Lillian Searson 

Project Objectives

My major research project focused on social attraction or ‘likeability’. Nonverbal cues are associated with high extraversion which is generally deemed a socially attractive trait. I was curious to find out if there would be a significant difference in social attraction between two TikTok videos as well as the extraversion level of the viewer. TikTok A features a male telling a story with a multitude of wide eye movements, expansive postures and gesticulations. TikTok B features the same male with the same background, distance from the camera and script. However, TikTok ‘B’ features attenuated cues. The male stands with a closed posture, his hands in his pockets, making minimal eye contact with the camera.

Project Outcomes

This study was carried out in order to investigate whether a TikTok user embellishing their story with multiple non-verbal cues might be deemed more socially attractive than a user’s story with attenuated non-verbal cues. Participants were grouped by their level of extraversion to determine if individuals with different levels of this personality trait enjoy this communication more. Results indicated that people who are highly extraverted had more social attraction for the TikTok video which displayed high extraversion cues. There was no significant difference for other groups, indicating online storytellers may be deemed as more socially attractive overall to all groups with more neutral displays of non-verbal cues.

Thesis Title

#RelatableContent: The relationship between social attraction and extraversion in TikTok videos