How can social media contribute to friendship jealousy and conflict among early adolescents?

Abstract

This study examines early adolescents’ perceptions of how social media can contribute to jealousy and conflict within their friendships. We conducted nine focus groups with a total of 51 participants between 13 and 16 years of age (M = 14.35; SD = 0.74). The results indicated that strong social expectations guided early adolescents’ interactions with posted content on social media. When these expectations are not met, conflicts can arise. Additionally, the perception of being ignored through text messages can lead to frustration. Images of friends with other friends and posts of activities with others could cause feelings of friendship jealousy. These findings are discussed in the context of adolescent development.

Keywords:

• early adolescents
• friendship
• friendship jealousy
• friendship conflict
• Snapchat

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Financial Disclosure

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by a postdoctoral research grant of the Research Foundation – Flanders under grant number 12J8719N and by the Research Fund of the University of Antwerp under grant number FFB190303. The study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication were the sole responsibility of the authors and were in no way influenced by the funding institutions.