Running head: NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, offer adolescent users an ideal platform for negative comparison (i.e., experiencing negative feelings from social comparison). Although such negative comparison on Facebook has been associated with users’ well-being, the reciprocal relations between the two remain unclear, particularly in an adolescent sample. To examine this reciprocal process, a two-wave study among a representative sample of Flemish adolescents was set up (NTime1 = 1,840). Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that negative comparison on Facebook predicted decreases in life satisfaction over time. Conversely, lower scores on life satisfaction predicted increases in negative comparison on Facebook. The discussion focuses on the understanding of these findings, key limitations, directions for future research and implications for prevention and intervention strategies. NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 3 “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”: Negative Comparison on Facebook and Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction are Reciprocally Related Adolescence is characterized by important physical, psychological, and social changes. A significant indicator of successful completion of this developmental phase is life satisfaction, which refers to the subjective evaluation of overall quality of life. However, in the transition to adolescence, life satisfaction starts declining. Because of this decline and potential adverse outcomes of poor life satisfaction, including depression and anxiety, but also suicide, it is particularly relevant to examine factors contributing to this decrease. One factor that may partly explain decreasing life satisfaction is negative online comparison; studies found an association between negative online comparison and college students’ well-being. At the same time, though, we may expect, based on cognitive dissonance and selective exposure theory, that life satisfaction also predicts adolescents’ tendency for negative online comparison. However, no study thus far examined such reciprocal relations. Therefore, the present two-wave study aims to investigate the reciprocal relations between negative online comparison and adolescents’ life satisfaction, hereby adding to prior studies that were mainly cross-sectional 9 or focused on the unidirectional impact of online social comparison. We believe it is critical to determine whether negative online comparison and poor life satisfaction are reciprocally related and reinforce one another, given the detrimental outcomes of poor life satisfaction. This study focuses on adolescents, as this age group may be particularly at risk for the impact of negative online comparison, given both their online presence and the decrease of life satisfaction during this developmental period. Facebook Use and Adolescents’ Well-Being Facebook is the most widely used SNS; young people spend approximately two hours per day on Facebook, during which they frequently update their status, upload photos, and browse others’ profiles. While some scholars argue that Facebook use is related to NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 4 poor well-being, others suggest that Facebook use does not affect users’ well-being. This controversy may be due to the lack of focus on indirect associations, specific user characteristics and different usage patterns within initial studies. However, more recent studies addressed these critical gaps. For instance, Chen and Lee found that Facebook interaction was indirectly related with greater psychological distress, through increased communication overload and reduced self-esteem. In line with these studies, the present study focuses on a specific Facebook usage pattern, i.e., negative comparison on Facebook, and its reciprocal relations with adolescents’ life satisfaction. We particularly focus on this specific Facebook usage pattern, as many users may use Facebook for social comparison. This expectation is based on social comparison theory, which argues that individuals are driven by a desire to evaluate their opinions and abilities. In the absence of an objective base for comparison, this self-evaluation motive is served through comparison with (similar) others. Recent studies showed that Facebook users are frequently exposed to other users’ feelings and experiences, as young people mainly use Facebook to browse through other’s profiles. This exposure is more than relevant, as Facebook hereby offers users an ideal setting where they can easily compare themselves with (similar) others. By exploring the reciprocal relations between this specific Facebook usage pattern and adolescents’ life satisfaction, the present study aims to contribute to a more nuanced insight into the role of Facebook in adolescents’ lives. Social comparison processes can be either downward (i.e., comparison with those who we believe are worse off) or upward (i.e., comparison with those who we believe are better off). Festinger, however, proposed that individuals have ‘a unidirectional drive upward’; people generally prefer to compare themselves with others who are better off. In line with this, we believe that SNSs, in particular, may offer adolescent users the perfect platform for engaging in such upward comparison. Studies already demonstrated that social media users NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 5 tend to portray themselves as positively as possible online, applying various techniques to optimize their online self-presentation, including carefully selecting and retouching photos and disclosing mostly positive emotional experiences. Due to this ‘ideal’ online selfpresentation, adolescent SNS users may develop the feeling that others are better off. Recent studies supported this claim, showing that the use of SNSs may stimulate young people’s upward comparison processes on a variety of dimensions, such as appearance and success in life. Negative Comparison on Facebook Predicts Lower Life Satisfaction Upward comparison provides a reference point against which one’s own situation may be perceived as ‘inferior’; people are especially likely to compare themselves negatively when they engage in upward social comparison. It is this negative comparison that may harm individuals’ well-being. Scholars believe that individuals’ tendency to engage in maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as rumination (i.e., the tendency to focus repetitively on negative stimuli) may explain this harmful impact of negative comparison, as negative comparison has been found to stimulate rumination, and this rumination, in turn, further stimulated the development of depressive symptoms. In line with these suggestions, research reported an association between negative online comparison and individuals’ wellbeing. For instance, Feinstein et al. showed that negative comparison on Facebook predicted increases in depressive symptoms. It was therefore hypothesized that: Hypothesis 1: Negative comparison on Facebook (Time 1) will negatively predict adolescents’ satisfaction with life (Time 2) Lower Life Satisfaction Predicts Negative Comparison on Facebook Although the impact of online social comparison on well-being has often been reported, the possible reverse impact is still unclear. However, various scholars emphasize the need to examine individual antecedents of social comparison processes, as the strength NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 6 and frequency with which individuals apply social comparison processes may vary. According to Festinger, individuals who are uncertain about their opinions and abilities will be more likely to make social comparisons. Especially people who are uncertain about various aspects of their lives may be more motivated to engage in social comparison, as it offers them a way to gain information for a deeper understanding about themselves and their social worlds. In line with this suggestion, studies have shown that individuals who are depressed or have low self-esteem are more likely to compare themselves with others. However, based on cognitive dissonance theory and selective exposure theory, we believe that people with poor well-being may be particularly attracted to negative comparison on Facebook. While cognitive dissonance theory argues that individuals actively avoid situations and information in which dissonance may occur, but prefer information that is consistent with their cognitions and behaviors, selective exposure theory suggests that people may select specific media content that confirms and supports their own behavior. In line with these theories, we expect that adolescents who are dissatisfied with their life will compare themselves negatively on Facebook, as this negative comparison confirms and supports their own negative cognitions about one’s life. In line with these suggestions, de Vries and Kuehne showed that Facebook use more strongly predicted negative social comparison among those who were dissatisfied with their lives. In addition, Johnson and Knobloch-Westerwick found that SNS users with a negative mood select specific media content (i.e., downward online comparison) to enhance their negative mood. Although this study provided support for cognitive dissonance and selective exposure theory with regard to online comparison behaviors, these findings somewhat differ from our expectations. However, this may be partly explained by differences between mood in that study and life satisfaction in the present study; whereas individuals’ mood fluctuates strongly over time, life satisfaction is more stable. Individuals with a negative mood may NEGATIVE COMPARISON ON FACEBOOK AND LIFE SATISFACTION 7 therefore feel more capable to change their negative feelings, compared to persons who are dissatisfied with their life. As a result, individuals with a negative mood may be particularly driven to downward comparison, as this type o