{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/117675"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/117675","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Their lives seem better than mine: exploring the role of social comparison on Instagram users' psychology","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2024-12-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2024-12-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Budesheim, Erin"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educational Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Napolitano, Chris M"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-12","date_published":"2022-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:56Z","subjects":["Young Adult","Well-being","Social Media"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2022 Erin Budesheim"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117675","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Napolitano, Chris M"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Budesheim, Erin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022-12","2022-12-02"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Young Adult","Well-being","Social Media"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2022 Erin Budesheim"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117675"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2024-12-01","The student, Erin Budesheim, accepted the attached license on 2022-11-30 at 15:20.","The student, Erin Budesheim, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2022-11-30 at 15:25.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2022-12-02 at 11:58.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #18703 on 2023-04-12 at 08:13:20","Researchers and popular media have sought to understand the relationship between social media use and well-being, however, findings have been largely inconclusive. Social comparison theory and orientation provided a window into understanding how engagement with social media may be affecting young adults’ psyches. This exploratory study aimed to elucidate how young adults’ social comparison orientation and comparative wellbeing impact their personal well-being and sense of loneliness after using Instagram. Exploratory research questions included: (1) Will comparative well-being moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and personal well-being? and (2) Will comparative well-being moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and loneliness? Participants engaged in a brief Instagram task in which they viewed images on their Instagram feed and rated the posters’ subjective well-being; I collected data on personal well-being and loneliness before and after the Instagram task. Findings of several moderated latent regressions, demonstrated comparative well-being significantly moderated the relationship between social comparison orientation and personal well-being; participants who viewed Instagram posters with lower well-being than themselves, the participants felt significantly better about their own well-being. However, there was no effect found for comparative well-being moderating the relationship between social comparison orientation and loneliness. These findings introduce a possible phenomenon of Instagram schadenfreude wherein Instagram users take pleasure in seeing other posters who are relatively worse off than themselves. This study added to the growing literature dedicated to understanding the relationship between social media use and young adult well-being."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Their lives seem better than mine: exploring the role of social comparison on Instagram users' psychology"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Napolitano, Chris M"],"dc:creator":["Budesheim, Erin"],"dc:date":["2022-12","2022-12-02"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2024-12-01","The student, Erin Budesheim, accepted the attached license on 2022-11-30 at 15:20.","The student, Erin Budesheim, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2022-11-30 at 15:25.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2022-12-02 at 11:58.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #18703 on 2023-04-12 at 08:13:20","Researchers and popular media have sought to understand the relationship between social media use and well-being, however, findings have been largely inconclusive. Social comparison theory and orientation provided a window into understanding how engagement with social media may be affecting young adults’ psyches. This exploratory study aimed to elucidate how young adults’ social comparison orientation and comparative wellbeing impact their personal well-being and sense of loneliness after using Instagram. Exploratory research questions included: (1) Will comparative well-being moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and personal well-being? and (2) Will comparative well-being moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and loneliness? Participants engaged in a brief Instagram task in which they viewed images on their Instagram feed and rated the posters’ subjective well-being; I collected data on personal well-being and loneliness before and after the Instagram task. Findings of several moderated latent regressions, demonstrated comparative well-being significantly moderated the relationship between social comparison orientation and personal well-being; participants who viewed Instagram posters with lower well-being than themselves, the participants felt significantly better about their own well-being. However, there was no effect found for comparative well-being moderating the relationship between social comparison orientation and loneliness. These findings introduce a possible phenomenon of Instagram schadenfreude wherein Instagram users take pleasure in seeing other posters who are relatively worse off than themselves. This study added to the growing literature dedicated to understanding the relationship between social media use and young adult well-being."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117675"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2022 Erin Budesheim"],"dc:subject":["Young Adult","Well-being","Social Media"],"dc:title":["Their lives seem better than mine: exploring the role of social comparison on Instagram users' psychology"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:56Z"}