A self-determination theory approach to emerging adult well-being and social media use

Emerging adulthood (ages 18-29), a phase marked by identity exploration and transition, has witnessed a troubling surge in mental health issues coinciding with the social media boom. In this dissertation I sought to understand the interplay between social media use and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as it relates to emerging adults’ well-being by focusing on how emerging adults use social media to promote their well-being. In Chapter 2 I proposed that SDT provides an opportunity to understand emerging adult well-being and social media and may be utilized to promote healthy social media practices. In my first empirical study in Chapter 3, I conducted text analyses, quadratic regressions, and generalized additive models (GAMs) to explore the trends in relatedness content in emerging adults’ tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic. I found significant changes in relatedness during the Black Lives Matter Movement during 2020 and around the 2021 conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. In Chapter 4, my second empirical study, I explored how types of social media goals related to SDT (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) impacted emerging adults’ well-being after Instagram use. I found that relatedness and autonomy goals improved well-being outcomes. The focus of this dissertation was to demonstrate that emerging adults can use social media in healthy ways to meet their basic psychological needs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Budesheim, Erin F.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Napolitano, Chris
• Rounds, James
• Ratner, Kaylin
• Cosme, Danielle
• Haritatos, Jana

• Emerging Adulthood
• Social Media
• Well-being

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Erin Budesheim

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129812

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129812