Introduction: Social media use is particularly prevalent among younger populations. While there may be positive effects associated with social media use, excessive comparison-based activities online may result in negative consequences such as poor mental health and body image. It remains unclear what individual differences and processes are related to increased frequency of engaging in social media-related comparison activities online.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between cognitive flexibility, perfectionism (general and physical appearance-related), and comparison-based social media use in young adults.
Method: University students (N = 100) aged between 18 and 25 years old and without a history of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder diagnosis were recruited. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including cognitive flexibility, perfectionism, and frequency of social media use. Mediation effects were examined using multiple regression and bootstrapping.
Results: Lower cognitive flexibility was associated with greater frequency of comparison-based social media use. Greater levels of physical appearance perfectionism were associated with greater frequency of comparison-based social media use. Physical appearance perfectionism mediated the relationship between cognitive flexibility and frequency of comparison-based social media use. The same association was not found in general perfectionism.
Conclusions: The study helps understand individual differences in engaging in comparison-based social media use among young adults. The present results inform new directions for the design of interventions to prevent excessive social media use. We suggest that reducing physical appearance perfectionism and promoting greater cognitive flexibility may be potential targets to promote adaptive social media habits and well-being. Longer-term associations and directions for future research will be discussed.