The document summarizes a study that examined how priming and social media use influence attitudes toward social activism. 85 participants watched a video about world hunger (experimental) or duct tape escape (control) and completed surveys. Those who watched the hunger video and spent more time on social media were more likely to post about social issues online and volunteer. Additionally, people who spent less time on social media were less likely to post about such issues. However, priming and social media use did not affect attitudes toward general volunteering and activism. The study provides limited insight into social media's role in persuasion and motivation for activism due to its small sample size.

1. Arielle Annthersa Haddad
Woodbury University

2. ¡ Upsurge in using social media
as a vehicle for social
advocacy, justice, and
activism (Morrison, 2015).
¡ Motivation plays role in how
people engage in activism and
social change (van
Stekelenburg, 2013).
¡ Protestors are often
aggravated due to feelings &
experiences of inequality (van
Stekelenburg, 2013).

3. ¡ Casual awareness of world events plays a role
in the “power of group identity” as it relates
to human social behavior (Brewer, 1991).
¡ Collective identification intensifies the
group’s feelings of usefulness (van
Stekelenburg, 2013).

4. ¡ Grievances towards
a socio-political
cause (van
Stekelenburg, 2013).
¡ Volunteering
provides a source of
social contact,
enjoyment, and
satisfaction (Hall,
Hall, Cameron, &
Green, 2004).

5. ¡ Predicted that activism would
be “mediated by broadcast,
computer, and information
technologies” (Kahn & Kellner,
2004).
¡ Social media use has become
a part of popular culture
(Crosier, Webster, & Dillon,
2012).
¡ Perfect platform for self-
report (Park et al., 2014).

6. ¡ People unaware of influence of priming
events (Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996).
¡ Priming can affect changes in one’s active
self-concept (DeMarree, Wheeler & Petty,
2005).

7. ¡ Participants who watch world hunger video
and use social media more are more likely to
be willing to post on social media about a
social or political issue and/or go out to
volunteer, and have higher Total
Volunteerism-Activism scores

8. ¡ N = 85
§ 52% male
§ 46% female
§ 2% declined to answer
§ Experimental – N = 45
§ Control – N = 40
¡ Age: 18 and 36
§ M = 23
§ SD = 3.84
¡ Recruited from two institutions
in southern California
¡ Majority of participants were
likely to use social media during
the week
¡ Bales Volunteerism-Activism
Scale
§ 20-items, 5-point Likert scale
§ Measures Sense of Effectiveness,
Sociability or Generalism, Idealism
or Philosophical Commitment, and
Feel Good Factor
¡ Social media use habits and
demographics survey
§ Frequency of social media use
§ Frequently used social media
websites
§ Likelihood of posting about social
and/or political issues on social
media
§ Likelihood to volunteer
§ Age & Gender

9. ¡ Conditions
§ Experimental group – three-minute video about a
world hunger campaign being run by the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
§ Control group – three-minute video about
escaping from being tied up with duct tape in the
event of a kidnapping
¡ Sign-up sheets
¡ Surveys

10. ¡ 2 x 2 mixed factorial multivariate analysis of
variance (MANOVA)
§ IV1: Control or experimental video
§ IV2: Amount of time spent on social media (< 2
hours = “low use,” > 2 hours = “high use”)
§ DVs: Likelihood of posting about a social or political
cause on social media, going out to volunteer for a
social or political cause, and the total Volunteerism-
Activism score
§ Overall MANOVA showed that there was no
significance, F (3, 75) = 1.337, p = .269, Pillai’s Trace
= .051

11. ¡ Independent samples t-test
§ Conditions (experimental or control) X
Likelihood to post on social media showed
significant difference on both groups
▪ (t83 = -2.806, p = .006, 95% CI [-1.310, -.223]
§ Amount of time spent on social media X
Likelihood to post on social media showed a
significant difference on both groups
▪ (t79 = 2.913, p = .005, 95% CI [.253, 1.347]).

12. Differences in likelihood to post on social media about a social/political cause, likelihood
to volunteer for a social/political cause, and Total Volunteerism-Activism scores in the
experimental versus control group
Observed
Participant
Outcomes
Mean percentage
(SD)
t p 95% CI
Effect size
(Cohen’s d) Low SM
Use
N = 45
High SM
Use
N = 40
Likelihood to post
on social media
2.93 (1.2) 3.70 (1.2) -2.06 .006 [-1.31, -.223] -.61
Likelihood to
volunteer
3.40 (1.2) 3.80 (1.0) -1.60 .112 [-.896, .096] -.32
Total Volunteerism-
Activism Score 71.5 (6.4) 70.4 (6.6) .825 .412 [-1.66, 4.01] .17

13. Differences in likelihood to post on social media about a social/political cause, likelihood
to volunteer for a social/political cause, and Total Volunteerism-Activism scores in
participants who have low versus high social media use
Observed
Participant
Outcomes
Mean percentage
(SD)
t p 95% CI
Effect size
(Cohen’s d) Low SM
Use
N = 45
High SM
Use
N = 36
Likelihood to post
on social media
3.69 (1.3) 2.89 (1.1) 2.91 .005 [.253, 1.34] .65
Likelihood to
volunteer
3.76 (1.0) 3.31 (1.2) 1.78 .077 [-.051, .951] .39
Total Volunteerism-
Activism Score 71.0 (5.8) 70.6 (6.8) .288 .774 [-2.39 3.20] .06

14. ¡ World hunger video =
more likely to post on
social media
¡ Less social media
media = less likely to
post
¡ Priming, social media
use did not affect
attitudes toward
volunteering and
activism
• Limitations
• Small N
• More measures on
motivation
• Research into social
media is limited due to
fast growth

15. ¡ Research into the effects social media has on
influencing personal opinions on socio-
political causes
¡ How does social media play a role in
emotional intelligence, motivation,
persuasion techniques, and priming?