Developing a Positive Psychology Principles Based on Social Media Utilization Among Housewives (S/O 13751)

• Main Authors: Abdul Hamid, Norsiah, Ishak, Mohd Sobhi, Mohd Rashid, Sabrina
• Format: Monograph
• Language: English
• Published: UUM 2021
• Subjects: HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
• Online Access: https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/31636/1/13751.pdf; https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/31636/

Adopting a positive psychology approach to understanding social media and wellbeing is a new addition to this area and lends itself particularly well to examining certain aspects of users’ wellbeing that have proven challenging in the past. However, it has been pointed out that positive psychology research has not sufficiently explored issues faced by under-represented populations such as women and housewives. Hence, the main objectives of this research are twofold: to assess the positive psychology principles in the social media usage among housewives and to develop a framework for housewives-related NGOs that support this marginalised group. Specifically, this research aims to identify the profile of users of social media among housewives in Malaysia, to investigate the positive psychology principles, particularly the motivations in the social media usage among the housewives, and to assess the effects of social media motivations that lead to well-being and flourishing among the housewives. Hence, for the first study, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted among housewives who are actively using social media, and they were identified based on snowball sampling. This study delves into housewives’ motives of social media usage and its effects on their well-being and flourishing based on the uses and gratification and self-determination theories. Five motives have been proposed namely Escapism, Information Seeking, Friendship Maintenance, Relationship Initiation, and Nostalgia, which were then tested for with Well-being and Flourishing. A total of 268 housewives in Malaysia, who are active users of social media in daily lives involved in the survey. The hypotheses formulated were tested using PLS-SEM. The findings revealed that, motives of social media usage among housewives have significant and positive impact on both well-being and flourishing. This study provides insight on the effects of social media motives on women well-being and flourishing. For the second study which was to develop a framework for housewives-related NGOs, a focus group session was held with ten housewives to examine their background, views, emotions, beliefs, and leadership challenges. The findings are divided into two main thrusts, namely the NGO's leadership ecosystem, and the leadership ecosystem among their fellow members. Suggestions for improvements for housewives-related NGOs are also outlined at the end of this article