Fear of Other's Judgment, Self-esteem and Use of Social Networks Among Students

Fear of being judged negatively by others can lead to avoidance of social situations or even social isolation. If the intensity of this fear is excessive and results in significant impairment of functioning or significant suffering, the subject may suffer from social anxiety.

The considerable growth of social networks in a decade has led to the emergence of new behaviors among young people. Individuals spend on average 2 hours and 27 minutes per day with differences in usage: time spent, social network used, function sought. The use of these networks may be reasonable and moderate but may also be excessive and abusive (Amnon, 2014). Some authors even talk about addiction or dependence on social networks (Perales and Billieux, 2020) even if the existence of this disorder is not consensus.

People who fear being judged negatively by others may be more at risk of misuse of social networks. Indeed, the use of social networks would compensate for their existing problems (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014) and would thus be a new emotional management strategy. It would also reduce dreaded social situations such as face-to-face exchanges (Weidman and Rodebaugh, 2012; Yen and Ko, 2012). Self-esteem is defined as a subjective judgment of oneself in relation to one's values and vision of the real and ideal self (Rosenberg. 1979). The greater the gap between the vision of the real self and the ideal self, the lower the self-esteem.