Their lives seem better than mine: exploring the role of social comparison on Instagram users' psychology

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Budesheim, Erin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Napolitano, Chris M

• Young Adult
• Well-being
• Social Media

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Erin Budesheim

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117675

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F117675