An investigation of Facebook users' implicit associations between Facebook, sexual and prosocial behavior

Abstract

Despite growing research on online social networking, implicit associations of Facebook users have been largely understudied. In Study 1, we used the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT; Karpinski and Steinman, 2006) in order to assess implicit associations between Facebook and two evolutionary relevant constructs: sexual and prosocial behavior. Additionally, we controlled for the role of participant's relationship status as a potential moderator of Facebook implicit associations. In Study 2, we extended these findings and explored the relationship between implicit and explicit associations towards Facebook. Across two studies, we found that Facebook is more strongly associated with prosocial than with sexual behavior. This effect was not sensitive to sex differences. Further, Study 2 results revealed that implicit and explicit associations did not correlate. We discuss the implications of these findings, underlining the role of implicit measures in cyberpsychology research.

Keywords

• Psychology