Social Comparison as the Thief of Joy: Emotional Consequences of Viewing Strangers’ Instagram Posts

Figures & data

Figure 1. Anonymized stimulus materials for the positive and neutral posts conditions and translations of the captions.

Table 1. Regression coefficients with standard errors for positive affect.

	Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
Variable	B	SE	p	B	SE	p	B	SE	p
Direct effects
Positive posts vs. rest	.087	.128	.497	1.24	.572	.032
Neutral posts vs. rest	.144	.126	.254				–.840	.645	.196
SCO				–.009	.091	.923	–.191	.087	.029
Interaction effects
Positive posts x SCO				–.370	.166	.028
Negative posts x SCO							.272	.179	.133

Note. SCO = social comparison orientation.

Table 2. Regression coefficients with standard errors for negative affect.

	Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
Variable	B	SE	p	B	SE	p	B	SE	p
Direct effects
Positive posts vs. rest	–.040	.138	.774	–.556	.619	.371
Neutral posts vs. rest	.042	.136	.758				.104	.697	.881
SCO				.125	.098	.206	.176	.093	.062
Interaction effects
Positive posts x SCO				.159	.180	.379
Negative posts x SCO							–.020	.194	.917

Note. SCO = social comparison orientation.

Table 3. Conditional effects of positive posts on positive affect.

Level of SCO	B	SE	t	p
1	0.868	0.411	2.11	.037
2	0.500	0.255	1.95	.053
3	0.127	0.128	1.00	.321
4	–0.243	0.151	–1.61	.111
5	–0.613	0.291	–2.11	.037

Note. SCO = social comparison orientation.