How Does Upward Social Comparison on Instagram Undermine Subjective Well-Being in South Korea: Mediating Role of Emotions and the Moderating Role of Attribution

Recent findings indicate that engaging in upward social comparison on social media can have a detrimental impact on subjective well-being (SWB); however, how upward social comparison undermines SWB remains unclear. This research draws on attribution theory and Smith's typology of social comparison-based emotions to examine the mediating role of upward contrastive emotions and the moderating role of attribution for others' success in the association between upward social comparison SWB. Using the data collected from 318 Instagram users, The present study demonstrates that upward contrastive emotions serve as a mediator between upward social comparison and SWB. Moreover, the results reveal that the mediating effect of upward contrastive emotions in the relationship between upward social comparison on Instagram and SWB is moderated by attribution for others’ success. Our findings suggest that when users compare themselves to someone they perceive as superior, they should try to attribute the success of that person to internal factors (e.g., effort) rather than external factors (e.g., luck), to mitigate the adverse impacts of upward social comparison. This study makes a contribution to the existing literature on social media by developing a moderated mediation model that places particular emphasis on the role of attribution in the relationship between upward social comparison and SWB.