The impact of Instagram use, exposure to social media influencers related content on life satisfaction in Lebanon : the mediating role of social comparison and socioeconomic comparison

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) use has become increasingly popular in today’s world, especially among young adults. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, expose users to the luxurious lives of Social Media Influencers (SMIs) and provide them with the opportunity to interact with them. There exists a body of research on the negative implications of social media use and exposure to SMIs related content on users’ subjective well-being. It has been hypothesized that making social comparisons plays a role in explaining this relationship. The social comparison theory proposes that individuals make upward or downward comparisons to evaluate themselves. These comparisons can be made to those of higher status such as SMIs (Festinger,1954). Therefore, this study examines the mediating role of social comparison on the relationship between Instagram use and exposure to SMI related content and its impact on life satisfaction. Moreover, considering the economic crisis in Lebanon, this study explores the mediating role of comparisons made in relation to socioeconomic targets towards participants’ situation before the crisis and towards others’ situation. Data was collected from Lebanese college students (N=159) who completed a survey questionnaire assessing frequency of Instagram use, exposure to SMIs related content, social comparison orientation, subjective socioeconomic comparisons towards past outcomes and towards others’ situation, and life satisfaction. Results revealed that social comparison orientation and both socioeconomic comparison targets were not significant mediators. Instagram use also showed to be an insignificant predictor of life satisfaction. However, exposure to SMIs related content was a significant predictor of life satisfaction. Implications of this study are discussed