Social comparison and state–trait dynamics: Viewing image-conscious Instagram accounts affects college students’ mood and anxiety.

Abstract

The present experiment examined the extent to which appearance-focused accounts on Instagram (a photo-sharing social-media platform) negatively influence people's moods and anxiety levels. Undergraduates at the University of Florida (N = 81, ages 18-30 years, M = 19.07, SD = 1.56) were randomly assigned to scroll through Instagram accounts with either image-conscious photos (fitness, model, and beauty-blogging accounts) or control photos (food, nature, homedecor accounts). Before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the experimental manipulation, participants completed state-based mood and anxiety measures, and a one-time measure of trait anxiety. Controlling for Time-1 measures, regression results showed that viewing photos from imageconscious accounts related to decreased positive mood and increased negative mood and anxiety at Time 2. Exploratory analyses showed that people with lower trait anxiety were especially susceptible to feeling more state anxiety after viewing image-conscious photos. These findings advance theory by suggesting that state-trait anxiety dynamics are important to understanding how people react to viewing image-conscious Instagram accounts. Further, a social comparison theory of viewing image-conscious photos online should integrate information about people's short-term reactions (states, moods) and long-term predispositions (traits, individual differences). Public Policy Relevance Statement This research examined the effects of viewing images from fitness, model, and beauty-blogging Instagram accounts (vs. control images) on changes in college students' moods and state anxiety. Students viewing image-conscious Instagram accounts (vs. control) reported decreases in positive mood and increases in negative mood and state anxiety, which depended on their trait anxiety. State-trait dynamics play a role in the social comparison of image-conscious photos.

Social comparison and envy on social media: A critical review

“…Together, the person-specific evidence and the positive correlates described above challenge this widely held view of "negative social comparison" and malicious envy as the predominant reactions on SM. Rather, effects are often conditioned on the SM used [34,36, but see 37], SM content [8,18,38,39], gender and age [8,40], and culture [8,12].…”

“…Existing research remains vague on what exactly about SM triggers social comparison and envy, or what supposedly causes them to be more frequent, intense, or harmful. Through the lens of computer-mediated communication [2], social comparison and envy could be shaped by ubiquitous mobile access [36]; the sheer amount of SMU across applications [35,37]; characteristics and culture of individual apps [9,30]; design features signaling social status (e.g., likes) [48]; whether one interacts with strangers, influencers, or likeminded friends [8,28,31,33,41,49]; characteristics of SM messages, such as content (e.g., fitspiration vs. travel) or modality (e.g., visual vs. textual), or their algorithmic ranking [17,18,22,38,39]-or any combination of these factors.…”

The Perfect Storm: A Developmental–Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls’ Body Image Concerns and Mental Health

“…While celebrities have always engendered appearance-focused social comparisons for adolescent girls, SM influencers may present a particularly potent source of upward social comparisons: influencers post highly idealized images of themselves, but their appearance may feel more attainable to adolescents. Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to influencer content focused on beauty or fitness is associated with increased negative mood, anxiety, and body dissatisfaction among young adults (Kohler et al, 2020;Lowe-Calverley & Grieve, 2021).…”

Social comparison and envy on social media: A critical review

“…Together, the person-specific evidence and the positive correlates described above challenge this widely held view of "negative social comparison" and malicious envy as the predominant reactions on SM. Rather, effects are often conditioned on the SM used [33, 35, but see 36], SM content [8,18,37,38], gender and age [8,39], and cultural norms [8,12].…”

“…Through the lens of computer-mediated communication [2], social comparison and envy could be shaped by ubiquitous mobile access [35]; the sheer amount of SMU across applications [34,36]; characteristics and culture of individual apps [9,29]; design features signaling social status (e.g., likes) [47]; whether one interacts with strangers, influencers, or likeminded friends [8,27,30,32,40,48]; characteristics of SM messages, such as content (e.g., fitspiration vs. travel) or modality (e.g., visual vs. textual), or their algorithmic ranking [17,18,22,37,38]; or any combination of these factors.…”