Controlling Social Media Content: Non-Agency over Content Selection Reduces Envy and Social Comparison
Type
conference poster
Date Issued
2021-11-04
Author(s)
;
Rosca, Ana-Maria
;
Geppert, Rahel
;
Gouret, Florian
;
Kirschner, Lisa
;
Pfeuffer, Christina U.
Abstract (De)
Social media pervade daily life. Positive aspects of virtual communication are contrasted by negative emotional responses to the construed social media selves of others. In two experiments, we manipulated whether participants themselves or a computer selected social media content (vacation pictures) from an overview for closer viewing. Picture ratings revealed that participants experienced more benign/malicious envy and negative social comparison when they themselves had agency over content selection. Participants’ self-reported satisfaction with life and self-esteem further influenced these relationships. Furthermore, participants rated self-chosen pictures more positively than computer-selected pictures. Crucially, our linear mixed models accounted for picture variance. Thus, even though participants’ own choices may have reflected their picture preferences better than the computer selection, this can only account for our findings to a limited degree. We conclude that algorithmic content selection based on user-defined criteria may reduce experienced agency and thus envy and social comparison in social media.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Volume
Volumne 27
Event Title
Psychonomic Society 62nd Annual Meeting
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
264659