Abstract
The purpose of the study was to explore whether personality traits moderate the association between social comparison on Facebook and subjective well-being, measured as both life satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being. Data were collected via an online questionnaire which measured Facebook use, social comparison behavior and personality traits for 337 respondents. The results showed positive associations between Facebook intensity and both measures of subjective well-being, and negative associations between Facebook social comparison and both measures of subjective well-being. Personality traits were assessed by the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory personality questionnaire, which revealed that Reward Interest was positively associated with eudaimonic well-being, and Goal-Drive Persistence was positively associated with both measures of subjective well-being. Impulsivity was negatively associated with eudaimonic well-being and the Behavioral Inhibition System was negatively associated with both measures of subjective well-being. Interactions between personality traits and social comparison on Facebook indicated that for respondents with high Goal-Drive Persistence, Facebook social comparison had a positive association with eudaimonic well-being, thus confirming that some personality traits moderate the association between Facebook social comparison and subjective well-being. The results of this study highlight how individual differences in personality may impact how social comparison on Facebook affects individuals’ subjective well-being.
Highlights
Since its inception in 2004, Facebook and similar social networking sites (SNS) have revolutionized modern communication
H1 is rejected, as Facebook intensity was positively associated with higher well-being contrary to our predictions that there would be a negative association between Facebook intensity and both measures of subjective well-being
3.2 Facebook Social Comparison We found significant negative associations between Facebook social comparison and both life satisfaction ( = -0.22, p < .001, Table 3, column 2) and eudaimonic well-being ( = -0.26, p < .001, Table 4, column 2), suggesting that respondents who compare themselves negatively to their friends on Facebook have lower subjective well-being confirming hypothesis H2
Summary
Since its inception in 2004, Facebook and similar social networking sites (SNS) have revolutionized modern communication. SNS platforms have become rapidly integrated into daily life, and have changed the way we communicate, with more of our social lives taking place online than ever before. As previous studies have shown that social relationships are an important determinant of subjective well-being Myers & Diener, 1995) and with Facebook boasting 1.65 billion active users (Facebook Newsroom, 2016), it is important to understand the effect SNS use has on subjective well-being. It is possible that an additional variable mediates or moderates the complex relationship between SNS use and subjective well-being, explaining the inconsistencies in the literature. Since SNS are essentially tools for human interaction, it is necessary to understand what SNS users bring into the online environment in order to explore how SNS use affects their subjective well-being. While past studies have looked at SNS use and personality traits, none to our knowledge have investigated how personality traits affect the relationship between SNS use and subjective well-being
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