Abstract
Growing concerns have been raised regarding the potential influence of social media on mental health and well-being, specifically focusing on the phenomenon of social comparison. Prior research has shown that individuals tend to overestimate the happiness portrayed in others’ social media posts, resulting in negative outcomes such as low mood, reduced self-esteem, and diminished life satisfaction. However, given the nearly two-decade surge of social media, we question whether this trend persists. This study aims to investigate whether individuals still perceive others’ happy posts as happier than their own happy posts on social media, while also exploring potential age and gender differences. Self-reported happiness is a person’s perception of their own level of happiness, while perceived happiness is the level of happiness, they believe other people are experiencing. Data was collected via an online survey completed by 314 participants. A mixed ANOVA revealed a significant misperception of happiness, indicating, against the current literature, that individuals tend to overestimate their own happiness compared to the happiness expressed by others in social media posts. Gender emerged as a significant factor influencing happiness misperception, with males reporting higher levels of self-reporting happiness than their happiness. A significant difference between the age groups was found and indicated that the older age group (25–64 years) demonstrated a significantly higher happiness misperception than the emerging adult group (15–24 years). The study reveals new insights on happiness misperception in social media, impacting well-being and social bonding, particularly among males and adults, and altering perceptions of online emotional expressions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Kross, E., et al.: Facebook Use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLoS ONE 8(8), e69841 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0069841
Chin-Hooi, P., Wai, K., Yeik, K., Hwa, P., C-h, P.: Parents vs peers’ influence on teenagers’ Internet addiction and risky online activities. Telemat. Inform. 35(1), 225–236 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.11.003
Alutaybi, A., Al-Thani, D., McAlaney, J., Ali, R.: Combating fear of missing out (FoMO) on social media: the FoMO-R method. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17(17), 1–28 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH17176128
Zeng, G., et al.: Problematic internet usage and self-esteem in Chinese undergraduate students: the mediation effects of individual affect and relationship satisfaction. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18(13), 6949 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH18136949
Samra, A., Warburton, W.A., Collins, A.M.: Social comparisons: a potential mechanism linking problematic social media use with depression. J. Behav. Addict. 11(2), 607–614 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00023
Abdellatif, M.: The impact of social media on life satisfaction: the mediating role of social comparison, envy and self-esteem. researchgate.net (2022). https://doi.org/10.18576/isl/110536
Chae, J.: Reexamining the relationship between social media and happiness: the effects of various social media platforms on reconceptualized happiness. Telemat. Informatics 35(6), 1656–1664 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TELE.2018.04.011
Vogel, E.A., Rose, J.P., Roberts, L.R., Eckles, K.: Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychol. Pop. Media Cult. 3(4), 206–222 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1037/PPM0000047
Vogel, E.A., Rose, J.P., Okdie, B.M., Eckles, K., Franz, B.: Who compares and despairs? The effect of social comparison orientation on social media use and its outcomes. Pers. Individ. Dif. 86, 249–256 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PAID.2015.06.026
Chou, H.T.G., Edge, N.: ‘They are happier and having better lives than i am’: the impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 15(2), 117–121 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1089/CYBER.2011.0324
Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., Wang, Q.: Social media addiction: its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology J. Psychosoc. Res. Cybersp. 13(1), 4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-1-4
Beyari, H.: The relationship between social media and the increase in mental health problems. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 20(3), 2383 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032383
Himichi, T., et al.: Development of a Japanese version of the interpersonal reactivity index. Shinrigaku Kenkyu 88(1), 61–71 (2017). https://doi.org/10.4992/JJPSY.88.15218
Shiota, S., Nomura, M.: Role of fantasy in emotional clarity and emotional regulation in empathy: a preliminary study. Front. Psychol. 13 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2022.912165/FULL
Haferkamp, N., Krämer, N.C.: Social comparison 2.0: examining the effects of online profiles on social-networking sites. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 14(5), 309–314 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1089/CYBER.2010.0120
Krasnova, H., Spiekermann, S., Koroleva, K., Hildebrand, T.: Online social networks: why we disclose. J. Inform. Technol. 25(2), 109–125 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2010.6
Perloff, R.M.: Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research. Sex Roles 71(11–12), 363–377 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/S11199-014-0384-6
Primack, B.A., et al.: Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. Am. J. Prev. Med. 53(1), 1–8 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AMEPRE.2017.01.010
Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K.T., Pignatiello, A.: Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health. CMAJ 192(6), E136–E141 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1503/CMAJ.190434
Valkenburg, P.M., Peter, J., Schouten, A.P.: Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 9(5), 584–590 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1089/CPB.2006.9.584
Bailey, E.R., Matz, S.C., Youyou, W., Iyengar, S.S., Matz, S.C.: Authentic self-expression on social media is associated with greater subjective well-being (2020).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18539-w
Goldenberg, A., Gross, J.J.: Digital emotion contagion. Trends Cogn. Sci. 24(4), 316–328 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TICS.2020.01.009
Kramer, A.D.I., Guillory, J.E., Hancock, J.T.: Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 111(24), 8788–8790 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1320040111/ASSET/E6DFA794-CF07-443A-8FD7-0DFD58FEF380/ASSETS/GRAPHIC/PNAS.1320040111FIG01.JPEG
Davenport, S.W., Bergman, S.M., Bergman, J.Z., Fearrington, M.E.: Twitter versus Facebook: Exploring the role of narcissism in the motives and usage of different social media platforms. Comput. Hum. Behav. 32, 212–220 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHB.2013.12.011
“JASP - A Fresh Way to Do Statistics,” (2018). https://jasp-stats.org/. Accessed 03 June 2023
“Youth matters: equipping vulnerable young people with literacy and life skills - UNESCO Digital Library,” UNESCO institute for lifelong learning, Nov. (2013). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000223022. Accessed 08 June 2023
große Deters, F., Mehl, M.R.: Does posting Facebook status updates increase or decrease loneliness? An online social networking experiment. Soc. Psychol. Pers. Sci. 4(5), 579–586 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612469233
Bermúdez, J.P.: Social media and self-control: the vices and virtues of attention (2017)
Verma, A., Islam, S., Moghaddam, V., Anwar, A.: Encouraging emotion regulation in social media conversations through self-reflection. March (2023)
Haferkamp, N., Eimler, S.C., Papadakis, A.M., Kruck, J.V.: Men are from Mars, women are from Venus? Examining gender differences in self-presentation on social networking sites. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 15(2), 91–98 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1089/CYBER.2011.0151
Fogg, B.J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D.R., Marable, L., Stanford, J., Tauber, E.R.: How do users evaluate the credibility of web sites?: a study with over 2,500 participants (2003). https://doi.org/10.1145/997078.997097
Christakis, N.A., Fowler, J.H.: Social contagion theory: examining dynamic social networks and human behavior. Stat. Med. 32(4), 556–577 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1002/SIM.5408
Herrando, C., Constantinides, E.: Emotional contagion: a brief overview and future directions. Front. Psychol. 12, 712606 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2021.712606/BIBTEX
Zhong, J., Wu, W., Zhao, F.: The impact of Internet use on the subjective well-being of Chinese residents: from a multi-dimensional perspective. Front. Psychol. 13, 950287 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2022.950287
Acknowledgement
This publication was made possible by NPRP 14 Cluster Grant number NPRP 14C-0916-210015 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The findings herein reflect the work and are solely the responsibility of the authors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Elfadl, A., Alshakhsi, S., Panourgia, C., Ali, R. (2024). Who is Really Happier? Re-examining the Portrayal of Happiness on Social Media and the Persistence of Misperception. In: Rocha, Á., Adeli, H., Dzemyda, G., Moreira, F., Poniszewska-Marańda, A. (eds) Good Practices and New Perspectives in Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2024. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 985. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60215-3_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60215-3_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-60214-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-60215-3
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)