networking sites does not affect the general cognitive flexibility of individuals,but it significantly affects the cognitive flexibility related with social networking sites.This research studies the influence social networking sites have on the cognitive flex ibility of college students,in the hope of revealing the essence of the effects of using net work on individual's cognitive flexibility.Hopefully,it may lay some theoretical foundati on for future studies,and provide some reference for how to guide teenagers to use social networking sites properly.