Overview of some of my research interests for Dan Sewell's PhD Research Course at Fielding Graduate University: honing a good research question, body image, social impact of Twilight fans and selfies.

1. PA MELA R UTLEDGE, PHD
A Q U E S T I O N O F
RESEARCH
prutledge@fielding.edu
@pamelarutledge

2. Pamela Rutledge, PhD
• Areas of Interest:
• Multi-platform storytelling
• Brand psychology & brand story
• Positive psychology & media
experience
• Questions I ask:
• Where is the story?
• What needs are satisfied?
• What goals are at play?
• How can we understand the positive
side of media?
• Constructs:
• Empowerment, Agency, Engagement
(Flow),Presence
• Theoretical frameworks:
• Self-Determination Theory
• Social Influence
• Evolutionary Psychology

3. Research Strengths
• Finding a “doable” question
• Narrative and qualitative approaches
• Survey construction

4. Media Psychology Research
• Media and technology consumption
happens in context
• Real world is messy and hard to measure
• Isolating variables means being aware of
potential interference and inherent
assumptions
CHALLENGES&OPPORTUNITIES

5. .
What Good Question?
1. Presents a clear and focused problem
2. Synthesizes multiple sources
3. Based on a theoretical model
4. Shapes the problem into a testable
hypothesis

6. Did You PhotoShop Your
Facebook Picture?
The Impact of Social Mediaon Self-Representationand Self-Image
Presented at APA
San Diego, 2010

7. Assumptions
• Theoretical:
• Social comparison is a automatic behavior
• Self-efficacy influences global self-image
• Environmental Influences
• Information is increasingly on-demand and self-
relevant
• Authenticity is valued
• Social media and interactive technology
change the locus of control

8. Hypotheses
• Due to the prevalence of “real people” on social
media, women will be more influenced by their
friends than celebrities
• Body image is related to self-esteem and self-
esteem is related to agency and competence.
Therefore, perceptions of technological
competence will be related to positive body image

9. Twilight: The Influence of Social
• Twilight had many fans
beyond the YA age
group.
• Often families/friends did not
understand the fan’s attraction
and interest.
• Theoretical assumptions
• Fan experience creates
affiliation
• Social connection and
affiliation establish norms for
groups
• Popularity provides social
proof of group value

10. Hypotheses
• Active membership (defined by posting and
commenting) would results in sense of social
support and normalize the fan’s experience
• Normalizing the fan experience would increase
self-acceptance
• Unexpected:
• Fans took new perspective on self and changed aspects of their
offline lives, such as working on relationships, getting new jobs, etc.
• Question:
• Was the impact of social support amplified by the Twilight message of
unconditional love and acceptance?

11. SELFIEEMPOWERMENT

12. Theoretical Assumptions
• Self Determination Theory:
• Taking control of self image increases agency
• Selfies increase affiliation and connectedness
• Frequent use of technology increases mastery
• Achieving agency, connectedness and mastery
increases positive emotions
• Experiencing repeated positive emotions has a
cumulative effect (Upward Spiral of Positive
Emotions) and increases subjective well being
• Social value of authenticity shifts values
• Seeing an aspirational self is a pathway to cognitive
change

13. Pilot Study
• N=108
• Potential cognitive
bias?
• “my friends do it a lot,
but I don’t”
• Most common
reasons for taking
selfies:
• documenting events
• feeling good about looks
• entertainment value
(bored)

14. New Ways of Seeing Self
I always try to edit the perfect selfie. I try to remove the
acne or skin marks or flyaway hairs in an attempt to
portray myself in a film like glorification of my life.
It is a way to translate my image of myself to people
who only see me through unfiltered eyes.
I do not ignore that my appearance is imperfect, I just
show my personality bleeding through the blemishes to
make an outwardly beautiful person to reflect what I
hope is a kind soul I have inside.

15. In Progress Research Questions
• How do we understand selfies?
• Platform choices
• Demographics – meaning of social sharing
• Conscious goals for taking and posting
• Personality
• How do we meaningfully measure eudaimonic
versus hedonic experience of selfie-takingin the
social space?
• How does the meaning of self-portraiture change
over time with technology? How much does the
social zeitgeist influence behaviors?

16. THANK YOU