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Social Media Use, Social Media Behavior, Cognitive Biases, and Political
Awareness among Student Voters
Article · May 2023

DOI: 10.37502/IJSMR.2023.6506
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International Journal of Scientific and Management Research
Volume 6 Issue 05 (May) 2023
ISSN: 2581-6888
Page: 135-154
Social Media Use, Social Media Behavior, Cognitive Biases, and Political
Awareness among Student Voters
John Ren Calosa, Crystal Jennifer Andalajao, & Rona Christina Almazan*
College of Teacher Education, Laguna State Polytechnic University, Philippines
DOI - http://doi.org/10.37502/IJSMR.2023.6506
Abstract
Nowadays, it is very evident that social media has become part of our lives. Our country shifted
from analogue to digital that created a wide space and open more resources for people to
receive, gather, and acquire information whether it is politically related or for entertainment
purposes. The abundance of online content and the new forms of distribution have enabled the
quick propagation of both verified and unverified information, especially in social media. The
study on social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases, and political awareness
among the one hundred student voters of Laguna State Polytechnic University, San Pablo City
campus utilized a descriptive-correlational research design. The data were gathered through a
survey using researcher-made questionnaires. The results implied that the participants
perceived social media use, social media behavior, and cognitive biases in different ways, such
as never-rarely-often while having a positive political awareness. In conclusion, there is a
significant relationship between social media use of (social media networking sites and
microblogging and social networking service), social media behavior, confirmation bias, and
political awareness among student voters.
Keywords: Social Media Use, Social Media Behavior, Cognitive Bias, Political Awareness.
1. Introduction
In today’s generation, everything is instant and readily available in the internet. Relevant
events took a huge space in digital world; one of which was the election season. In the past,
people always rely on what they see on the television. However, as days go by, media has
developed. (Opeyemi, 2018), asserts that social media platforms promote political information,
particularly during elections. In fact, there were studies that discussed media and its relation to
politics, either as an enabling tool for participation or as a means for manipulation, only
focusing on forms of media like television and newspaper, which are not as interactive as
today’s media (Dunsmore, 2008).
There has been a lot of media platforms where people could get information about the
candidates they want to vote. Social media gives everyone an equal voice. It can make every
single event become trending especially if those involved are politicians. The abundance of
online content and the new forms of distribution have enabled the quick propagation of both
verified and unverified information, especially in social media (Newman N., 2017). These
136 | International Journal of Scientific and Management Research 6(5) 135-154
platforms gave opportunities to aspirant content creators, media, and significant people around
the world. This was an attempt to categorize and characterize how political language affects
people's opinions on political candidates, particularly in the recently ended 2022 presidential
election. People used the media as their primary source of information about presidential
campaigns and as a reference to identify significant and key matters.
The researchers know how important direct political communication is in young citizens'
campaign news feeds compared to content from traditional news sources or information from
friends or followers. This direct political communication measures the effects of social media
used during an election campaign based on voter actions such as creating, sharing, and
discussing contents of these platforms such as social media networking sites, microblogging
and social networking service and short-form and video-sharing app (Panergayo & Aliazas,
2021). Election campaigns are large events, and the news media have a significant impact on
citizen mobilization and decision-making. Regarding direct communication with the young
voters and the first-timer voter, political personalities increasingly use different social
networking services, sites, microblogging, and short-form video-sharing app. Recent election
campaigns were observed as containing many arguments about political issues.
The rise in popularity of social media really does have an impact on political candidates'
communication strategies in the Philippines. Digital communication has been the media with
the most growth in the last decade, and allows most engagement, especially political
participation. The context of this information does not specify whether it is true, fact-based, or
intended to malign the audience. It is crucial that in choosing a candidate, voter should not just
depend on what they see in social media but do deeper research about the candidates. Based on
data from Commission on Election (COMELEC) in October 2021, it was anticipated that 63
million voters, mostly young people, cast ballots, including 4.5 million first-time voters (aged
18 to 23) and 1.6 million overseas Filipino workers. Given the lingering dangers associated
with the COVID-19 epidemic and the potential for further limitations, it is likely that online
campaign platforms will influence voters' decisions even more than in previous elections.
In 2018, an executive of a social media networking site (Harbath, 2018), acknowledged the
difficulty of preserving election integrity on social media by announcing steps to defend against
the assault on knowledge (e.g., addressing misinformation, false amplification, and
misrepresentation), safeguarding citizens' safety (e.g., stopping harassment and threats of
violence and strengthening account security), and preserving voter turnout (e.g., countering
tactics to discourage people from voting). Harbath referred to the Philippines as "patient zero"
in what many would later refer to as a fake news pandemic or "infodemic" across social media
in a growing number of democracies because of the role that social media had in influencing
the 2016 elections there. According to the same article, researchers at the Ateneo Policy Center
in Manila have created a potential diagnostic tool to assess fake news vulnerability, especially
among young people (aged 18 to 29), who were predicted to make up 24 million voters in the
Philippines' May 2022 elections. The policy center has worked with educational institutions,
organizations, and student governments from universities and colleges in the top 25 vote-rich
cities in the nation as well as in the nation's capital to contribute to this emerging sector.
Copyright © The Author, 2023 (www.ijsmr.in)

In an article from (TUQUERO, 2022), according to the findings of a Social Weather Station
(SWS), the poll conducted in December 2021 and released on Friday night, February 25, most
Filipinos, or 51%, found it challenging to recognize fake news on television, radio, or social
media. According to the study, which was conducted from December 12 to December 16, 2021,
48% of Filipinos thought it "simple" to recognize fake news on social media, radio, and
television. Mindanao got the highest percentage of people who found it challenging to
recognize fake news on television, radio, or social media (54%), followed by Balance Luzon
(52%), the Visayas (50%), and Metro Manila (47%, appropriately rounded). Given the situation
and different surveys from various networks, the researchers assessed the registered student
voters from Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City Campus.
This study produced an output where anyone can identify whether student voters were
influenced by the rampant circulation of social media political information or not. This study
was able to get an idea on how students perceived social media political behavior; if they see
text, images, and videos as factors of changing a political stand. Overall, the study showed how
the students at Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City campus think and act in
relation to political activities in social media.
2. Objectives
Filipinos are known as wide-thinkers and creative in many ways. Social media has turned into
one of the country's new sensations. This study was based on the theory of selective exposure
of Nathalie Jomini Stroud of Oxford Handbook of Political Communication where it revealed
several studies and explanations why selective exposure occurs.
One of its studies stated that selective exposure takes place because it takes less mental effort
to process agreeable information than disagreeable information. This theory contends that
because selective exposure is simpler for the brain, citizens may engage in it (Ziemke, 1980).
Also, information search can be affected by mood and emotion. Particularly, moods can affect
information selection in a way that enhances selective exposure when they are unpleasant (Eva
Jonas, 2003).
Selective exposure is also influenced by emotions like wrath and fear; in relation to economic
information, anger and fear may cause different patterns of exposure. Those emotions have
been shown to influence information search, according to Valentino et al. However, they
develop this hypothesis by demonstrating that fear promotes more objective search when
people anticipate being asked to justify their opinions as opposed to when they do not (Kim,
2010).
This study aims to determine the social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases and
political awareness among student voters. In line with this, the researchers formulated the
following questions:
2.1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of age and sex?
2.2. How do the respondents perceive social media use, social media behavior, and cognitive
biases in terms of Social Media Use, Social Networking Sites, Microblogging and
Social Networking Service, Short-form and Video-sharing app?

2.3. How do the respondents perceive political awareness?

2.4. Is there a significant relationship between social media use, social media behavior,
cognitive biases to respondent’s political awareness?
3. Methodology
The study on social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases and political awareness
among student voters utilized a Descriptive-correlational research design to find the
relationship between variables. It is a type of research design where a researcher seeks to
understand what kind of relationships naturally occurring variables have with one another.
The researchers conducted the study on the 2nd semester of Academic Year 2021-2022. The
study on social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases, and political awareness
among student voters were limited to one hundred (100) registered student voters of Laguna
State Polytechnic University San Pablo City Campus of any academic department. The
research instrument was divided into five different sections categorized for: the demographic
profile of the respondents, social media use (social networking sites, microblogging and social
networking service, short-form, and video-sharing app), social media behavior, cognitive
biases (confirmation bias, illusory truth effect, source effect and bullshit receptivity) and
political awareness.
The study on social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases and political awareness
among student voters utilized the following statistical treatment. Simple descriptive statistics
like percentage and graph were used to analyze the data regarding demographic profile of the
respondents. Mean & Standard Deviation was used to determine the responses of students
about social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases and political awareness in the
essence of Likert scale for dependent variable. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the
significant relationship between variables whereas, this statistical treatment was used to
investigate if there were significant relationship between the variable’s social media use, social
media behavior, cognitive biases, and political awareness among one hundred (100) student
voters of Laguna State Polytechnic University-San Pablo City Campus in any department.
4. results and Discussion
4.1. Social Media Use
Table 1: Perception of students on social media networking sites
Indicators Mean SD Interpretation
1. I use social networking sites for 3.17 0.77 Often
entertainment including political participation.
2. I use social networking sites as source of 2.84 0.87 Often
information.
3. In using social networking sites I am updated 3.23 0.66 Often
about the political happenings in the country.
4. Political-related news are rampant in social 3.56 0.57 Always
networking sites.

5. I am using social networking sites to indulge 2.66 0.95 Often

in a political discourse.
Overall 3.09 0.76 Often
Legend: 1.00-1.75 Never; 1.76- 2.50 Rarely; 2.51-3.25 Often; 3.26- 4.00 Always
Table 1 indicates how student voters from Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City
Campus perceived social networking sites. The findings on different indicators regarding social
networking sites at least hinted that the specified social media channel has an association to
students’ political awareness.
Looking back at the demographics of this study, it was demonstrated already that aged 20-22
years old were participated in this research. Like this pattern, the greatest number of Facebook
users in the Philippines were those aged 18-24 at 20.72 million users. They were followed by
those in the 25-34 age group, at 16.35 million users (Kepios, 2017). It is interesting to note
stated the Philippines had 67 million active social media users and all of them were Facebook
users according to Hootsuite (2018) in his report WeAreSocial. In addition, he also concluded
the results that 57% of 67 million social media users in the country were active the most in
Facebook.
The students perceived social networking sites as often with an overall mean of 3.09 whereas
the lowest mean value was 2.66 where students often use social networking sites to indulge in
a political discourse. This mean that the students often use their social networking account in
various reasons such as gathering news, source of entertainment, and be updated on the current
events in the country. On its analysis, students always perceived that political related news are
rampant in social networking sites having the highest mean value of 3.56 and it was due to their
involvement in social networking sites.
Table 2: Perception of Students on Microblogging and Social Networking Service
1. I use microblogging for expressing my 2.50 1.19 Rarely
feelings including political insights.
2. I use microblogging as source of 2.46 1.07 Rarely
information.
3. Microblogging makes me updated about 2.62 1.14 Often
politics in the country.
4. Political news is always trending in 2.99 1.08 Often
microblogging.
5. I am using microblogging to participate 2.20 1.09 Rarely
in political discussion.
Table 2 showed the result of students’ perceptions regarding microblogging as an avenue for
expression, source of information and online interactions. The overall mean was 2.55 which
was classified as Often in the frequency of use.

The one hundred (100) respondents from Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City
Campus rarely use microblogging in participating political discussion. This indicator has the
lowest mean value in the entire microblogging section. It has a similar result to an article from
Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies entitled Student Participation in social media on Political
Issues Concerning Candidates in 2016 Philippine Presidential Election, the result showed that
many college students sometimes or rarely participated in social media on issues to the
presidential election. Few students always read articles, watched, and shared videos,
participated in social forums, posting opinions that were related to the presidential election in
2016, or campaign or denounce candidates.
Furthermore, the students often perceive that political news are always trending in
microblogging. It has the highest mean value of 2.99. The circulation of political information
regarding politics in microblogging could be seen or make the audiences has an accidental
exposure to certain topic due to algorithm gossip.
According to (Joseph DiGrazia, 2013) strong candidates attract more attention from both
supporters and opponents. Specifically, individuals may be more likely to attack or discuss
disliked candidates who are perceived as being strong or as having a high likelihood of
winning. From this, it was clear that people are making interactions, therefore microblogging
users may also encounter political discussion under political news. Overall, students were often
updated about political happenings even if the students rarely participate in political discussion.
Although the study showed that students often use microblogging as tool for political
participation it was contradicted and proven that Facebook is the most used and accessible
social media platforms in the Philippines (Pinky Salvador, 2017). Facebook is much more
effective than Twitter at disseminating political news marketing through social media would
be an alternative perspective of interfacing with individuals, and yet the most influential
applications of social technologies in the global economy are largely untapped (Manyika, et
al., 2011).
Table 3: Perception of Students on Short-form and Video-sharing App
1. I like seeing content about politics in 2.29 1.09 Rarely
short-form and video-sharing app.
2. I use short-form and video-sharing app 1.91 0.94 Rarely
as source of information.
3. Short-form and video-sharing app 2.16 1.01 Rarely
makes me updated about political
happenings.
4. Political content occupies the trending 2.42 1.04 Rarely
list on short-form and video-sharing app.
5. I am using short-form and video- 1.43 0.82 Never
sharing app to create political content.
Overall 2.04 0.98 Rarely

In Table 3, Indicator 1 attained the highest mean value of 2.29 and interpreted as rarely. They
rarely to like seeing content about politics in short-form and video-sharing app. Moreover, the
lowest mean value was 1.43 where students perceived never to the indicator stating, “I am
using short-form and video-sharing app to create political content”. It only showed that the
participants of the study were not into political content and was supported by a claim that
TikTok users’ primary reason was to use the application for entertainment and past time
purposes.
“The respondents also answered that they primarily watch short-form and video-sharing app
videos for entertainment and past-time purposes. Some also watch “TikTok” videos to gather
information and follow trends.”
Although, the findings resulted in the students perceived short-form and video-sharing app
rarely see political content, it has a similar pattern to microblogging; that students could still
encounter information about politics due to algorithm gossip. (Bishop, 2019) argues that
algorithmic chitchat is beneficial as a group tool for knowledge creation. Claims regarding
shadow bans, or when platforms reduce the likelihood that users' content will be seen without
eliminating it or notifying users, are one example of such algorithmic rumor. In short, false
information could spread widely if users were talking about specific topic. Also, TikTok users
could use the platform for entertainment and moderation.
According to (Mehra, 2020), he asserted that young consumers spend most of their time on
applications that give them entertainment rather than consuming it on mobile applications that
convey communication or productivity. Weimann & Masri (2021) shared that TikTok’s
innovative and fast-moving algorithm proves its appeal to young markets globally as it mainly
features short-form videos to create joy and encourage creativity among its users.
This means that emotion brought by entertainment was the reason why the students often use
short-form and video-sharing app rather than using it for political activities or participation.
4.2 Social Media Behavior
Table 4: Perception of Students on Social Media Behavior
1. I share content that I relate the most 3.06 0.91 Often
in social media.
2. I give reactions to the posts that I 3.48 0.63 Always
relate on.
3. I give comments on the posts that I am 2.44 0.82 Rarely
seeing online.
4. I am participating to political 2.60 1.05 Often
discourse online by means of reacting on
the posts or sharing it with my insights
on the captions.
5. I call out my friends that shares false 2.61 1.04 Often
information online.

Table 4 shows the perception of the students on social media behavior using the different
indicators. It resulted in social media behavior having an overall mean value of 2.84 which was
classified as “often”. The highest mean value was 3.48 where students always give reactions
to the post that they relate on. However, it was rarely for them to give comments on the posts
that they encounter online. In short, the students at the Laguna State Polytechnic University
San Pablo City Campus give reactions to post rather than commenting on it.
The findings show that the behavior of the students was continuous even if the information
they see online does not add learning or triggers their preferences. This result has a similar
pattern to the research evidence suggested that affective forecasting error might explain the
condition where users continue to use social media despite imbuing little meaning to the
activity and experience mood declines.
In line with this was the observation of the researchers on a positive trend social media usage
in the Philippines as the physical limitations brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak, could
project that the social media users or “netizens” in the country will rely on the information
online that could lead to different interaction.
The recent Presidential Election was one of the hottest issues where Filipinos mostly involved.
In fact, according to an article of “The Diplomat” Facebook and Instagram purged millions of
posts during the 2022 Philippine Election. It was in the reason of hate speech and
disinformation.
“The social media networks Facebook and Instagram removed more than 6 million posts from
Filipino users in the lead-up to the country’s election in May, for breaching their content
guidelines, according to the networks’ parent company Meta” (Strangio, Facebook, Instagram
Purged Millions of Posts During Philippine Election, 2022).
Contrary with the results, recent studies and polls point out that more Filipinos are now more
than ever connected with these apps, spend more time with them than before, and use them to
get political information and possibly cues for their voting behavior, unwarranted, unregulated,
and downright unethical uses of social media present critical perils to electoral integrity in the
Philippines (Arungay, 2022).
The happenings in the country’s latest Presidential Election, resulted to endless political
discussion from netizens arguing what could the government have done to prevent significant
issues in the country.
Additionally, people on social media are calling out the government to be more proactive as
they can and be for the people that causes a lot of interaction from the supporters of the
administration. One of the frequent hashtags was the “#nasaanangpangulo”, it was first used
during the presidency of Former President Rodrigo Duterte and topped the trending list when
“Typhoon Paeng” struck the country.
4.3. Cognitive Biases

Table 5: Perception of Students on Confirmation Bias

1. I believe that all politicians are corrupt. 2.35 0.87 Rarely
2. Corruption in the government is 2.82 1.02 Often
unstoppable.
3. I think that women cannot lead a 1.23 0.62 Never
country.
4. I believe that rallyist are part of the 1.70 0.83 Never
rebel group in the country.
5. Electing the son/daughter of a former 1.88 0.88 Rarely
President will make the country in good
terms.
In Table 5, the results were interpreted based on how the students perceived cognitive biases
in terms of confirmation bias through its indicators. It resulted in a confirmation of having an
overall mean of 2.00 which was interpreted as rarely. The findings on confirmation bias
demonstrated the highest mean value of 2.82 where the respondents often believe that
corruption in the government is unstoppable. This was quite like the findings of Global
Corruption Barometer Asia 2020 that showed 86 % of the Philippine Respondents believed
that corruption in government is a big problem. At the same time, 82% of Philippine
respondents believed that their anti-corruption agency is doing well in tackling corruption
(Ibanez, 2020).
On the other hand, participants never thought that women cannot lead a country which has a
mean value of 1.23. According to an article from Policy Notes entitled Filipino women in
leadership: Government and industry, it is not because the voting public is not inclined to vote
for women. Instead, few women are entering electoral politics (STUDIES, 2017). In addition,
the same article cited the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) (2017) that women had
comprised only 17 percent of the national and local candidates from 2004 to 2016 (Table 1).
About the same proportion won the elections, wherein women currently hold roughly one in
every five (21%) national and local elective positions. Clearly, not enough women run for
office.
Some reports also say that students think that a women can lead a country. The recent national
election has been the evidence of Filipinos thinking that a woman can lead a country like the
Philippines. According to an article from Manila Bulletin last April 2, 2022 the students
preferred the tandem of Leni-Kiko. The report says that University of the Philippines, Far
Eastern University, and Ateneo students from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao preferred a
woman to lead.
A report from Rappler said that a female Vice President was preferred by the Filipinos. It was
based on the survey from octa research last April 2022. This means that the Filipinos do not
prejudice a capability to lead based on gender identity.

Table 6: Perception of Students on Illusory Truth Effect

1. I believe to that information online 1.89 0.73 Rarely
that I am seeing every time I open my
social media account.
2. The repetition of news online makes 2.03 0.85 Rarely
me think that it is factual and credible.
3. If an information is shared by multiple 1.90 0.87 Rarely
people from social media makes me
think that is correct
4. I find an information accurate 2.07 0.9 Rarely
whenever it occurs multiple times in my
feeds.
5. The accuracy of an information online 1.88 0.94 Rarely
is based on the number of times it hit the
trending list.
Table 6 shows the result on how student perceived illusory truth effect and was discussed. The
illusory truth effect was defined as when an individual judges a repeated statement, it is more
truthful than a novel statement (Fazio, 2015). The study in terms of illusory truth effect resulted
in the participants thinking of repetition of information online as believable. It has an overall
mean value of 1.95 which was interpreted as rarely.
In view of this, the highest mean result was 2.07 where participants rarely find the information
accurate whenever it occurs multiple times in their news feed. On the other hand, the lowest
mean resulted as 1.88 where the one hundred (100) students of Laguna State Polytechnic
University San Pablo City Campus rarely believe that the accuracy of information online was
based on the number of times it hit the trending list. This supports the belief that repetition can
even increase the perceived accuracy of plausible but false statements among participants who
are subsequently able to identify the correct answer (Fazio, 2015).
One of the reasons why students believe or see information online in multiple times is because
of algorithm of the users and the person they follow (Fideli & Aliazas, 2022). In a study, a
writer asserted that our media environment is controlled by a "hyper memetic logic" in which
"nearly every important public event sprouts a torrent of memes" (Shifman L., Memes in
Digital World: Reconciling with a Conceptual Troublemaker, 2013).
This makes the social media users prone to accidental exposure and may engage to political
discussion. In addition, the information they get in this kind of scenarios could make them
believe that it is true and based on facts.
The researchers believed that the participants were media literate. They can distinguish false
information online. “Almost 9 out of 10 Filipinos who surf the internet to access their social

media account are aware of fake news.” In an article from Philstar, A Pulse Asia survey was
conducted and resulted to “88% of Filipino internet users were aware of fake news online.”
Table 7: Perception of Student on Source Effect
1. The information from the person I trust is 2.18 0.89 Rarely
the information I only believe.
2. I accept information as facts from my 2.11 0.84 Rarely
parents
3. I only believe my 1.89 0.86
grandfather/grandmother’s version of
history as facts.
4. I believe that the information came from 1.81 0.88 Rarely
my favorite elected official is fact and
credible.
5. I believe that news from my favorite 2.65 0.87 Often
media outlet (ABS- CBN, GMA, TV 5,
CNN) is superb and unbiased.
In Table 7, The findings have an overall mark of 2.13 where students perceived source effect
as rarely. It is by now generally accepted that students were not relying on the information
given to them by the elders, friends, and false information/biased news outlets, somehow, it
affects their political views. According to (Yanuaria, 2022), social media is an influential factor
in Philippine culture. Given how slow and unreliable internet service may be, it's an easy and
convenient way to consume content. In that way, students or anyone might believe easily to
the information they see without fact-checking the information or the credibility of the source
if they feel that the specific person or network is worth their trust.
As per the data, the highest mean value was 2.65 where the students often believe that the news
from favorite social media outlet is superb and unbiased. This somehow agreed the study of
(Sabigan, 2007) that online news was perceived to be a little bit more credible than television
news. Nonetheless, it is to note that these companies, nowadays, use online platform for their
scoop and coverages for hot stories in/out of the country. However, despite of how the
participants perceived source effect when it comes to their favorite social media outlet the
lowest mean value was 1.81 where the students rarely believe that the information came from
their favorite elected official is factual and credible where in truth that social media outlet also
give space for these personalities to speak and spread information.
In addition, the respondents often believe that their favorite media outlet is superb and
unbiased. Despite of the controversies encountered by these media outlets; the participants still
trust them. However, trust became subjective from a Filipinos survey by Digital News Report
(DNR). In an article from Inquirer,

“Filipinos were more trustful of most news reports from media outlets during the COVID-19
pandemic but became less interested in the news in general”.
“Trust in media brands also remained relatively stable, according to the gathered data.
Overall, the dominant GMA Network leads the pack with a trust score of 74.
“Beleaguered” media companies ABS-CBN got 57 and Rappler scored 45”
Filipinos trust media outlet rather than believing the information they just see online from the
sources they do not know.
Table 8: Perception of Students on Bullshit Receptivity
1. I use “Bobo” as rebuttal in political 1.49 0.88 Never
discourses online.
2. Ad hominem attacks are my strategy 1.43 0.69 Never

whenever my arguments weaken.
3. I use inappropriate words if my 1.43 0.82 Never
opponents show documented information
that are labeled as facts.
4. I poke fun a friend whenever he/she is 1.45 0.74 Never
calling me out about sharing an
alleged/labeled as false information
online.
5. I ask people about their credibility 1.65 0.94 Never
whenever I feel outsmarted.
Overall 1.49 0.81 Never
Table 8 shows the student perceived bullshit receptivity as never (1.49). In that case, the highest
mean value resulted to 1.65 where the students never asked people about their credibility
whenever they feel outsmarted which was different on how we observed the behavior of people
online regarding the recent Philippine Presidential Election.
In addition, there were two indicators which both resulted in the lowest mean having a value
of 1.43. It pertains to how students deal with the people they had political discussion online. It
talks about how and if these participants used ad hominem attack as their strategy when their
arguments weaken and use inappropriate words if the opponents show documented information
that are labeled as facts. The result was clear that despite of being classified as never, it does
not sum up the reality that there were students who rarely used it as a way on dealing people
online regarding political matters.
Furthermore, the 100 respondents from Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo City
Campus have a proper netiquette when committing to political discussions. It shows that the
use of ad hominem or personal attacks was not practiced by the students of LSPU-SPCC.

Table 9: Students’ Political Awareness

1. I am aware that journalism and media 3.24 0.74 Aware
broadcasting network are doing their job to deliver
an unbiased, factual and relevant news most
especially when it comes to politics.
2. According to the article 16 General Provision, 3.00 0.83 Aware
section 11, paragraph 1 of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution, the ownership and management of
mass media shall be limited to citizens of the
Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or
associations, wholly-owned and managed by such
citizens.
3. I am aware that state-owned news outlet delivers 2.63 0.81 Aware
only good about government actions.
4. My knowledge about the three branches of 3.06 0.7 Aware
government is superb.
5. I am aware of the check and balances of our 2.93 0.86 Aware
government.
6. I know my rights such as suffrage, citizenship 3.44 0.66 Extremely Aware
and others.
7. I know that historical issues on politics have a 3.46 0.66 Extremely Aware
huge role in present happenings in our country.
8. Political arena in today’s generation is a result of 3.09 0.75 Aware

constitutional reform in the past due to EDSA
People Power 1.
9. The 1987 constitution gives back democracy and 3.31 0.7 Extremely Aware
supreme power to people.
10. Right to dissent and freedom of speech must be 3.50 0.6 Extremely Aware
freely practiced by the people regardless of age and
social status.
Overall 3.17 0.73 Aware
Legend: 1.00-1.75 Not at all aware; 1.76- 2.50 Slightly aware; 2.51-3.25 Aware; 3.26- 4.00 Extremely Aware
In Table 9, the indicators pertain to different factors where the researchers observed without
affirmation in any published studies that considered these as socio-political topics in today’s
generation. It was clear that the participants political awareness has an overall mean of 3.17
which was classified as aware.
In the manner now being indicated or exemplified, the highest mean resulted to 3.50 where the
respondents were extremely aware of their right to dissent, and freedom of speech must be
freely practiced by the people regardless of their age and social status. This was also affirming
the study of (Dioso, 2019) under political issues that the participants were politically aware. It
has an overall mean of 3.60 and verbally interpreted as “very high”. On the other hand, the
lowest mean resulted to 2.63 where it shows that students were aware that the state-owned
news outlet delivers only good information about government actions.

The table above also illustrates the level of students’ political awareness in terms of journalism,
policies, constitution, and other positions in the past years. The participants from Laguna State
Polytechnic University San Pablo City Campus know journalism’s role in society; being its 3rd
party and the eyewitness of government actions. This also pertains to the participants’
knowledge on the policies, policy making, and fundamentals of the constitution.
4.4. Correlation Between Variables
Table 10: Correlation Between Social Media Use and Political Awareness
Political Awareness
Social Media Use r-value Interpretation
Social Networking Sites .384** Significant
Microblogging .384** Significant
Short-form and Video-sharing app -.119 Not Significant
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The result shows that social media use in terms of social networking sites and microblogging
has a significant correlation. However, it demonstrated a weak – very weak association.
Whereas the two variables that significantly correlated with political awareness have an r-value
of .384**. On the other hand, short-form and video-sharing app do not have a significant
correlation with political awareness of students from any academic department of Laguna State
Polytechnic University San Pablo City Campus.
From this result, social media have significant association with political awareness among
registered voters of any academic department in Laguna State Polytechnic University San
Pablo City Campus. A similar result was obtained from the studies of social networking
websites (SNS) which have a substantial impact on how people learn about politics and society
online, especially young people, (Khan, 2015), similar to a study of social media that greatly
impacted the results of Nigeria's 2011 elections, (Okoro, 2017). Despite of the association, it
contradicted the study of (Kanagavel, 2014), where results showed that young people's
decisions to participate in politics and make personal judgments throughout the voting process
were heavily influenced by their use of Social Networking Sites. Furthermore, positive r-value
for twitter affirmed the study of (S., 2017) found that Twitter use was a positive predictor of
knowledge of political issues. This was seen in the recent 2022 Philippine national election.
Based on the data, there were two (2) variables having a significant relationship to political
awareness due to several reasons.
•The participants often use social networking sites and microblogging as tools for political
discussion. It has been discussed that most Filipino internet users use this kind of platform
rather than short-form and video-sharing app. Algorithm gossip was one of the factors that
involved them in political discussion online leading to the exposure of political contents
whether they wanted it or not.
•The use of short-form and video-sharing app was limited for entertainment purposes as what
has been cited on how the respondents perceived this kind of platform.

Table 11: Correlation Between Social Media Behavior and Political Awareness
Political Awareness
r-value Interpretation
Social Media Behavior .496** Significant
In terms of social media behavior, the key finding was “there is a moderate association
of social media behavior with political awareness” in students from Laguna State Polytechnic
University San Pablo City Campus. It has an r-value of .496** which has a significant
correlation at the 0.01 level. A significant correlation means that social media behavior such as
liking, sharing, posting, and commenting add political knowledge to anyone that will have an
exposure to the topic. It is clear to note that political information circulating online through
students’ social media behavior enhances political knowledge. However, it does not mean that
the information is correct.
The study is like (Shah, 2017), that political speech, like interpersonal debate, may enable users
to pay attention to and reflect on received content and further discuss political ideas with other
users, leading to an increase in political knowledge. Sharing news on social media was proven
to be a good predictor of structural political knowledge (Beam M. A., 2016). Together, sharing,
commenting, and liking political content that has been received on social media may enable
users to elaborate on and discuss the information with their network contacts, which may
subsequently result in learning about politics.
Evidence about meme is one of the possible reasons raised by (Kim B., 2016). He mentioned
in his research, “Memes can turn some of the most trivial moments and gossips about the
candidates into central talking points of the campaigns...” So, it follows that memes might be
a source of political news and updates on the country's political, economic, and social turmoil.
The researchers saw this as source of social media behavior as they noticed that participants
often use social networking sites for entertainment including political participation (see Table
1), where they often share content and always give reactions to the posts that they can relate on
(see Table 4). In view of this, the researchers concluded that social media behavior affects the
political awareness of the participants. It was proven in the recent discussions that the
participants often use various social media platforms for entertainment and political
discussions.
Table 12: Correlation Between Cognitive Biases and Political Awareness
Political Awareness
Cognitive Biases r-value Interpretation
Confirmation Bias -.276** Significant
Illusory Truth Effect -.090 Not Significant
Source Effect -.013 Not Significant
Bullshit Receptivity -.096 Not Significant
Table 12 presents the findings on cognitive biases as to its significant relationship with the
political awareness of the participants. It shows that only cognitive bias has a significant
relationship with political awareness. It has an r-value of -.276**. Consumption of information

will always depend on how people want their social media feeds look like. As cited by
(Westerwick, 2019), selective exposure refers to people's choices of media and messages, in
particular, “any systematic bias in selected messages that diverges from the composition of
accessible messages” (Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015, p. 3). In this study, the researchers found
that the participants were rarely to believe different hot issues in Philippine politics (see Table
5) that makes confirmation bias having a significant relationship with political awareness, but
in LSPU-SPCC student voters’ case, it was only associated as weak at 0.01 correlation level.
In short, students believe to information that suits their preferences. On the other hand, the
remaining illusory truth effect, source effect, and bullshit receptivity emerged as no significant
relationship with political awareness of the respondents.
Based on the data, only confirmation bias has a significant relationship with political
awareness. The reason could be because of the selective exposure. The participants belief
system is limited to their preferences, and it was discussed on how the students perceived
confirmation bias. Using social media as their setting, the participants could decide on what
they want to know and not. Technically, this evidence alone could be a concrete proof to
conclude that confirmation bias has its significant relationship with political awareness among
the one hundred students from Laguna State Polytechnic University San Pablo Campus. On the
other hand, the remaining variables of cognitive biases have no significant relationship with
political awareness due to the characteristics of the respondents. The data showed that
participants were media literate, aware of false information online, and practice proper
netiquette.
5. Conclusion
Based on the following findings, it formulated the following conclusions.
This study resulted into the student voters perceived social media use, social media behavior,
cognitive biases, and political awareness in different ways. Therefore, the researchers
concluded that there was a significant relationship between the variables of social media use in
terms of social networking sites and microblogging; social media behavior and confirmation
bias and political awareness of 100 students from Laguna State Polytechnic University-San
Pablo City Campus, aged 18-25 years old. There is a significant relationship between social
media use and political awareness. There is a significant relationship between social media
behavior and political awareness. Furthermore, there is no significant relationship between
cognitive biases and political awareness.
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Article · May 2023

John Ren Padua Calosa Rona Christina Almazan

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2.3. How do the respondents perceive political awareness?

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5. I am using social networking sites to indulge 2.66 0.95 Often

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Table 5: Perception of Students on Confirmation Bias

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Table 6: Perception of Students on Illusory Truth Effect

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2. Ad hominem attacks are my strategy 1.43 0.69 Never

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Table 9: Students’ Political Awareness

8. Political arena in today’s generation is a result of 3.09 0.75 Aware

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37) Ziemke, D. (1980). Selective exposure in a presidential campaign contingent on

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