Abstract:

Today, the usage of social media has increased as a result of development of technology and that the Internet has reached to the tip of our fingers. Social media, which finds its way into every point of life has become a part of our daily life. Interpersonal communication has transferred to virtual environments since the social media is interaction - oriented. Positive and negative effects of social media are among the discussion subjects of literature. Effects of social media on the couples have also become observable in the marriage institution, which is counted as the most important institution in bilateral relations. Among those effects, there is the concept of stress we often hear in our life. Research on the effects of the Internet usage on the human life has shown different findings. This research has been planned to find answers to the idea if the social media usage of married individuals above 18 years old with different socio-economic levels living in Ankara leads to stress among couples. 200 married individuals were chosen with randomized sampling method for the research held the year 2017. Beside the demographic questions and questions for measuring the social media usage in terms of examining the effects of social media usage on stress among couples, ''Perceived Stress Scale'' and ''Ways of Coping Inventory'' were applied to 157 female and 143 male participants. According to research results, it has been determined that the variables of gender, age, income level and educational status have an effect on perceived stress among the participants using social media. As the participants’ stress coping ways were examined it was clearly determined that the subscale having the highest score in both genders was a “self-confident approach”.

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