Inspiring or demoralizing? Deservingness perceptions help
determine why emerging adults experience positive or
negative effects from envy-inducing social media posts
Dublin Core
Title
Inspiring or demoralizing? Deservingness perceptions help
determine why emerging adults experience positive or
negative effects from envy-inducing social media posts
determine why emerging adults experience positive or
negative effects from envy-inducing social media posts
Subject
social comparison, social media, benign envy, malicious envy, Instagram, college success.
Description
This study extends pain-driven dual envy theory to explain why emerging adults who do not attend college might experience uplifting or hostile
reactions to the social media posts of their college-attending peers. Employing a 2 × 2 experiment (N 1⁄4 233; Mage 1⁄4 21.87), we examined how
deservingness perceptions (deserving versus undeserving) and social approval cues (high versus low) affect the type of envy emerging adults
experience from viewing college success posts on social media. Results indicated that the more participants perceived the college success of
their peers to be deserved, the more they experienced benign envy. Conversely, the more participants appraised the college success of their
peers to be undeserved, the more they experienced malicious envy. Results also indicated that posts with higher social approval indirectly trig-
gered more pain for participants. Overall, findings help clarify why social media users can experience both positive and negative effects from on-
line social comparisons.
reactions to the social media posts of their college-attending peers. Employing a 2 × 2 experiment (N 1⁄4 233; Mage 1⁄4 21.87), we examined how
deservingness perceptions (deserving versus undeserving) and social approval cues (high versus low) affect the type of envy emerging adults
experience from viewing college success posts on social media. Results indicated that the more participants perceived the college success of
their peers to be deserved, the more they experienced benign envy. Conversely, the more participants appraised the college success of their
peers to be undeserved, the more they experienced malicious envy. Results also indicated that posts with higher social approval indirectly trig-
gered more pain for participants. Overall, findings help clarify why social media users can experience both positive and negative effects from on-
line social comparisons.
Creator
Enoch Montes1,�, David C. DeAndrea
Source
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmae006
Publisher
Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.
Date
May 16, 2024
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Collection
Citation
Enoch Montes1,�, David C. DeAndrea, “Inspiring or demoralizing? Deservingness perceptions help
determine why emerging adults experience positive or
negative effects from envy-inducing social media posts,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed May 22, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8781.
determine why emerging adults experience positive or
negative effects from envy-inducing social media posts,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed May 22, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8781.