Abstract
Social comparison on social media has received increasing attention, but most research has focused on one type of social comparison and its psycho-emotional implications. Little is known about how different types of social comparison influence youth’s identity development. Drawing on the theories of identity processing styles and social comparison, we examined how two different forms of social comparison on social media related to three identity processing styles, which in turn predicted youth’s global self-esteem and identity clarity. We surveyed 219 college freshmen (Mage = 18.29; 74% female) once in the Fall and once in the Spring. Social comparison of ability on social media was related to concurrent diffuse-avoidant identity processing style, which predicted lower identity clarity months later. In contrast, social comparison of opinion on social media did not influence college freshmen’s global self-esteem and identity clarity through identity processing styles. The findings clarified the implications of online social comparison for youth’s identity development.
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Notes
Although some scholars emphasize the distinction between self and identity, others suggest that such differentiation is artificial (see a review in Vignoles et al. 2011). In this study, we use the terms of “self” and “identity” interchangeably, both referring to a person’s organized knowledge related to himself or herself (e.g., traits, beliefs, values, worth, etc.; Berzonsky 2011; Campbell et al. 1996; Erikson 1968; Rosenberg et al. 1989).
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Authors’ Contributions
C-cY conceptualized the study, conceived of the design, collected data, performed the statistical analyses, interpreted the results, and composed the manuscript; SMH participated in developing hypotheses, interpreting results, and drafting the manuscript; MDKC participated in recruiting participants and drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The Institutional Review Board at the University of Memphis approved this research. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Appendix
Appendix
Social Media Social Comparison Scale
Most people compare themselves from time to time with others. For example, they may compare the way they feel, their opinions, their abilities, and/or their situation with those of other people. There is nothing particularly “good” or “bad” about such comparison, and some people do it more than others. In this set of questions, we would like to find out the extent to which you compare yourself with other people when using social media. How well do these statements apply to you?
T1 factor loading | T2 factor loading | |
|---|---|---|
Social media social comparison of ability | ||
1. When using social media, I compare how my loved ones (romantic partner, family members, etc.) are doing with how others are doing | .70 | .69 |
2. When using social media, I compare how I do things with how others do things | .80 | .86 |
3. On social media, I compare what I have done with others as a way to find out how well I have done something | .85 | .86 |
4. On social media, I compare how I am doing socially with other people | .82 | .78 |
5. I don’t really use social media to compare with others to see how well I’m doing (reversely coded) | .43 | .43 |
Social media social comparison of opinion | ||
6. On social media, I talk with others about mutual opinions and experiences | .72 | .60 |
7. On social media, I try to find out what others think who face similar problems as I face | .88 | .83 |
8. On social media, I try to know what others in a similar situation would do | .82 | .90 |
9. When using social media, I try to find out what others think about something that I want to learn more about | .75 | .79 |
χ2 | 53.23** | 51.15** |
RMSEA | .07 | .08 |
CFI | .96 | .95 |
TLI | .94 | .93 |
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Yang, Cc., Holden, S.M. & Carter, M.D.K. Social Media Social Comparison of Ability (but not Opinion) Predicts Lower Identity Clarity: Identity Processing Style as a Mediator. J Youth Adolescence 47, 2114–2128 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0801-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0801-6