Cognitive Appraisal as a Mediator of Factors Influencing Positive and Negative Emotions in SNS Stress

Previous research has widely recognized SNS (Social Network Service) stress and fatigue as common phenomena due to their negative impact on users. Accordingly, further studies are needed to explore ways to leverage the positive aspects of SNS stress to enhance users’ psychological stability and create positive usage experiences, thereby supporting user retention and attracting new users. This study examines the effects of SNS stress on both positive and negative emotional responses, aiming to clarify, based on cognitive appraisal theory, how users cognitively evaluate SNS stress and to empirically verify that it can also produce positive outcomes. The main findings are as follows. First, among SNS stress factors, management burden significantly affected challenge appraisal, while both management burden and privacy concerns significantly influenced threat appraisal. Second, challenge appraisal positively affected users’ positive emotions, whereas threat appraisal influenced both positive and negative emotions. Third, mediation analysis showed that management burden significantly increased positive emotions through challenge appraisal. Fourth, when stress factors were appraised as threats, they did not affect positive emotions but significantly increased negative emotions. These results indicate that SNS stress, when perceived as a challenge, can evoke positive emotions, but when perceived as a threat, tends to trigger negative emotions.