Young people’s identity & Facebook behaviour: The role of gender and ethnicity

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the effects of gender and ethnicity on Facebook visit and identity among young people (14–25 years old) living in Mauritius. According to the results obtained, males were shown to visit more Facebook and had a stronger Facebook identity than did females. However, females compared to males considered themselves to be persons that are more similar online as offline, and their Facebook activity represented more who they were than it did for males. Hindu participants were shown to most infrequently visit Facebook. They were also the group with the weakest Facebook identity. Creole and Muslim groups were reported to have the strongest Facebook identity followed by the Mixed participants. This study concludes that both gender and ethnicity might have a significant impact on Facebook activity and identification among young people.

Keywords:

• ethnicity
• Facebook
• gender
• identity
• Mauritius
• youth

Public Interest Statement

During the past decades, Mauritius has experienced some socio-economic and cultural changes resulting from its advancing towards a technology-based society. Within this particular context, this article investigates the effects of gender and ethnicity on young people’s (14–25 years old) identity and Facebook behaviour. According to the results obtained, males were shown to visit Facebook more often than females. Males were also shown to have stronger online identity than females. However, females compared to males considered themselves to be persons that are more similar online as offline, and their Facebook activity represented more who they were than it did for males. Concerning ethnicity, Hindu participants were shown to most infrequently visit Facebook. They were also the group with the weakest Facebook identity. Creole and Muslim groups were reported to have the strongest Facebook identity followed by the Mixed ethnic group participants. This study concludes that both gender and ethnicity might have a significant impact on Facebook activity and identification among young people.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Komalsingh Rambaree

Komalsingh Rambaree (PhD) is currently an associate professor of social work at the University of Gävle, Sweden. He has a PhD in social work and social policy from University of Manchester, UK. He is originally from Mauritius, where he has been working as a youth worker for more than 10 years, and as a lecturer in social work and social policy at the University of Mauritius for more than five years. His research areas include eco-social work, youth, health, internet, sexuality and qualitative data analysis.

Igor Knez

Igor Knez (PhD) is currently a full professor of psychology at the University of Gävle, Sweden. He has a PhD in psychology from University of Uppsala, Sweden. His research areas include cognitive, emotion, and environmental psychology. He is currently engaged in a research on autobiographical memory and the self, related to the physical places of our lives.