The #selfie brain: Impacts of online social engagementin adolescent cognition.

Candy BoerwinkleSouthern Oregon University

It is well known that the adolescent brain is a malleablework in progress. Specific brain structures, not yet fullymature, are thought to play an important role in adolescentbehavior. Simultaneously, the landscape of adolescentdevelopment is continually changing with shifts intechnology and communication among social groups. How doneurological motivators enhance or inhibit online behaviors?What implications have been noted with increased adolescenttime spent online?

Keywords: adolescence, brain development, social well-being,online engagement

To understand the movementonline by youth, we must beginwith a basic foundation ofphysiological functioning inadolescent cognition (Spear,2010). What is going on in teenbrains? And how is it impactingtheir decisions online? How dosocial networking sites (SNS)influence processes indevelopment? ‘Digital natives,’ the term usedby Palfrey and Gasser (2008) toidentify kids who have grown upwith online social networkingconsists of 1.8 billion youth(Best, 2014). Understandingbehavior in childhood, as itrelates to neurologicalmaturity, can help to navigatethe reasons more than a third of

adolescents now prefer onlinecommunications (Schouten,Valkenburg, & Petter, 2007).

The term ‘selfie’ first foundroots in 2002 and is defined bythe Oxford dictionary as “aphotograph that one has taken ofoneself, typically with asmartphone or webcam anduploaded to a social mediawebsite.” The introduction ofthe iPhone in 2007, and thesubsequent smart phones thatfollowed, made it faster andeasier for selfies to be takenand uploaded instantly onlinefor the 65% of adolescents thatown cell phones (Rideout, Foehr& Roberts, 2010). Twitter, thecreator of the hashtag which isa symbol that turns a word or

phrase into a clickable publiclink, efficiently put the term#selfie into use. A quickinternet search on google.com of#selfie brings back more than 7million results and around 750million people upload photosdaily on Facebook, making themomentum of this collectivesocial practice (Aguayo &Calvert, 2013) noticeable.

A younger generation may haveadded a new word to thedictionary, but selfies,however, are not new. Evidenceof early self-portraiture existfrom the 1600’s withParmigianino’s Self-Portrait ina Convex Mirror, 1523-24(Appendix A). Artists oftendepicted their own images,spending upwards of a yearpainting their reflections oncanvas, as seen by Vincent VanGogh, 1889 and Rembrandt, 1658.Self-reflection and theportrayal of the self seem to bean important piece of the humanexperience (Osman, 2007). Self-esteem, which is dependent onmeasures of self-reflection(Harter, 1999), has long beenknown to play a role inpsychosocial well-being(Goffman, 1959) in context ofthe larger social structure.

More than a hundred years ago,William James (1890) said that“self-esteem comes fromperceptions of confidence anddomains of importance.” This

domain of importance is measuredby the presence of others andhow the individual is reflectedin them (Neff, Kirkpatrick &Rude, 2007). In no other placein the lifespan does this self-validating mirror (Pea, 2012)become more important thanadolescence. The ways in whichyouth are seeking reflection inpeers, however, is changing frompersonal contact to onlineforums (Palfrey & Gasser, 2008).

Moreover, the landscape ofcreative control in presentingthe self is also changing(Aguayo & Calvert, 2013). Withthe advent of photographyapplications and cameras, self-portraits can be digitallyenhanced or taken from angleswhich allow for disclosure atthe will of the individual.Youth have more control ofcreating and displaying an imageof themselves that fits theirown internal ideals(Livingstone, 2009).

This research focused on thefollowing questions: Whatdevelopmental trajectories in adolescenceare affected by online engagement? How isneurological maturation influencingadolescents’ online behaviors?

Brain maturationScientists refer to theadolescent brain as a work inprogress (Steinberg, 2010; Vanden Bos, 2013). The extensivepruning of synaptic networks

(Somerville, Jones & Casey,2010; Gogtay et al., 2004) thatis highly active in the firsttwo decades of the lifespanholds adolescence to be aparticularly pliable period ofgrowth. Connections that are andhave been utilized are retainedwhile others are discarded. Athinning out of the brain isoccurring at the same time thatformation in other areas ismaturing. Structural integrityis underway in white mattertracts across the brain (Paus,2010; Schmithorst & Yuan, 2010),including ‘talk’ between theprefrontal cortex and the limbicsystem (Gogtay et al., 2010).The brain is simplifying itselfto be a more productive organfor the survival of the body(Seigel, 2013).

One proposed developmentaltheory regarding explanationsfor adolescent behavior is thedual systems model (Geier & Luna,2009; Nelson et al., 2004). Thetheory of the dual systems modelsuggests that some of thecharacteristic behaviors seenmost often in youth, such asemotional reactivity, risk-taking, novelty seeking, andirrationality are due to anearly maturingaffective/approach system pairedwith a late maturing cognitivecontrol system.

The affective/approach systemcontains the limbic system,

which houses the amygdala,otherwise known as the emotioncenter (Kalat, 2013).Adolescents seem to be moresensitive to the emotionalproperties of a social stimulus.This sensitivity sometimescauses heightened emotionalresponses in social situations(Sebastian, 2010). Research doneby fMRI confirm that adolescentshave greater activity in thelimbic system when responding tofearful faces than adults, whouse more of their prefrontalcortexes to make decisions aboutfacial expressions (Nelson etal., 2003). Another study on theemotional variances ofadolescence was conducted byLarson, Moneta, Richards &Wilson in 2002. Youth were givenbeepers to carry throughout theday and told to record theemotion that was beingexperienced in that moment whenthe beeper sounded. Controlgroups consisted of children andadults and the results showedadolescence to be a particularlyturbulent period of manyoscillating emotions.

The second part of the dualsystems model, the cognitivecontrol system, involves anunderdeveloped prefrontal cortexin adolescents (Shaw et al.,2008), causing them to be lessable to effectively manage theoveractive emotions in theiraffective systems. Theprefrontal cortex (PFC) is the

newest part of the evolved brainin humans, and is therefore thelast to fully develop, finishingmaturation in early adulthood(Sowell et al., 1999). The PFCis responsible for executivefunctioning such as planning,goal-setting, theory of mind,working memory and emotionalinhibition (Kalat, 2013).

Case studies conducted onindividuals with damage to theprefrontal cortex have beennoted to have lowered ability toextract information about socialand moral expectations(Osterlund, 2001). The slowmaturation of the prefrontalcortex is important forunderstanding the lack ofinhibitory control in adolescentemotional responses (Steinberg,2010).

Some researchers posit that thisslower method of development inthe brain is beneficial foradolescents and that certainrisk taking and novelty seekingbehaviors may actuallyfacilitate functions of upcomingresponsibilities of theadolescent such as seeking out amate, leaving home and ‘testing’out new environments(Sommerville, 2010; Geier &Luna, 2009). A heightened senseof emotions may be an underlyingprotective function of awarenessof the brains motivation to seekrisk. These enhanced responsesto emotional social cues are not

easily inhibited by the late-maturing PFC, accounting forwhat may seem like irrational orinsensitive behavior to anadult.

It is important to note thatchanges related to puberty andhormonal imbalances in youth canimpact decision making as well(Geidd, Castellanos, Rajapakse,Vaituzis & Rappapoprt, 1997). Aspuberty continues to manifest inthe body of the adolescent,sexuality begins to appear andsocial restructuring becomesvital to survival (Doremus-Fitzwater et al., 2010). Thepituitary gland, located in thebrain, excretes hormones neededfor survival and the limbicsystem, which is denselypopulated with gonadal steroidreceptors (Romeo, Richardson &Sisk, 2002), experiences majorphysiological and functionalreorganization in adolescence.Neurotransmitters involved insocial behavior such asdopamine, serotonin, vasopressinand oxytocin are regulated bygonadal steroids and aretherefore altered in adolescentsocial behaviors (Peper & Dahl,2013).

Hormonal effects are importantduring initial encounters forlearning and memory (Kalat,2013). With adolescence standingto be a period of many ‘firsts,’adrenal responses to sociallearning can lay foundations for

future patterns of behavior(Dowdell, 2006). If a behaviorhad a rewarding outcome, thebrain will encode the experienceas positive and seek out similarones in the future (Gardner &Steinberg, 2005). This‘hardwiring’ in the brain ofconditional learning accountsfor many addictions inadulthood. The brain has formedconnections that are hard tooverride or relearn in laterlife, including patterns ofeating, substance abuse, andrelational integrity(Somerville, 2010).

Social Salience Developing social skills inadolescence is vital for healthyadult relationships and havebeen shown to be a positiveindicator observed in studies oflongevity, happiness and mentalhealth (Blakemore & Robbins,2012). Social re-orientation(Somerville, Jones & Casey,2010) involves a widening ofpeer group circles and anarrowing of direct parentalinfluence, although multiplestudies point to the indirectinfluences parents havethroughout childhood (Bowlby,1969; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters& Wall, 1978; Osman, 2007).

Canadian researchers havepresented a social contextual theory onadolescent development morefocused on peer groups than onbrain maturity in the specific

domain of risk taking(Willoughby, Good, Adachi, Hamza& Tavernier, 2013). The dualsystems model theory presupposesthat as neuronal pathwaysstrengthen and mature betweenthe affective and cognitivecontrol centers, risk takingbehavior should decrease andfurthermore, the highest noveltyseekers should be in earlyadolescence when connections arethe least developed.Contradictory, the greatestamount of risk taking behaviors,such as substance abuse,unprotected sexual encountersand irresponsible management ofresources (Doremus-Fitzwater,Varlinskaya & Spear, 2010),occurs in early adulthood, andespecially on college campuses,making it seem thatphysiological functioning mayonly account for a small part ofadolescent risk-taking behavior.The researchers suggest that itis the presence of peers ratherthan brain development thatultimately defines the behaviorof the adolescent (Willoughby etal., 2013).

Other researchers haveinvestigated the salience ofsocial relations in adolescenceas well. A study conducted byJohnston, O’Malley, Bachman &Schulenberg, 2009, show thatwhile students with highacademic success in high schoolengage in relatively low amountsof risky behavior, they go on to

surpass the drinking behaviorsof non-university students inyoung adulthood. This isattributed to the theory of socialpresence. Further research hasshown that the amount of socialbenefit an adolescent perceivesalcohol consumption to have,positively correlates with thefrequency of their consumptionover the next two years (Smith,1995). Even negativeassociations of alcohol do notdissuade young adults fromconsuming in social situations(Rawn & Vohs, 2011).

The presence of peers not onlystrongly influences decisionmaking, but also feelings ofself-worth and self-esteem(Harter, 1999; O’Brien &Bierman, 1988). Studies showthat adolescents view ostracismand acceptance as importantmarkers of self-worth(Sebastion, Viding, Williams &Blakemore, 2010). Ostracism canhave deleterious effects on anadolescent and is used inrelational aggression (Stroud,Salovey & Epel, 2002; Neff,Kirkpatrick & Rude, 2007).Relational aggression, specificto females, is overt and mayhave long term damage (Harter,1999). Kids earn social approvaland increased self-worth bybullying others, especially inmiddle school (Neff, 2009). Thisis due to the nature of socialcomparisons. However,adolescents also use peers to

build up positive self-esteem(Osman, 2007). The importance ofpeers on self-evaluations aswell as decision making cannotbe overstated.

To further investigate thenotability of peers, researchersused a video game and examinedrisk taking in teens by havingthem simulate driving a car,which rewarded them forexecuting a little risk inrunning caution lights, butpunished them if they took toomuch risk and ran a red light(Gardner & Steinberg, 2005) .The game required premeditationunder time constraints andweighing possibilities.Researchers found that whenteens played this game alone ina room, they took risks aboutthe same percentage as adults.However, in the presence oftheir peers watching the game,those same teens that previouslytook less risk became much morereckless drivers. Adult playersutilized the same amount of riskon average with or without thepresence of their peers. Theseresults show the salience ofpeers on decision makingspecifically in adolescence, andalso the variance in thecalculation of risk and reward(Gardner & Steinberg, 2005).Minimizing the risk of adecision and capitalizing on thepositive aspect in adolescencehas been termed “hyper-rationalthinking” (Seigal, 2013). Reward

and punishment are reasoneddifferently during adolescence.Higher emotional attachmentsgive greater weight to riskydecisions.

Another brain structure that ishighly active in adolescence anddoes not fully mature untilearly adulthood is the ventralstriatum (Blakemore & Robbins,2012) which is part of the basalganglia and houses the nucleusaccumbens, otherwise known as anindividual’s reward center(Sturman & Moghaddam, 2012). Thedopaminergic pathways betweenthe limbic system and thenucleus accumbens play a role inaddictive behaviors throughoutthe lifespan (Somerville, Jones& Casey, 2010). Heightenedactivity in the nucleusaccumbens in the adolescentyears may influence rewardcalculations which oftenoutweigh risks (Gardner, 2005).To an adolescent, and even ayoung adult, a small reward isworth a large risk (Seigel,2013), enhancing the positivityof the calculation.

Online EngagementIn 2010, a large scale study onmedia usage was publishedshowing that children between 8-18 years old spend an average of10 hours and 45 minutes per dayutilizing media, often multi-tasking more than one device ata time (Rideout, Foehr &Roberts, 2010). A 44% increase

in media usage was seen fromresults of the same study in1999 (Rideout et al., 2010). In2009, studies revealed that only35% of adults in the U.S. wereactive on social networkingsites, while 65% of Americanadolescents had profiles online(Jones & Fox, 2009; Duggan &Brenner, 2013). Nearly ¾ ofadolescents in the United Statesnow own a cellphone and haveinternet access (Davis, 2012).

The language of adolescentrelationships has changeddrastically in the past tenyears. As one experimenter putit “today, people constructtheir ‘profile,’ make it ‘public’ or‘private,’ they ‘comment’ or‘message’ their top friends ontheir ‘wall,’ they ‘block’ or ‘add’people to their network and soforth,” (Livingstone, 2008).Schmitt, Dayanim & Matthias,2008, found that the creation ofblogs and web pages gaveadolescents a sense of masteryand control over an environment,which is an essential componentof self-esteem (Harter, 1999).

Online engagement allows forpeer group affiliations andwidening social circles. Youthcan use ‘coded language’ toreference inside jokes or funnypictures seen online (Davis,2012). Modern ways to ‘hang out’include groups on Twitter,Facebook, and other socialnetworking sites (Cassell &

Huffaker, 2006; Davenport,Bergman, Bergman & Fearrington,2014). An individual canreaffirm one’s place within thegroup by leaving comments(Livingstone, 2008). Peer groupsoften have similar profilepages, although one study showedthat 87% of the users surveyedsaid they often interacted withpeers on Facebook that were notin their primary social group(Davis, 2013).

Although the method of socialengagement is changing, theimportance remains the same.Friendships in adolescence areparamount to development(Amachai-Hamburger, Kingsbury &Schneider, 2013). Lesspreadolescent peer rejection hasbeen correlated to higherfeelings of self-worth inadulthood and higher levels ofpeer rejection have been shownto have higher levels ofpsychopathology later on as well(Bagwell, Newcomb, & Bukowski,1998).

Valkenburg and Peter, 2011,termed 3 primary areas where theuse of online networking insocial mirroring has notability:anonymity, asynchronicity, andaccessibility. Anonymity on theweb gives youth more controlover self-presentation anddisclosure (Al-Saffaf & Nielse,2014). They can change and editwhat they write before sendingit, giving greater optimization

and they have more accessibilityor round the clock connection(Davis, 2012) to peers.

ImplicationsAssociating values to theeffects of a more recentphenomenon, the facilitation ofthe internet in humancommunications, is implausible.As the human brain is a dynamicwork in progress and onlineengagement shapes development,there is no way of knowing howthese changes will influenceindividuals in the future. Thefollowing implications areintended for deliberation andthe researcher extends cautionin drawing strong conclusions asnearly all of the studies hadvarying results.

SleepMany of the 10+ hours thatadolescents spend on media usageper day cut into late nightusage including cell phonestucked under pillows and TV setsin bedrooms (Rideout, Foehr &Roberts, 2010). Changes in sleepbehavior are highly evidentthroughout adolescence andimportant for cognition andemotional control (Dahl & Lewin,2002). The hormone, melatonin,is excreted later in theadolescent brain than in anyother period in the lifespan(Gianotti et al., 1997),sometimes contributing to ayouth’s circadian rhythms to beout of balance with other

members of the family. Multiplestudies have shown that poorquality sleep, however, has beenassociated with more apathy andless self-esteem in decisionmaking (Telzer, Fuligni,Lieberman & Galvan, 2013;Harrison & Horne, 2000; Meijer,Habkothe & Van den Wittenboer,2000). Multiple studies haveshown that higher levels ofsleep also correlate with higherlevels of academic success(Hoffman & Steenhof, 1997;Wahlstrom, 2001; Wolfson &Carskagdon, 2003; Feinberg &Campbell, 2010; Rideout, Foehr &Roberts, 2010) causing someresearchers to suggest laterstart times for middle and highschool students (Allen, 1992;Telzer, Fuligni, Lieberman &Galvan, 2013).

Morality/EmpathyTheory of mind is a complexsocial process that isresponsible for the ability tothink of others intentions,desires, and beliefs when makingdecisions (Baren-Cohen, 1991).The area responsible for thesetasks is the dorsomedial cortexwhich undergoes developmentalchanges into early adulthood(Sowell, 1999).

While round the clock connectionallows for adolescents to haveclose connections to one anotherin emotional crisis (Davis,2012), it also leaves littleroom for default processing, or

engagement in introspection,(Immordino, Christodoulou &Singh, 2012). A lack of defaultprocessing has been attributedto moral shallowing (Carr,2011), or a decline inreflective thought processing.Immordino, Christodoulou &Singh, 2012 conclude thatdaydreaming and mind wanderingare important functions of thebrain responsible for internalfocus and a need to regardemotional implications of theirsand others actions. In the firstexperimental study of its kind,Trapnell & Sinclair, 2012,showed higher levels of textingto be associated with negativemeasures of moral reflectivenessin a study of 2300 young adultsfrom 18-22. The conclusion wasthat the more distractionsavailable, such as suddenreceipt of a text message, theless time the brain has toprocess social information.

On the other hand, researchersalso acknowledged that sparinglyused media can promote socialreflectiveness in communitiesand foster empathicunderstandings of globalsituations, enhancing theory ofmind applications (Kamalipour,2010; Immordino, Christodoulou &Singh, 2012). Social ontogenesis(Nsamenang, 2005) is the termgiven to explain humandevelopment as a product ofsocial culture. Onlineengagement can give adolescents

of different nationalities, anddifferent social cultures,access to one another, extendingthe empathy circle at animpressionable age, andaffecting the social ontogenesisof a cohort.

Identity FormationSelf-concept clarity is animportant component in dynamicadolescent identity developmentand is defined as “the extent towhich beliefs and opinions aboutones’ self are clearly andconfidently defined,”(Valkenburg & Peter, 2011; Reid,1998). This clarity isdependent, in some ways, on peeracceptance (Al-Saggaf & Nielsen,2014). Self-esteem is predicatedby control over environment andpeer approval (Harter, 1999;Neff, 2007). Correlationsbetween self-esteem and onlinecommunications are mostlypositive, showing thatengagement in social networkingsites tend to elevate self-esteem in adolescence (Schmitt,Dayanim, & Matthias, 2008;Jackson, VonEye & Fitzgerald,2010).

A greater sense of self-worthand social well-being is alsoassociated with onlineengagement (Best, 2014;Valkenburg & Peter, 2011; Burke,et. al, 2010) and higher self-worth in longitudinal studieshas been attributed to lowerlevels of psychopathology in

adulthood (Bagwell, Newcomb, &Bukowski, 1998; Neff, 2007).

Other studies have shown,however, that higher levels ofinternet use correlate withlower levels of self-conceptclarity (Israelashvili et al,2012; Lee, 2012; Matsuba, 2006).Heavy media users between theages of 8-18 in a nationwideAmerican survey also reporthaving lower levels of personalcontentment (Rideout, Foehr &Roberts, 2010).

ConclusionAdolescents seem to be moredrawn to internet applicationsdue to an increasing need forwider social circles andconstant connection to peergroups. Engagement online alsofacilitates instinctiveneurological functioning such asemotional salience, reward,risk, and the ability to satisfynatural curiosity about theworld around them. Creation ofweb pages, self-images andonline identities giveadolescents more control overself-presentation.

It is clear that media andinternet usage have varyingeffects on adolescentdevelopment that are notcompletely opaque. Thewidespread use of the internetprimarily by youth presents theneed to establish methodologiesto more accurately measure

oscillating degrees of influencein ontogenesis. With bothpositive and negativeassociations apparent in theliterature, it is clear that aninfluence exists. The extent ofthis influence will not be fullyknown until longitudinal studiesare conducted over the nextseveral decades. However, havinga better understanding of thematuration process of theadolescent brain, the strongneed for socialization andactive online engagement, canbetter aid parents and educatorsin assisting the developmentalneeds of adolescents.

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Appendix A

The first selfie? Parmigianino’sSelf-Portrait in a ConvexMirror, 1523–24.

Van Gogh, portraitof self