Double Mediation Effect of Social Interaction Anxiety and Experiential Avoidance between Internalized Shame and Social Media Addiction Tendency

Background: This study examined the pathway by which internalized shame influences the tendency toward social media addiction through the mediating roles of social interaction anxiety and experiential avoidance.Methods: Data were collected from 174 Korean adults who completed surveys measuring internalized shame, social interaction anxiety, experiential avoidance, and social media addiction. Linear regression and Process Macro were used for data analysis.Results: Internalized shame affected social media addiction by mediating experiential avoidance, and the mediation effect of social interaction anxiety was not significant. However, the double mediating effect of social interaction anxiety and experiential avoidance on the relationship between internalized shame and social media addiction was significant.Conclusions: People who chronically experience negative perceptions and shame about themselves seek stability through others; however, they experience anxiety in face-to-face interactions and use social media to control and avoid these anxieties. To effectively reduce the tendency toward social media addiction, intervention is required to avoid social interaction anxiety, rather than attempting to change maladaptive identity.