Insufficient Likes on Social Media Elicit Negative Self-Referent Cognitions and Emotions During Adolescence

• In Event: 3-055 - The Developing Self: New Findings on its Social Origins and Functions

Integrative Statement

Background: The last few years have seen an explosion in the use of social media around the world, creating unprecedented opportunities for youths to express self-identity and obtain social feedback. Adolescents on social media typically post novel content that discloses some aspects of the self, and they expect that others will validate the content (i.e. share or like it). Can this seemingly positive social validation on social media—such as receiving likes—under some conditions increase negative thoughts and feelings about the self during adolescence?
The present research explores the power that insufficient social validation on social media can wield over adolescents’ psychological well-being and self-development. Drawing on the need-threat model (Williams, 2007), we hypothesize that insufficient social validation—the experience of being liked by others online, but not quite enough—might threaten one’s core needs for acceptance and status, and thus evoke negative self-relevant cognitions and emotions. Developmentally, effects of insufficient social validation might be especially salient during adolescence, in which motivational and affective sensitivity to peer approval and status is heightened (Yeager, Dahl, & Dweck, 2018).
Methods: The present study paired two experiments to determine causal effects of insufficient social validation on adolescents’ self-relevant cognitions and emotions. In Study 1, we first adapted a social media task (Wolf et al., 2015) that simulates social media experience by systematically controlling the number of likes feedback. Study 1 participants (N=613, mean age= 14.3, 55% girls) completed a brief computerized program called a “Get-to-Know-People Task” (see Figure 1) in which they virtually interact with a group of same-age peers (in actuality, confederates). Critically, participants were randomly assigned to receive few likes (insufficient validation condition) vs. many likes (sufficient validation condition) from confederates on their self-descriptive profiles. A brief questionnaire was administered at the completion of the task to assess negative self-relevant cognitions and emotions. In Study 2, we recruited 558 ninth-grade adolescents (49% girls) to further examine moderating mechanisms. Prior to the experimental social media task, participants reported offline peer victimization experiences.
Results: Study 1 found that receiving few likes during the social media interaction elicited higher characterological trait attributions (thinking “I’m not a likable person”), t(589)=3.88 , P < .001 and lowered state self-esteem, t(598)=7.20 , P < .001, relative to receiving many likes. Furthermore, those who randomly received few likes reported feelings of rejection, t(596)=8.97, P < .001. Study 2 successfully replicated the main effects of insufficient likes. Furthermore, moderation analyses revealed that offline peer victimization intensified the adverse responses to insufficient social validation online. That is, adolescents who experienced even a moderate level of peer victimization offline were at elevated risks for engaging in characterological trait attribution (interaction b= 0.75, P < .01) and reporting dampened state self-esteem (interaction b= -.63, P < .01) after insufficiently liked by a group of novel peers on social media. See Figure 2.
Conclusions: Taken together, the current study offers initial causal evidence for potentially detrimental effects of social media-mediated peer social feedback in adolescents’ self-views and emotional well-being.

Authors

• Hae Yeon Lee, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Jeremy P. Jamieson, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Harry T. Reis, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher G. Beevers, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert A. Josephs, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael C Mullarkey, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joseph Michael O'Brien, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• David S. Yeager, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author