Deepening our understanding of social media use in high-performance athletes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
| dc.contributor.author | Gill, Hamish David Cotty | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-05-09T20:31:57Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-05-09T20:31:57Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Social media has had a significant impact upon high-performance athletes in New Zealand and around the world. This impact can be seen in the way that we interact with our favourite sports teams and athletes. Social media has developed into a cost-effective medium which embraces interactivity, diversity, and collaboration, which athletes can take advantage of to help push their personal “brand” and awareness. Such an awareness affords the general population unique insights into the lives of high-performance and professional athletes around the world. Social media has also changed the way the athletes themselves interact with the world around them and how these interactions shape their performance and their wellbeing. However, very little research in New Zealand has been undertaken to explore general social media usage in high-performance athletes, and how this usage impacts their performance and their daily lives. This study investigated the various uses for and consequences of social media usage in high-performance athletes in New Zealand, and as result, deepens our understanding of how high-performance athletes make sense of, regulate, and engage with social media. This study had three aims: (i) to understand why New Zealand high-performance athletes use social media, (ii) to understand if social media effects their performance, and (iii) to examine social media’s impact on wellbeing. The study consisted of an initial screening survey, followed by a semi-structured interview and involved 11 athletes who had represented New Zealand. A thematic analysis established key themes and indicated that athletes used social media for connection, improvement, and motivation. Additionally, three overarching themes were established that represented the consequences associated with social media use; these were body image, pressures, and control. The study draws from various theories in making sense of the findings and highlighting their relevance to high-performance athletes. The findings showed that social media engagement has a profound effect on high-performance athletes in New Zealand. The findings from this study suggest that social media engagement can both positively and negatively affect performance and wellbeing of high-performance athletes. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10179/18215 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Massey University | en |
| dc.rights | The Author | en |
| dc.subject.anzsrc | 520107 Sport and exercise psychology | en |
| dc.title | Deepening our understanding of social media use in high-performance athletes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| massey.contributor.author | Gill, Hamish David Cotty | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | en |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science (MSc) | en |