Informed Consent Form

Government College University, Faisalabad

Department of Applied Psychology

Title of the Study:

Scroll and compare: social media's influence on self-esteem, social comparison and self-
contingency in young adults

Principal Investigator:

Hooria Amer

Supervisor:

Dr. Saima Saeed

Purpose of the Study:

You are invited to participate in a research study exploring how social media use affects self-esteem in young
adults. This study aims to understand the role of social comparison, self-contingency, and gender differences in
shaping self-worth.

Procedures:

 You will be asked to complete a questionnaire that includes questions about your social media use, self-
esteem, and social comparison habits.
 The survey will take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete.
 Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may stop at any time without any consequences.

Potential Risks and Benefits:

 There are no direct risks involved in participating in this study. However, some questions may make you
reflect on your social media habits and self-esteem.
 The study will help researchers understand how social media affects mental well-being, potentially leading
to recommendations for healthier digital habits.

Confidentiality:

 Your responses will remain confidential and will only be used for research purposes.
 No personally identifiable information will be shared.
 All data will be stored securely and only accessed by the research team.

Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal:

 Participation is completely voluntary.

 You may withdraw at any time without providing a reason, and your responses will not be used in the
study.
Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this research, you can contact:
Hooria Amer –
Dr. Saima Saeed (Supervisor) – [supervisor’s email]

Consent Statement:

By signing below, you confirm that:

✅You have read and understood the information provided.
✅You voluntarily agree to participate in this study.
✅You understand that you can withdraw at any time without any consequences.

Participant’s Name: ___________________________

Participant’s Signature: _______________________
Date: ______________
Demographic Information Sheet
Thank you for participating in this research study. Please provide the following demographic information. Your
responses will remain confidential and will be used solely for research purposes.

Participant Name/optional _______

1. Age:

⬜ 18 – 20
⬜ 21 – 23
⬜ 24 – 26
⬜ 27 – 30

2. Gender:

⬜ Male
⬜ Female
⬜ Other (please specify): ________

3. Education Level:

⬜ Undergraduate (Bachelor’s)
⬜ Graduate (Master’s)
⬜ Postgraduate (Ph.D. or MPhil)

4. University Affiliation:

Name of Institution (optional): _______________

5. Social Media Usage (per day):

⬜ Less than 1 hour

⬜ 1 – 2 hours
⬜ 3 – 4 hours
⬜ 5 – 6 hours
⬜ More than 6 hours

6. Most Frequently Used Social Media Platform(s): (Check all that apply)

⬜ Facebook
⬜ Instagram
⬜ Snapchat
⬜ TikTok
⬜ Twitter/X
⬜ LinkedIn
⬜ Other (please specify): _____________

7. Primary Purpose of Social Media Use: (Select the most relevant)

⬜ Socializing & Connecting with Friends
⬜ Academic or Professional Networking
⬜ Entertainment (watching videos, memes, etc.)
⬜ Posting & Engaging with Content
⬜ Other (please specify): _____________

8. How Often Do You Compare Yourself to Others on Social Media?

⬜ Rarely or Never
⬜ Occasionally
⬜ Frequently
⬜ Almost Always

9. How Important Are Social Media "Likes" and Comments to Your Self-Esteem?

⬜ Not Important
⬜ Somewhat Important
⬜ Important
⬜ Very Important

10. Do You Experience a Change in Mood After Using Social Media?

⬜ No Change
⬜ Sometimes Feel Positive
⬜ Sometimes Feel Negative
⬜ Frequently Feel Negative

Informed Consent Statement:

By completing this form, you acknowledge that you have voluntarily agreed to participate in this study. Your
responses will remain confidential and will be used solely for research purposes.

Participant Signature: _______________

Date: _______________
Social Media Use Scale (SMUS)
Instructions:

Please indicate how frequently you have engaged in each of the following social media activities in the past week
(7 days). Only include activities on social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. Do not
include activities related to direct messaging (e.g., Facebook Messenger, Instagram direct messages).

For each activity, select the most appropriate response based on the following scale:

Scale Frequency
1 Never
2 1–2 times per week
3 3–4 times per week
4 5–6 times per week
5 Once daily
6 2–5 times daily
7 6–9 times daily
8 10–13 times daily
9 Hourly or more

Social Media Activities:

Please indicate how often you have engaged in each of the following activities:

1. ⬜ Made/shared a post or story about something positive that was personally about me.
2. ⬜ Looked at how many people liked, commented on, shared my content, or followed/friended me.
3. ⬜ Read comments on my own content.
4. ⬜ Edited and/or deleted my own social media content.
5. ⬜ Played with photo filtering/photo editing.
6. ⬜ Compared my body or appearance to others'.
7. ⬜ Compared my life or experiences to others'.
8. ⬜ Reminisced about the past.
9. ⬜ Made/shared a post or story about something negative that was personally about me.
10. ⬜ Made/shared a post or story about something negative that was not personally about me.
11. ⬜ Commented unsupportively or disliked/reacted unsupportively on others' post(s).
12. ⬜ Sought out content that I morally or ethically disagreed with.
13. ⬜ Scrolled aimlessly through my feed(s).
14. ⬜ Looked at others’ stories.
15. ⬜ Navigated to others' profiles in my social network (e.g., friends or friends of friends).
16. ⬜ Navigated to others' pages who I do not know (e.g., influencers or celebrities).
17. ⬜ Watched videos such as memes, news content, how-tos/recipes, etc.
Scoring Instructions:

 Items should be presented in random order when administered.

 The average score for each subscale should be calculated (no reverse scoring required).
 The four subscales and their corresponding items are:

Subscale Items
Image-Based Use (5 items) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Comparison-Based Use (3 items) 6, 7, 8
Belief-Based Use (4 items) 9, 10, 11, 12
Consumption-Based Use (5 items) 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Permission to Use the Measure
Researchers who wish to use the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale in their research have our permission
to do so, with the caveat that it is properly acknowledged by including the correct citation for the measure
in any reports. We would appreciate learning about what you are using the measure for, and what you
find.

CONTINGENCIES OF SELF-WORTH SCALE

*Item is reverse-scored such that 7=1, 6=2, 5=3, 4=4, 3=5, 2=6, 1=7.

FAMILY SUPPORT: items 7, 10*, 16, 24, and 29.

COMPETITION: items 3, 12, 20, 25, and 32.
APPEARANCE: items 1, 4*, 17, 21, and 30*.
GOD’S LOVE: items 2, 8, 18, 26, and 31.
ACADEMIC COMPETENCE: items 13*, 19, 22, 27, and 33.
VIRTUE: items 5, 11, 14, 28, and 34.
APPROVAL FROM OTHERS: items: 6*, 9, 15*, 23*, and 35.

Scoring
 First, reverse-score answers to items 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, 23, and 30, such that (1 = 7), (2 = 6), (3 = 5), (4
= 4), (5 = 3), (6 = 2), (7 = 1).

 Then sum the answers to the five items for each respective subscale score, and divide each by 5.
INSTRUCTIONS: Please respond to each of the following statements by circling your answer using the scale from "1 =
Strongly disagree" to "7 = Strongly agree.” If you haven't experienced the situation described in a particular
statement, please answer how you think you would feel if that situation occurred.

Strongly Disagree Agree Strongly

Disagree Disagree Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree

1. When I think I look attractive, I feel good about 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

myself.

2. My self-worth is based on God’s love. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. I feel worthwhile when I perform better than others 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

on a task or skill.

4. My self-esteem is unrelated to how I feel about the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

way my body looks.

5. Doing something I know is wrong makes me lose 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

my self-respect.

6. I don’t care if other people have a negative opinion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

about me.

7. Knowing that my family members love me makes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

me feel good about myself.

8. I feel worthwhile when I have God’s love. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. I can’t respect myself if others don’t respect me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. My self-worth is not influenced by the quality of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

my relationships with my family members.

11. Whenever I follow my moral principles, my sense 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

of self-respect gets a boost.

12. Knowing that I am better than others on a task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

raises my self-esteem.

13. My opinion about myself isn’t tied to how well I do 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

in school.

14. I couldn’t respect myself if I didn’t live up to a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

moral code.

15. I don’t care what other people think of me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16. When my family members are proud of me, my 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

sense of self-worth increases.

17. My self-esteem is influenced by how attractive I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

think my face or facial features are.

18. My self-esteem would suffer if I didn’t have God’s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

love.
 Strongly Disagree Agree Strongly
Disagree Disagree Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree

19. Doing well in school gives me a sense of self- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

respect.

20. Doing better than others gives me a sense of self- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

respect.

21. My sense of self-worth suffers whenever I think I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

don’t look good.

22. I feel better about myself when I know I’m doing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

well academically.

23. What others think of me has no effect on what I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

think about myself.

24. When I don’t feel loved by my family, my self- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

esteem goes down.

25. My self-worth is affected by how well I do when I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

am competing with others.

26. My self-esteem goes up when I feel that God loves 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

me.

27. My self-esteem is influenced by my academic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

performance.

28. My self-esteem would suffer if I did something 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

unethical.

29. It is important to my self-respect that I have a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

family that cares about me.

30. My self-esteem does not depend on whether or not I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

feel attractive.

31. When I think that I’m disobeying God, I feel bad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

about myself.

32. My self-worth is influenced by how well I do on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

competitive tasks.

33. I feel bad about myself whenever my academic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

performance is lacking.

34. My self-esteem depends on whether or not I follow 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

my moral/ethical principles.

35. My self-esteem depends on the opinions others hold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

of me.
 SOCIAL COMPARISON SCALE
Please circle a number at a point which best describes the way in which you see yourself in
comparison to others.

For example:

Short 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tall

If you put a mark at 3 this means you see yourself as shorter than others; if you put a mark at 5
(middle) about average; and a mark at 7 somewhat taller.

If you understand the above instructions, please proceed. Circle one number on each line
according to how you see yourself in relationship to others.

Inferior 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Superior

Incompetent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More competent

Unlikeable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More likeable

Left out 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Accepted

Different 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Same

Untalented 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More talented

Weaker 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Stronger

Unconfident 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More confident

Undesirable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More desirable

Unattractive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More attractive

An outsider 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 An insider
SCORING
Scoring: Add up all items.

Sometimes it is useful to look at the 3 items of feeling left out, different and an outsider as a
measure of group fit or belongingness.

DESCRIPTION
Social Comparison Scale

This scale was developed by Allan and Gilbert (1995) to measure self-perceptions of social rank
and relative social standing. This scale uses a semantic differential methodology and consists of
11 bipolar constructs. Participants are required to make a global comparison of themselves in
relation to other people and to rate themselves along a ten-point scale. For example, the scale
asks:

In relationship to others I feel:

Incompetent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 More competent

The 11 items cover judgments concerned with rank, attractiveness and how well the person
thinks they ‘fit in’ with others in society. Low scores point to feelings of inferiority and general
low rank self-perceptions.

The scale has been found to have good reliability, with Cronbach alphas of .88 and .96 with
clinical populations and .91 and .90 with student populations (Allan and Gilbert, 1995, 1997).

REFERENCES
Allan, S. & Gilbert, P. (1995). A social comparison scale: Psychometric properties and
relationship to psychopathology. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 293-299.
 Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE)

Author: Morris Rosenberg

The purpose of the 10 item RSE scale is to measure self-esteem. Originally the measure
was designed to measure the self-esteem of high school students. However, since its
development, the scale has been used with a variety of groups including adults, with
norms available for many of those groups.

Scoring: As the RSE is a Guttman scale, scoring can be a little complicated. Scoring
involves a method of combined ratings. Low self-esteem responses are “disagree” or
“strongly disagree” on items 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, and “strongly agree” or “agree” on items 2, 5,
6, 8, 9. Two or three out of three correct responses to items 3, 7, and 9 are scored as one
item. One or two out of two correct responses for items 4 and 5 are considered as a single
item; items 1,8, and 10 are scored as individual items; and combined correct responses
(one or two out of two) to items 2 and 6 are considered to be a single item.

The scale can also be scored by totalling the individual 4 point items after reverse-scoring
the negatively worded items.

Reliability: The RSE demonstrates a Guttman scale coefficient of reproducibility of .92,

indicating excellent internal consistency. Test-retest reliability over a period of 2 weeks
reveals correlations of .85 and .88, indicating excellent stability.

Validity: Demonstrates concurrent, predictive and construct validity using known

groups. The RSE correlates significantly with other measures of self-esteem, including
the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. In addition, the RSE correlates in the predicted
direction with measures of depression and anxiety.

Reference:
Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the Self. New York: Basic Books.
 RSE

Please record the appropriate answer for each item, depending on whether you Strongly
agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with it.

1 = Strongly agree
2 = Agree
3 = Disagree
4 = Strongly disagree

1. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.

2. At times I think I am no good at all.
3. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
4. I am able to do things as well as most other people.
5. I feel 1do not have much to be proud of.
6. I certainly feel useless at times.
7. I feel that I'm a person of worth.
8. I wish I could have more respect for myself.
9. All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure.
10. I take a positive attitude toward myself.