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INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The prevalence of internet engagement among college students appears to have grown

steadily through the years. It has been observed that the students seem to be connected to the

internet for long hours every day and this may probably affect the quality of their relationship

with people, particularly in relation to their emotional expressions. As the number of internet

users increase, the possibility of having effects on how people express their feelings may also

increase.

Based on the Internet Society Global Internet Report (2014), the number of internet users

has risen steadily, reflecting the compelling draw and uptake of the growing and more diverse

internet service. It is anticipate that a milestone of 3 billion users will be reached in early 2015,

based on a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) forecast.

In Thailand, the number of Internet users has increased dramatically in recent years,

especially among adolescents. In 2008 about 28.2% of the Thai population had access to the

Internet and of those, 68.2% were young people aged 6 to 24-years-old (National Statistical

Office, 2008a). By 2009, about 43.9% of Thai households were reported as having access to the

Internet and over 16.99 million Thai people use the Internet as an integral part of their personal,

social and occupational lives (Internet World Stats, 2009; National Electronics and Computer

Technology Center, 2009). Moreover, 93.7% of Thai Educational Institutes have Internet access

(National Statistical Office, 2010), thus providing students with daily access to high speed

Internet.

The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, economic growth, social

communication. Based on statistical reports on job growth and retail sales show the importance
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of the internet economy, between 1998 and 2008, the number of domestic information

technology jobs grew 26 percent- four times faster the employment in the United States as a

whole. Moreover, global online transactions currently total an estimated $10 trillion annually

(U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and information Administration).

Student’s knowledge and perception of technology can shape student satisfaction in online

learning (Sahin & Shelley, 2008). Based on Global Communication: Texting, Social Networking

Popular Worldwide, (2012) in 15 of 21countries, at least 25% of those polled use social

networking sites. Isreal (53%) and the U.S. (50%) the top list with the highest percentage of

adults who say they use online social networking sites such as Facebook.

There are many benefits associated with Internet use, such as access to needed

information, worldwide access to news and events, and interpersonal communication through

email. However, along with the phenomenal growth of the Internet and its use, there has been a

growing concern worldwide regarding the risks associated with Internet over-use (Buchholz,

2009; Daily News, 2008, 2009; Fackler, 2008; Janta, 2008; Khaosod, 2007; The Associated

Press, 2009). Internet addiction (IA) is a relatively new field of academic inquiry. Empirical

studies suggest that IA, like other well researched addictive behaviours, has an effect on many

aspects of a person’s life, including academic/work performance, relationships, and physical and

mental health (Goldberg, 1996; Young, 1996, 1998).

However, evidence of IA (Internet Addiction) has been suggested by the findings

that some Internet users spend increasingly longer periods of time online and experience

withdrawal symptoms when offline. Those preoccupied with Internet-related activities may

neglect exercise, family and social activities (Kim et al., 2010; Nalwa & Anand, 2003; Seo,

Kang, & Yom, 2009; S. Yang & Tung, 2007; Young, 1998, 2004). It is now believed that there
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could be widespread “addiction” to it, in particular amongst college and university students

(Fortson, Scotti, Chen, Malone, & Del Ben, 2007).

The researchers, being avid internet users, are interested to find out the

relationship between internet engagement and emotional expression. It was observed that due to

internet engagement, the researchers seem to have limited time to interact with family, friends,

and other human relationship and thus may have affected our ability to express emotions in

public, at home, school or other events that require expression of our emotions.

The benefit of this study to the researchers and the other people in our study is that, it

intends to have an in depth understanding of the 21st century students or being millennials in this

time, in relation to the internet engagement and emotional expression. Results may caution on

people on possible of the effect of internet engagement in emotional expression if any substantial

long term or short term damages.

Reasons for choosing this topic are seeing the effects in our family, friends and

classmates are substantial and noticeable by the public eye and to us. Example of such effects in

our classmates are being late, as concerned classmates asking them the reason most of them tells

us that we sleep late last night because of internet use. This kind of event concern us and quite

alarming also not just for the health also the way they move their lives are being constrain by

over using the internet. Family is also being affected, there is a belief that the first education you

got is from your family. But what kind of education will you got if both of your parents or

siblings are quite busy with social media instead attending their attention to you. The

consequences is terrible, the child mind is very susceptible in the influence of internet parents

letting them handle which is not appropriate in their mind level is wrong and will have a
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substantial effect as such. The reasons are enough to the researcher to conduct the study because

the future is quite dim if human being will continue their current attitude on the subject of

internet use. The observation of these events are quite alarming thus making the researchers

more motivated to the current issue to know more and contribute it to the society.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to look into the internet engagement to the emotional expression of

college students in the University of St. La Salle specifically, it intends to:

1. Determine profile of college students in internet engagement in terms of:

a) Sex

b) College

2. Determine Internet Engagement in terms of characteristics:

a) Duration

b) Nature of Engagement

i. Gaming

ii. Social media

iii. Shopping/Marketing

iv. Communication

v. Gathering of data/Information

c) Cost of engagement

d) Location

3. Identify the Emotional Expression of the participants

a) Before Engagement

b) During Engagement
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c) After Engagement

4. Determine whether their is association in the internet engagement of the participants

when taken as a whole and when grouped according to sex.

Theoretical Framework

The Cognitive Information Process (CIP) Theory is often referred to as simply

"information processing." Information processing is not really the name of a single theory; it is a

generic name applied to various theoretical perspectives dealing with the sequence and execution

of cognitive events. Similarly Schacter and Tulving (as cited in Driscoll, 2001) state that “a

memory system is defined in terms of its brain mechanisms, the kind of information it processes,

and the principles of its operation”

Meanwhile, the Uses and Gratification Theory (Severin, Werner; Tankard, James 1997) is

related to the engagement in explained as the gratifications that attracts and holds audiences to

the kinds of media and the types of content that satisfy their social and psychological needs.

(Ruggerio, 2000). Simply stated the theory explains what media people choose and how to

decide to use it. Adolescent teens make a very conscious choice to use the internet to access

social media networking websites as a dominant platform in their lives to communicate of one of

the component.

The uses and gratification theory explained the framework around why teens make the

decision in making social media their preferred method of communication. We include this

theory because the researchers see that social media is one of the platform which is essential to

the research thus making it one of our needs to analyze. This theory is broken down into five

basic assumptions explained by Elihu Katz (2000). The first assumption being that “the audience
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is conceived of as active”. This idea focuses around the assumption that the viewers are goal

oriented and have some control over what they consume. (Rossi, 2002) Through this attempt to

achieve their goals, social media allows teens to stay connected with friends and family

providing them the opportunity to participate in community events, develop and share creativity

with others, and creating one’s own individual identity and unique social skills (O’Keefe &

Clarke Pearson, 2012). The second assumption insists that the mass communication process

much initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the audience member.

This foster the idea that teens use the media to their advantage and determine just how

much they want to absorb and how much they will allow it to influence their decisions (Rossi,

2002). The third and most important assumption is the media competes with other sources of

need satisfaction. Possibly the best competitor to social media is that of face-to-face

communication; what most parents and adults struggle with regarding communication with

college students today. Adolescents that use the Internet to gain some type of gratification may

ultimately lack that same gratification from communicating with their own family.

Questions to consider in this case are if teens were not getting gratification from the

Internet, would teens gain gratification by communicating face-to-face with their family? Non-

media related sources such as parents, teachers and peers must then create a need for itself to be

a source of “gratification” yet providing a balance between themselves and social media (Rossi,

2002). Furthermore, parents do find it difficult to connect with their kids because of the technical

skill gap they experience with a younger tech generation. This often creates disconnect with how

parents and their kids participate and connect in an online world (O’Keeffe et al., 2012).
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On the other hand, social media has also been proven to bond families. Much of new

social media engagement among teens takes place within the home. Parents, siblings and other

family members are often found using social media and other media outlets while hanging out at

home. It is a way for parents to stay connected or involved, keep abreast of, and even participate

in their kids’ interests (Ito, 2002).The fourth assumption that is discussed is that many goals of

mass media use can be derived from data supplied by individual audience members themselves.

People are sufficiently self-aware to be able to report their interests and motives in particular

cases, or at least to recognize them when confronted with them in an intelligible and familiar

verbal formulation .

Social media can help in foster of one’s individual identity and unique social

skills (O’Keeffe et al., 2012, p 801). When college students create profiles they are able to create

or rather recreate themselves as they come into their own self-awareness. They are able to

express their interests and intentions in whatever they choose. Profiles created on websites such

as Facebook are constructed for teens’ friends and peers to view. Teens may present a different

identity in their online world that may not correspond with who they are in the offline world

however their primary friends may still remain in the offline world. Whether online or offline,

teens are still inclined to present an identity that will be accepted by their peers (Boyd, 2008).

The final assumption states that value judgments about the cultural significance of mass

communication should be suspended while audience orientations are explored on their own

terms. The value that teens place on social media is high as they see it as simple way to stay in

communication with friends. Teens are looking for ways to be cool with their friends yet

acceptable to their parents and it is often not the case. Parents have hopes that their children
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value the same values they grew up with however teenagers struggle to stay in the “in crowd”

using methods and values that contradict their parents (Boyd, 2008).

Conceptual Framework

The researchers conceptualized that being college students and avid-users of internet

have a great impact on emotional expression. Understanding social roles have impact on the

emotional expressions. Moreover, our study focuses on college students. Mainly because college

students are widely known to be avid users of internet.

The researcher also consider the application of the location specifically where they are

using it, and the four location where in near the university. It is also mentioned that internet

engagement has different components. Those components are: the nature, duration, cost, location

and device. To further elaborate the components, the nature of engagement pertains to what

individuals use internet for, either in gaming, social media, shopping/marketing, communication

and research. Duration simply means the time spent among participants on the internet. Cost of

engagement is the payment of the internet use, whether monthly, daily or none at all. The

researchers observed that some of the participants have different locations when they use the

internet.

The importance of obtaining the data regarding the participant’s emotional expression

before, during and after engagement is to know whether there is clear disparity between them.

For example, do participants feel emotionally expressive after engagement. Do they say that

emotions which are pent up inside to their parents, love one or friends? Or during the

engagement, do they feel angry when seeing negative things in social media? Do they feel

frustrated when they are being defeated in the game, are they really happy because they can play
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the game which they like. Or the participants before the engagement was excited because they

can use the internet, or are they really frustrated because they cannot use internet. This factors

are really important concerns in our study.

A study in retrieval of emotional memories can help us explain the concepts of emotional

expression before, during and after engagement. Within the information-processing framework

of cognitive psychology, information is first encoded and then consolidated and stored in long-

term memory. Within this “modal model” of information processing, information that receives

attention and elaboration is more likely to be subsequently available for retrieval (Brown &

Craik, 2000). It is fairly associated with internet engagement do we associated our feeling when

doing things in past experience does that aggravate the emotions. Emotional events are often

remembered with greater accuracy and vividness (though these two characteristics do not always

go together) than events lacking an emotional component (Reisberg & Hertel, 2005). Do this

suggest that the things we see or interact within the internet can be greatly associated with our

past experience and will have an effect after the engagement.

More importantly, memories are not believed to be stored in an all-or-none form,

storehouse model, but as a collection of attributes, which may include factors such as the time

and place of the experience, the initial phoneme of a word, or the affective valence that a word

carries (Underwood, 1969).This suggested that it is important to note that recognition of

affective stimuli in the environment elicits the activity of the amygdala and medial PFC without

necessarily eliciting a subjective experience of emotion such as a change in mood state (Phan et

al., 2002). All the literature pointed out that there must be stimuli to exhibit the emotions and the

exact stimuli in our study is internet engagement.

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Figure 1 Illustrates the Relationships of Different Variables of the Study

Students
a) Age
b) Sex
c) College

Internet Engagement Emotional Expression

a) Nature of engagement a) Before engagement

b) Duration of engagement b) During engagement
c) Cost of engagement c) After engagement
d) Location
e) Devices

Scope and Limitation

This study will focus on the perceived relation of internet engagement to the emotional

expressions of the University of St. La Salle students. The study will be conducted for the

Academic Year 2016-2017.

The participants of the study were the officially enrolled students from the four colleges

namely: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Accountancy, College of

Engineering and Technology, and College of Education of the University of St. La Salle

Bacolod. We understand and observe that the students of College of Nursing are not actively

engaging in the internet specifically near the University of St. La Salle.

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Significance of the Study

Students. This study aims to help the students be aware of the possible effects of internet

engagement to their emotional expression.

Parents and Guardians. This study aims to assist the parents and guardians of the

students to be aware of the situation. Aiding the parents and guardians concerning about the

students who have been or will be affected by internet engagement in their emotional expression

and academic performance which they will exhibit.

School Administrator and Teachers. This study aims to help the school administrators

and teachers to be aware what are the influences of internet engagement in the academic

performance of the student.

Guidance Counselors. This study seeks to help the guidance counselors if such activity

such as internet engagement will have a significant effect in the behavior of the student such as

exhibiting acts that are out of ordinary. This will also aid them to have a further understanding

why student exhibit emotional expression in relating in the internet engagement.

Future Researchers. This study will also assist the future researchers who also wants to take the

research further by examining our data that will help their study.
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Definition of Terms

Emotional Expression. Conceptually Paul Ekman referred to it as consisting of six basic

emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust.

Worldwide, most people can identify the facial expressions that

correspond to these emotions.

Operationally, the term refers to the emotion which the participants exhibit daily and the

situationally current situation occur.

Engagement. Conceptually, “the process whereby institutions and sector bodies make deliberate

attempts to involve and empower students in the process of shaping the learning

experience” (HEFCE 2008)

Operationally, the term engagement refers to the use of the internet in the terms of devices.

Internet. Conceptually, The Internet is a global linking of computers that allows information

transfer. The Internet was established in the early 1960s by the U.S. Department

of Defense (Schneider, Evans, & Pinard, 2006), primarily for military purposes.

Operationally, the term internet refers to the connection between the device and the web.

Internet Engagement. It is also defined by the researcher as internet use; Conceptually, access

to needed information, worldwide access to news and events, and interpersonal

communication through email (Kesaraporn Wanajak,2011). To further the

definition of this terms the researcher also decide that the word internet

engagement will be split in definition.

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Operationally, this refers to the usage of data that can be used either to media, entertainment and

research. There is also an involvement of machines such us computer, tablets or

other devices that require the internet.

Nature of Engagement. Conceptually and operationally, the term refers to the kind of

engagement this individuals use the internet (e.a Gaming, social media,

shopping/marketing, communication, and gathering of data/information).

Review of Related Literature

The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing

before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this

unprecedented integration of capabilities. The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting

capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and

interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location. The

Internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment

and commitment to research and development of information infrastructure. Beginning with the

early research in packet switching, the government, industry and academia have been partners in

evolving and deploying this exciting new.

The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, economic growth, and social

communication. It has become the backbone of a global digital infrastructure and an integral

part of the information economy. Statistical reports on job growth and retail sales show the

importance of the Internet economy. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of domestic

information technology jobs grew 26 percent—four times faster than employment in the United
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States as a whole. Moreover, global online transactions currently total an estimated $10 trillion

annually (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2011).

The fact that the Internet is one of the most powerful organizing tools in history is both

thrilling and vexing to public engagement practitioners working to create the conditions for more

effective public involvement in public life. We know that the Internet supercharges political

campaigning and we know that like-minded individuals are more able than ever to connect with

one another because of the Internet. But what is still unclear is how the Internet might help build

capacity and momentum for inclusive, collaborative and boundary-crossing problem solving at

all levels of public life (from the national level to the local level) (Alison Kadlec,2009).

It appears that in today’s society someone may be lead on to believe that the Internet has

begun to take over direct communication skills within families. Parents in this day in age have to

continuously make every attempt, in order to maintain an open line of communication with

adolescents in their family. However, with social media on the rise with adolescents, parents may

have a challenge on their hands. Today is the age of technology, and 85% of teens between the

ages 12-17 engage at least some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text

messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites

(Lenhart, Madden, Smith, & MacGill, 2007).

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Social Media is one of those platforms including the use of adolescents have big major

issue in this thing, Social media and adolescents have become a major topic in today’s society or

there may be a possibility that communication skills amongst teenagers may begin to diminish.

Adolescents have now been given the tools and technology to maintain their lives without

speaking a word to someone face-to-face. In contrast this may have a negative effect on their

communication skills within their family life. Parents have to learn how to monitor their teen’s

cell phone use to ensure no dangers can arise. Teens not only can use their cell phones for texting

or logging on to social media networking sites; but teens also have the ability to use their phone

to take and send picture messages to others. A study shows that, 20% of teens have claimed to

have electronically sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves

(Adams,2010).

Thanks to social media networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, teenagers can

simply log on to these sites and communicate with their friends in a matter of seconds. This is

where the Uses and Gratification Theory comes into play. Adolescents constantly feel the need

the need to stay active on these social media networking sites. Twitter for example, is a social

networking site in which in 2009 8% of all teens used Twitter to constantly stay in

communication with others (Purcell, 2010).

Thus, having an issue in this platforms which is are cyber harassment or cyber bullying

etc. such as an example was in 2007, when the media started covering the phenomenon of cyber

harassment, the public’s reaction was disheartening. Although the abuse often involved threats,

defamation, and privacy invasions, commentators dismissed it as “no big deal.” Harassment was

viewed as part of the bargain of online engagement. If victims wanted to enjoy the Internet’s

benefits, they had to bear its risks. Victims should stop “whining” because they chose to blog
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about controversial topics or to share nude images of themselves with confidantes. Victims were

advised to toughen up or go offline.

The people tend to forget why platforms are established to communicate and being

interactive. Such as Interactivity may be defined according to two dimensions: 1) control over

content (e.g., accessing news content through preferred channels, such as news websites, RSS

feeds, political blogs, etc., and being able to hyperlink to related content while reading news

items); and 2) conversation, the sharing of news content via social networking tools and the

ability to comment on news stories and view the opinions of others (Opgenhaffen, 2011).

So as communication is establish we are now users of this technology, so what our

engagement. User engagement is defined as a quality of user experience with technology, and is

a suitable construct for exploring interactions with online news. It purports to be a holistic

framework that takes into account the characteristics of systems (e.g., usability, aesthetic appeal,

interactivity), users (e.g., level of felt involvement, positive affect) and what happens when these

two entities meet at the system interface. In addition, the emphasis of user engagement is on

what the user finds “innately compelling” according to their motivation for using a technology,

e.g., to have an enjoyable experience (O’Brien & Toms, 2008, p. 941).

So to be exact sure the most of this users are adolescents, which Adolescents make up

93% of the population that use the Internet in some way, shape, or form (Lenhart et al., 2007b) .

According to Pew Research Center (2009), teenagers currently use the Internet for a multitude of

things such as 97% of teens play video games, 81% go to websites about movies, TV shows,

music groups or sports stars, 65% use online social networking sites • 63% go online to get news
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or information about current events or politics, 57% have watched a video on sites like YouTube,

18% have visited chat rooms, 11% have a website.

The facts are presented and the statistical records have greatly proved that internet use is

wide and varies to the users. Grasping the general idea of the impact of internet use is this new

freedom the internet’s transformation of sociopolitical practices. Messages no longer flow solely

from the few to the many, multimodally and interactively. By disintermediating government and

corporate control of communication horizontal communication networks have created a new

landscape of social and political change (Castells, 2014).

Over the past decade internet use is widely popularized, due to some malfunctions

“internet addiction” is the term use for individuals who use excessively. Since the term became

widely debated in the medical literature (Mitchell, P.,2000), ‘internet addiction’ has become

regarded as a novel psychopathology (Block, JJ.,2008) that may well impact on a large number

of individuals (Aboujaoude, E., Koran, LM., Gamel, N., Large, MD., Serpe, RT., 2006). The

focus of internet use in ‘internet addicts’ is varied, but using the internet for gambling (Kuss, D.,

Griffiths, M., 2012) and pornography (Griffiths M., 2012) are common amongst such

individuals. The negative impact of excessive internet use can be seen across a wide range of

aspects of the persons’ life (Leung, L., Lee, P., 2012) as well as on many aspects of their family

functioning (Alizadeh, Sahraee, O., Khosravi, Z., Yusefnejad, M., 2011). However, there has

been virtually no research exploring the immediate psychological impacts of internet exposure

on ‘internet addicts’, which can act as a driver of such problematic behaviour.

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Today, teachers voice similar concerns about the effects of internet use on the cognitive

abilities of students growing up with access to world wide web (Purcell, K.et al. 2012). Of the

2462 American middle and high school teachers surveyed by the Pew Research Center, 87% felt

that wide spread Internet use was creating an ‘easily distracted generation with short attention

spans’ and 88% felt that ‘today’s students have fundamentally different cognitive skills because

of the digital technologies they have grown up with’. Although teachers and other adults who

spend their time with children and teenagers possess valuable observational knowledge about

generational trends, it is unclear whether current scientific evidence supports these claims. The

focus of this Forum articles on how Internet use a complex construct that encompasses multiple

activities such as information gathering, entertainment, and communication through the medium

of the World Wide Web as opposed to other media use, might affect the adolescent brain.

Recent longitudinal brain imaging studies have shown that major changes in brain

structure and function might be largely related to genetic and behavioral differences between

individuals. Changes in brain structure, as measured by MRI, appear to be under strong genetic

control during the transition between late childhood and early adolescence (Van Soelen, I.L.C

ET al 2012). Changes in the recruitment of the ventral striatum when receiving a reward across

adolescence are predominantly related to individual differences in self -reported fun seeking

(Van Duijvenvoorde ,A.C.K. et al. 2014). These Studies suggest that environmental influences,

like Internet use, would have little effect on neural measures at this level. Well established

sensitive periods for sensory processes and language acquisition end well before adolescence,

but adolescence might encompass a sensitive period for sociocultural learning (Van

Duijvenvoorde, A.C.K. et al 2014).

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It is also often assumed that internet use is maintained by the positive reinforcing

consequences of such use; for example, its production of entertainment, use as a pass-time, or in

information-seeking (Kim, J., Haridakis, PM., 2009). Moreover, it has been suggested that high

use may be motivated by factors such as identify-clarification, certainly in adolescent users

(Israelashvili, M., Kim, T., Bukobza, G., 2012). However, it is often noted that other

psychological factors, not linked to positive reinforcing consequences, are often implicated in

maintaining high levels of problematic behaviours. For example, exposure to situations involving

risk do not provoke increased anxiety in those who display problematic gambling behaviours

(Kuss, D., Griffiths, M., 2012). Similarly, exposure to the object of the problematic behaviours

has been found to reduce mood (Hardie, E., Tee, M-Y., 2007) especially in individuals addicted

to pornography (American Psychiatric Association 1994). As both of these reasons (i.e.

gambling and pornography) for use of the internet are strongly associated with problematic

internet use (Bernardi, S., Pallanti, S., 2009) it may well be that these factors may also contribute

to internet addiction use (Bernardi, S., Pallanti, S., 2009). Indeed, it has been suggested that such

negative impacts of engagement in problematic behaviour may, in themselves, generate further

engagement in these high probability problematic behaviours in an attempt to escape these

negative feelings (Greenfield, DN., 2012).

Dr. Henrietta Bowden Jones, an Imperial College, London psychiatrist stated that “The

majority of people we see with serious Internet addiction are gamers people who spend long

hours in roles in various games that cause them to disregard their obligations,” MRI research has

shown that the brains of Internet users who have trouble controlling their craving to be

constantly plugged-in exhibit changes similar to those seen in people addicted to drugs and

alcohol. The Telegraph reported in 2011 study showed that unplugging from technology for one
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day gave some users physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. However, he cautions, any of

the study’s results relating to “internet addiction” could also be symptoms of other potentially

addictive online activities: if someone is addicted to gambling, for example, then they might be

using the Internet excessively to access gambling sites. But while Reed acknowledges that

Internet addiction may be secondary, “my own view is we’re probably looking at a new disorder

here.”

Professor Phil Reed (2013), who was involved in the study and is based at Swansea

University’s College of Human and Health Sciences, wrote: “Although we do not know exactly

what Internet addiction is, our results show that around half of the young people we studied

spend so much time on the net that it has negative consequences for the rest of their lives.”

“These initial results, and related studies of brain function, suggest that there are some nasty

surprises lurking on the net for people’s wellbeing.”

There are many sources of health information in the internet including convenient access

to a massive volume of information, ease of updating information, and the potential for

interactive formats that promote understanding and retention of information. Health information

on the Internet may make patients better informed, leading to better health outcomes, more

appropriate use of health service resources, and a stronger physician-patient relationship

(Millwood, 2000). Yet, many people tend to misuse this information rather than using it they

tend to ignore the benefits of this information.

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There are even some effect in personality in individuals who are immersed in internet, the

Personality-psychological Internet research examines the relationship between the personality of

Internet users (or even non-users) and miscellaneous aspects of choice, usage, and impact of

online communication and interaction. Ryckman (2008) defines personality as a "dynamic and

organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her

cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations" (p. 4). Personality-psychological

Internet research mainly refers to trait approaches of personality psychology. Trait psychology as

a branch of personality psychology attempts to describe personality with the help of specific

personality traits (such as extraversion, shyness or narcissism). Trait-psychological Internet

research has often addressed the relationship between the five factor personality traits (Costa &

McCrae, 1985, see below) and online behavior.

Since many studies have reported a systematic change of behavior on the computer and

the Internet (e.g. Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010), the question arises to what extent

personality is associated with these behavioral changes. According to the cross-situational

consistency of personality traits, these changes might be induced by an interaction of personality

and contextual conditions of the online environment. In this case, just the expression of

personality would be different; personality itself would remain the same. In the following, th

entire personality based on five global traits - the five factors – will be analyzed with regard to

online behavior, emotion, and cognition. Subsequently, approaches concerning the relationship

between personality and online behavior are systematized according to their assumed cause-

effect relationships. The empirical part reports the results of a questionnaire study, which

examined the expression of the five factors on the computer and the Internet.
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There is a great deal of media-psychological investigations, which are using the five

factor personality traits (Amichai-Hamburger & Vinitzky, 2010; Landers & Lounsbury, 2006;

Muscanell & Guadagno, 2011; Ross et al., 2009; Wehrli, 2008) or single components of the five

factors to explain differences in online behavior. The five factors (Costa & McCrae, 1985) or the

Big Five (Goldberg, 1981) currently constitute the most common model of trait psychology.

Including the components neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience (sometimes intellect

or culture cp. McCrae & Costa, 1997), agreeableness, and conscientiousness, the classification

has found wide acceptance among psychological scholars for being both broad (providing a

maximum spectrum of different traits) and efficient (using a minimum set of components) at the

same time (Matthews, Deary, & Whiteman, 2003).

This five factors explaining the difference in online behavior firstly is Neuroticism

reflects feelings such as anxiety, anger, distress, and depression. People scoring low on

neuroticism are described emotionally stable. The interrelation between neuroticism on the one

hand and frequency and intensity of use of online services on the other hand is not clear yet.

There is some evidence that people scoring high on neuroticism use social media services such

as blogs and Facebook more frequently than people with lower scores (Correa, Hinsley, & de

Zuñiga, 2010; Guadagno, Okdie, & Eno, 2008; Ross et al., 2009). Secondly, Extraverted

individuals are sociable, gregarious, and outgoing whereas introverts are reserved, highly

deliberate, and enjoy spending time alone. Concerning the absolute frequency and intensity of

Internet usage in general or single services and applications in particular, results are inconsistent.

Landers and Lounsbury (2006) reported that introverted people seem to use the Internet more

often and more intensively than extraverted people. Thirdly is the Openness for experience is

associated with curiosity and appreciation for artistic pursuits, alternative ideas and perspectives.
 23

Low scorers have more conservative and common interests. They rather avoid being exposed to

controvert or ambiguous content and ideas. Due to the great variety of information and services

online, it might be reasonable that open individuals use the Internet intensively to look for

information and gain new insights (Tuten & Bosnjak, 2001). Fourthly is the Agreeableness

reflects friendly and cooperative behavior. People with high scores seek for social harmony,

whereas disagreeable individuals are suspicious and unkind. In a study by Landers and

Lounsbury (2006) agreeableness was significantly negatively related to the total Internet usage.

Results on agreeable behavior online are inconsistent. And lastly is the Conscientious individuals

are organized, show self-discipline and behave dutifully, whereas people with low scores on

conscientiousness are careless and impulsive. So far, there has been little interest on

conscientiousness on the Internet. Li et al. (2006) reported a negative relationship between

conscientiousness and Internet addiction.

Many others have expressed shared concerns regarding the overuse of technology and its

impact on face-to-face communication, so much so that some Los Angeles restaurants have

banned the use of mobile devices to ensure customers enjoy both their meal and their company

(Forbes, 2013). The drastic increase in technology usage is especially noticeable in younger

generations. One study, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found people ages 8 to 18

spent more time on media than on any other activity – at an average of 7.5 hours a day (Rideout,

Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). As Przybylski and Weinstein of the University of Essex wrote in 2013,

“Recent advancements in communication technology have enabled billions of people to connect

more easily with people great distances away, yet little has been known about how the frequent

presence of these devices in social settings influences face-to-face interactions” (Przybylski &

Weinstein, 2012,).
 24

A study has revealed that people who are successful in their careers are more likely to be

engaging in compulsive internet use, and are at increasing risk of anxiety, depression and

isolation as they obsessively log in in out-of-office hours (Rhiannonlucyc,2014). Many

researchers’ beliefs that technology impacts face-to-face communication negatively, Baym,

principal researcher at Microsoft Research, does not share these concerns. Rather, Baym believes

that research suggests digital communications enhance relationships and that “the evidence

consistently shows that the more you communicate with people using devices, the more likely

you are to communicate with those people face to face” (Adler, 2013). Stoping this cycle for the

future generation is a great benefit for us, Professor Mark Griffiths says psychotherapy or drugs

may be the solution: "It is very important to make the distinction between people who are

addicted to the internet, and those who have addictions online. “I believe it is a very different

thing to be addicted to certain applications online, such as gambling, gaming, shopping or online

sex - these are addictions on the internet, rather than to the internet, and should be treated

differently. “As with any treatment, it is essential to understand the underlying causes of the

addiction

.A scientific and therapeutically useful understanding of emotions is possible. In fact,

there are several scientific intellectual traditions that have dealt this issue. There are an

evolutionary (lunched by Charles Darwin), a psychophysiological (William James), a

neurological (Walter Cannon) and psychodynamic tradition (Sigmund Freud), in addition to the

cognitive perspective that began emerging in the 1950s. More recently neurobiological evidence

has begun to inform discussion; however, identifying the structurers of brain related to emotion

is not a theory of emotion, nor can such a theory be built from knowledge of the chemicals
 25

involved in mood states, just as adequate theory of depression cannot be constructed simply from

knowledge of the availability of serotonin. As the University of Iowa neuroscientist Antonio

Damasio has pointed out, when the amassing of data does not resolve a complex issue, it may be

necessary to find a new ways to conceptualize the problem (Plutchik, 2001).

Synthesis

Taken together, the different studies and literatures presented the ground work from

which this study will be based on and will utilized in the analysis of data to be gathered. From

the numerous studies, it appears that internet engagement indeed plays a crucial role on the

affective domain of people, and through this study, its relationship on emotional expressions will

be specifically investigated.
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Methodology

This chapter deals with the methodology which consists of the research design that will

be used by the researchers in the study; it also includes the participants who will participate in

the study, the sampling design that will be utilized, the research instrument, the data gathering

procedures considered by the researchers and the statistical treatment and analysis that will be

employed in the study.

Research Design

This is a descriptive research using the quantitative design which will utilize the survey

method to gather data from the participants.

Descriptive research is a research that has as its main objective the accurate portrayal of

the characteristics of persons, situations, or the characteristics of persons, situations or groups,

and/or frequency with which certain phenomena occur. The qualities of the research study

involved the use of descriptive research which determines the characteristics of the participants

understudy and the prevailing conditions or trends. The researchers made use of this design

because it is inexpensive, easy to employ, not time consuming and it is preferred to support and

answer the question in the study (Beck &Polit, 2010).

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Participants of the Study

The participants of the study were officially enrolled students of the University of St. La

Salle - Bacolod for the Academic Year 2016-2017. They were composed of students coming

from the four colleges namely: Arts and Sciences, Business and Accountancy, Engineering and

Education a total of selected participants 160 participants divided into 20 male participants and

20 females which was selected in the four colleges.

Research Instrument

The research instrument that was used in this study was the researcher made survey

instrument which addressed the objectives of the study.

To establish validity of the survey instrument, three experts coming from Department of

Languages and the Guidance and Evaluation Center of the University of St. La Salle – Bacolod

evaluated the tool using the Good and Scates’ evaluation form.

Reliability refers to the degree of consistency, accuracy, stability, dependability and

predictability of the research instrumented or procedure (Ardales, 2001).

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Data Gathering Procedures

1. The researchers to conducted a survey to the selected internet cafe near the University of

St. La Salle specifically Battle Station 8,Clash Hour, Mineske, and Mothership.

2. The participants were inside the internet café to be validated to participate in our study.

3. After administering the research instrument, the researchers collected the data for

statistical treatment.

4. Data collected were organized and presented as findings of the study.

Statistical Tool

1. For problems one, two and three, analysis of data, frequency count and percentage were

used.

2. For problem four, the researchers utilized the chi-square test of independence because of

two categorical variables were studied.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The aim of this study is to relate the emotional expression of college students of

University of St. La Salle to the internet engagement. With the methodology used, the following

are the results with meaning.

On the profile of college students of University of St. La Salle

Table. 1 Distribution of Participants According Sex and the four Colleges of University of St. La

Salle.

Sex CET CAS CBA Ced Total

Male 20 20 20 20 80
Female 20 20 20 20 80
TOTAL 40 40 40 40 160

Table 1 shows the distribution of female and male participants according to their

perspective colleges of University of St. La Salle. The researchers wanted an equal distribution

among participants the relevant in our study of equal participation of sex and the colleges. The

term sex refers to the biological and psychological characteristics that define man and women

(WHO, 2009).
 30

Table. 2 Distribution of Participants in the Duration of Internet Engagement

Duration Frequency Percentage

1-2 hours 39 24%

3-5 hours 79 49%

6-8 hours 31 19%

10 hours or more 11 8%

The table 2 the percentage distribution of participants on the duration of internet

engagement in daily basis, majority of the participants are actively engaging the internet for three

to five hours 49%, followed by one to two hours 24% , six to eight hours 19% and 10 hours or

more for 8%. Most popular among the hours which are consistent among the 4 colleges of

University of St. La Salle. Teenagers social skills may be declining as they have less time for

face- to-face interaction due to their increased use of digital media according to a UCLA

(University of Chicago Laboratory School) psychology study (Wolpert,2014). One study,

conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found people ages 8 to 18 spent more time on

media than on any other activity – at an average of 7.5 hours a day (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts,

2010).
 31

Table.3 Distribution of Participants According to type of Nature of Engagement

Nature of Engagement Frequency Percentage

Social media 82 51%

Gaming 65 41%

Communication 49 31%

Gathering of Data 48 30%

Shopping/Marketing 9 6%

Others, pls. specify 1 1%

Total 160

The table 3 shows what is the nature of their engagement in the particular of the basic

engagement the researchers deemed important or relevant in today’s standards. The researchers

accepted the fact that more people right now are using the internet, around 40% of the world

population has internet connection today shows in the internet live stats. The social media is the

most frequency they used among the internet users, we let the participants choose as many as

they can because we acknowledge that the internet is diverse place which individuals can choose

whatever they want. Social media among the 160 participants 51% followed by gaming by 41%,

communication by 31%, gathering of data by 30% are using it while the most least usage of

internet is shopping/marketing by 6%. Among the students of University of St. La Salle being

that stated we wanted to know more if the participants are doing things which are not in our

choices which 1% answer they are watching movie.

 32

Table. 4 The Cost of Engagement Frequently Used of Students arranged order by most

demanded value.

 Cost of Engagement Frequency Percentage

P50 65 43%

P15 33 20%

P100 21 13%

P25 17 10%
P75 12 13%

P200 7 4%

Others, pls. specify 5 3%

The table 4 shows how much do student of University of St. La Salle spend their money

to use internet. The scaling of the money use, the independent research of the researchers in the

internet café is the basis of our choices. Due to there is no really a scaling how much a person

spend in the internet café. The majority of student engaging in internet is P50 per day 44.4% and

the most least which a student spend in the internet is 3% which they spend more than 200 a day

engaging in the internet. Some participants checked multiple answer due to there is no

explanation from the participants, the researchers interpret as they are spending different

depending on the particular situation

 33

Table.5 Location Frequently Visited by Students of University of St. La Salle

Location Frequency Percentage

Battle Station8 70 40%

Mineske 30 20%

MotherShip 30 20%

Clash Hour 30 20%

We acknowledge the fact that the participants used internet. What we want to know is

where do students frequently used the internet near the University of St. La Salle. This is

independent research due to there is no study where students frequently go specifically the

establishment where they usually go. Internet Cafes (I-Cafes) were like mushrooms during early

2000’s, where the demand for computer use was so high because of students for their

assignments and projects, of employees for their paper works and research, and of gamers for

their fun and leisure (Figueroa, 2015).

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Distribution of Participants According to Emotional Expression Before, During and After.

Table.6 Distribution of Participants According to Emotional Expression Before Internet

Engagement

Frequency Percentag
Emotions e

83 52%
Anticipation
74 46%
Joy
Trust 40 25%
37 23%
Sadness
27 17%
Distrust
25 16%
Anger
25 16%
Surprise
22 14%
Fear
Others,pls specify 5 3%

The table below 6 how the participants emotional expression before internet engagement.

The varying of each is to be expected because their might be a certain situation where they have

different emotions. We let the participants choose multiple answers. The majority before internet

engagement is anticipation 52%. As the research anticipation the human brain, it has been

written, is an “anticipation machine” and “making future” is the most important thing it does

(Gilbert, 2006).

While the most less frequently in emotional wheel of Plutchiks wheel of emotions is fear

14% before using the internet. While 3% of the participants tend to have the same answer which

is eating yet it is an action to complement the emotions he/she felt. Crucially, predictable

uncertainty leads to anticipation as an affective state, an excited forward looking subjective

 35

condition characterized as much by nervous anxiety as a continual refreshing of yearning, of

‘needing to know.’ Anticipation is the palpable effect of the speculative future on the present

(Rose, 2007). While the fear is just 14% of the future is seen not to seen by the students because

they are optimistic. We can support this statement by the secondly most used emotions before is

joy, 74 participants are feeling joy before using the internet.

Table.7 Distribution of Participants According to Emotional Expression During Internet

Engagement

Percentag
Emotions Frequency e
Joy 109 68%
Sadness 69 43%
Anger 61 38%
Distrust 42 26%
Trust 40 25%
Surprise 31 19%
Anticipation 29 18%
Fear 21 13%

Others,pls specify 1 1%

The table above shows that joy is the most dominant emotions being used during internet

engagement. As students gain experience learning for the pure joy of learning, their emotional

interest, intrinsic motivation, and hunger for knowledge also increase. Function of joy is to

indicate that we have done or witnessed something that is enhancing to wellbeing, and to

encourage us to do that in the future. The highest percentage is joy by 68% followed by sadness

by 43%, anger by 38%, distrust by 26%, trust by 25%, surprise by 19%, anticipation by 18%,

fear by 13% and others which is eating is not in the group of choices. It is observed that fear is
 36

the lowest percentage having a 13% indication of fear characterized as a general unconscious

feeling of unpleasantness or could be more complex emotion such as anxiety and externalized

fear (Saberi, 2010).

Table.8 Distribution of Participants According to Emotional Expression After Internet

Engagement

Percentag
Emotions Frequency e
Joy 86 54%
Anger 47 29%
Sadness 35 22%
Distrust 32 20%
Surprise 29 18%
Fear 23 14%
Trust 21 13%
Anticipation 17 11%

Others,pls specify 5 3%

The table 8 above clearly indicates that joy by 54% is the most dominant emotion among

them, having anger by 29% in the second. Anger is a natural and mostly automatic response to

pain of one form or another (physical or emotional). Anger can occur when people don't feel

well, feel rejected, feel threatened, or experience some loss (Mills,2005). Based on the internet

engagement of the participants the most selected is the social media. They feel angry at the

losses or the occurrences they are experiencing while immersed in social media.

While being followed by the negative emotions a person could feel, life-negating actions

are often lethal. Since the downside of life-negating actions is much larger than the upside of
 37

life-enhancing ones, it is important that the negative emotions should be very specific. Surprise

by 18% can be either negative or positive, depending on what has caused it. Interestingly, anger

could be considered a positive emotion, in that many people report that anger makes them feel

good, energized, and motivated (Ekman,2005).

Table.9 Distribution of Participants According to Sex and the Duration of Internet Engagement

  Sex  
Duration Male Female Total
1-2 hours 19 22 41

3-5 hours 37 37 74

6-8 hours 11 18 29

10 hours or more 13 3 16
Total 80 80 160
Table7.1 Chi Square test

Results
Critical Value 7.814728
Chi-Square Test Statistic 8.159167
p-Value 0.042834
Decision Reject the null hypothesis-
Significant

The table 9 shows that there is a significant relationship in the internet engagement and

sex of the participants the results show that their significant association among the sex of the

participants and the internet engagement. We value the duration among the participants and the

basis of internet engagement if ever that male or female have a big difference between their

duration in the internet. Winker (2005) has a different view, as the writer mentioned that there is
 38

a still gender specific difference that cannot be explained just by studying the differences in

education or even in income and its effects on internet usage.

Teo and Lim’s (1997) study in Singapore indicated that there is a deferential access

between boys and girls in terms of technology. They indicated that internet users in Singapore

are predominantly males with females comprising only about 11 percent of Internet users. Their

study found that females and males engage in different activities. Females spend more time on

the Internet for messaging activities, promotional campaigns while males are more into

downloading and purchasing activities. Thus to certain extent, male and female do use the

Internet for different purposes. Moreover, Sherman et al. (2000) argued that college men fell

more proficient and comfortable using the computer technology and the Internet when compared

to female classmates.

A differential usage pattern in terms of frequency is also noted in the study of gender and

Internet. Researchers indicated that frequency usage for male is particularly marked during the

weekend (Eimeren, Gerhad and Fress, 2004). Along with other factors, time is an important

variable to use the internet in which men use the internet more frequently and for long hours

while women are in the categories of moderate user (Winker, 2005). This supports our results

that female participants have a lesser usage of time than males who are are immersed in the 10

hours or more.
 39

Summary of Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation

This chapter cover the summary of the study, its findings, conclusions and

recommendations in view of the study being conducted.

Summary of Findings

From the study conducted, the researchers have found that:

1. We determine a total of 160 participants from the four colleges of University of St. La

Salle. These colleges are College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and

Accountancy, College of Engineering and College of Education. We Also determined the

gender of the participants as male and female. For each college, we determined 40

participants and was divided it into 20 males and 20 females.

2. We categorized the participant’s duration of internet usage through the number of hours

they spent in the selected internet café. Findings showed that the highest frequency is 79

from 3-5 hours of usage as to compare to other number of hours duration.

3. In determining the internet engagement in term of characteristics, findings showed social

media has the highest frequency of 82 and followed by the following nature of

engagement, gaming 65, communication 49, gathering of data 48, shopping/marketing 9

and others 1. Moreover, only one participants who specifically indicate watching or

streaming movies online as nature of engagement.

4. The highest is 65on the cost of internet engagement of the participants is P50 for 5 hours.

The succeeding cost of engagement are; P15 for 1 hour with a frequency of 33, P100 for

11 hours with a frequency of 21, P25 for 2 hours with a frequency of 17, P200 for 22

hours with a frequency of 7, and other with a frequency of 5.

 40

5. The most visited location of the selected internet café near the University of St. La Salle

in the order of highest to lowest ranking are Battle Station8 44% followed by Mineske

20%, Clash Hour 19% and Mother ship with 19%.

6. There is a clear threshold between emotions before, during and after using the internet.

Findings showed that before using the internet the participants are anticipating of using

internet. During and after using the internet have a clear of joy or contentment on what

they have done.

7. There is a difference between male and female usage of the internet. Most of the female

participants have a gap between the male in the 1 hour usage of the internet while the

males have a dominant usage of internet in the 10 hours usage of the internet. The usage

of the 5 hours usage of internet is tie between the two sexes of the participants which

showed that 5 hours is the most commonly used in the internet cafes.

Conclusion

Upon the analysis of the data, the researchers came up with the following conclusions:

1. We concluded that there is an equal participation of both sexes in the internet café’s with

a strong perseverance and daily visit with in the internet café’s.

2. The duration in which the participants engagement in the internet is mainly 5 hours. We

concluded that based on the data collected the 5 hours is the most efficient used by the

participants because of the cost of it.

3. We can’t deny that social media is popular among the teenagers and that is the most

commonly used nature of engagement. We concluded that most of the participants used

the social media for communication purpose.

 41

4. The cost of engagement a person can spend in a day through the vices in this case using

the internet is 50 pesos. There is also participant which spend more than 200 pesos per

day which is large amount, to spend in a day for an internet usage only.

5. Battle Station 8 is a more popular that the selected interne café mainly because of the

space provided. The researchers observed that there are more people who can fit inside

battle station 8 as to compare with other three internet café’s have only limited space and

fewer costumers.

6. The conclusion among the emotions in where in participants use internet before, during,

and after have common findings. Especially in during and after engagement have both

showed a positive emotion. Participants feel enjoyment in during and after internet

engagement.

7. There is a difference between male and female usage of the internet based on the results.

There is a tie which is commonly used between the participants in which 5 hours per day.

We could conclude that this is the most observable and commonly used between the

participants because it is money wise and have a largely amount of time to the

participants to enjoy.

RECOMMENDATION

To the students of the University of St. La Salle. That the students should use internet wisely

when it comes to time engagement per day and the reasons for opening websites. Students should

use internet for more educational purposes like research reading articles or news. Through that it

could help them exceed academically. Moreover, students should be more careful in opening

websites that are not least emotionally, mentally or psychologically.

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To the Parents and Guardians of the students. That they should have a clear understanding of

the circumstances of their son/daughter in the school if they are using their time correctly and

efficiently to maximize their productivity in the school. We recommend that the parents and

guardians should spend more time interacting with them to have an open understanding with

each other and will have a clear view what are the circumstance in which their son/daughter life

is in school and resulting to positive outcome of their relationship.

To the Parents and Guardians of the students. That they should have a clear understanding of

the circumstances of their son/daughter in the school if they are using their time correctly and

efficiently to maximize their productivity in the school. We recommend that the parents and

guardians should spend more time interacting with them to have an open understanding with

each other and will have a clear view what are the circumstances in which their son/daughter’s

life is in school and resulting to positive outcome of their relationship.

To University of St. La Salle Faculty & Staff. That they will have a higher understanding of

the internet engagement near the university and will be able to help those students who are

obviously been too much immerse in the internet resulting to their poor academic performances.

To the Guidance Counselor. That they will have a clear understanding of the emotions of the

students before, during and after the internet engagement and if they see abnormalities or

occurrence which concerns the health of the student that they could help him/her recover.

To the Future Researchers. We know that this topic will expand as the years will pass by we

recommend that the future researchers that they will look in this study so that they could grasp

the foundation of the events in which the earlier years tried to explain and a have an

understanding. And we also hope that this study can help them.