The combined well-being effects of social media activities: how self-affirmation can buffer against upward social comparisons on Instagram.
Social media activities do not occur in isolation, and it is possible that the well-being effects of an initial activity modify the effects of a subsequent one. This article examines this possibility by focusing on a specific, theoretically grounded sequence of social media activities: engaging with...
| Publicado en: | Human Communication Research Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 176 - 188 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195378206&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195378206 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03603989 HUC jtl: Human Communication Research issn: 03603989 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 52 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195378206 10.1093/hcr/hqaf022 ppf: 176 ppct: 12 formats: tig: atl: The combined well-being effects of social media activities: how self-affirmation can buffer against upward social comparisons on Instagram. aug: au: Chen, Yuchi Anthony Toma, Catalina L affil: Department of Psychology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, United States Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States su: Instagram (Web resource) Affirmations (Self-help) Social media Self-presentation Psychosocial factors Social comparison Envy Well-being sug: subj: Affirmations (Self-help) Social media Self-presentation Psychosocial factors Social comparison Envy Well-being Instagram (Web resource) keyword: buffers copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en personal satisfaction publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf022 self-affirmation self-presentation social comparison social media upward social comparison well-being buffers copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en personal satisfaction publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf022 self-affirmation self-presentation social comparison social media upward social comparison well-being ab: Social media activities do not occur in isolation, and it is possible that the well-being effects of an initial activity modify the effects of a subsequent one. This article examines this possibility by focusing on a specific, theoretically grounded sequence of social media activities: engaging with one's own profile self-presentation (i.e. a self-affirmational activity) followed by browsing a superior peer's profile (i.e. an activity eliciting upward social comparison). Two pre-registered experiments were conducted. Study 1 confirmed that both reviewing and crafting one's own Instagram self-presentation provided self-affirmational benefits, reducing participants' defensiveness and inducing positive affect. Study 2 showed that becoming self-affirmed by engaging with one's own Instagram self-presentation diminished feelings of envy resulting from browsing a superior peer's self-presentation. By conceptualizing and empirically testing the interdependence of social media activities, this research offers a framework for examining how sequences of social media activities jointly shape users' psychological experiences. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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