Who compares and despairs? The effect of social comparison orientation on social media use and its outcomes

• Examined impact of Facebook as a function of social comparison orientation (SCO)
• High-SCO participants use Facebook more heavily.
• High-SCO participants are more negatively affected by an acquaintance's profile.
• SCO did not have strong or consistent effects in control tasks.
• Social comparison on Facebook may be more detrimental for high-SCO users.

People vary in their tendencies to compare themselves to others, an individual difference variable called social comparison orientation (SCO). Social networking sites provide information about others that can be used for social comparison. The goal of the present set of studies was to explore the relationship between SCO, Facebook use, and negative psychological outcomes. Studies 1a and 1b used correlational approaches and showed that participants high (vs. low) in SCO exhibited heavier Facebook use. Study 2 used an experimental approach and revealed that participants high in SCO had poorer self-perceptions, lower self-esteem, and more negative affect balance than their low-SCO counterparts after engaging in brief social comparisons on Facebook. SCO did not have as strong or consistent effects for participants engaging in control tasks. Results are discussed in the context of extant literature and the impact of social media use on well-being.