Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

Committee Members

Nicholas Sibrava

Justin Storbeck

Regina Miranda

Jennifer Ford

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology | Social Psychology

Keywords

social comparison, social media, social anxiety, cognitive reappraisal, late positive potential, Trier Social Stress Test

Abstract

Social media is a central context for social interaction and self-evaluation among young adults. For those with elevated social anxiety, these environments may be especially salient because they provide frequent opportunities for social comparison. Although upward social comparison on social media has been linked to poorer emotional outcomes, less is known about its experimental effects among socially anxious young adults or whether upward and downward comparison have distinct effects that extend to later socially evaluative situations. The present study examined these questions in 84 socially anxious young adults randomly assigned to view simulated Instagram feeds eliciting upward comparison, downward comparison, or non-social control content. State anxiety, state social anxiety, and affect were assessed before and after the manipulation and during a subsequent Trier Social Stress Test. Reappraisal-related neural responding was assessed using late positive potential activity during a baseline cognitive reappraisal task. Findings suggested context-dependent effects. Participants in the upward comparison condition did not show the reductions in state anxiety observed in the downward comparison and control conditions, suggesting that upward comparison may maintain anxiety rather than produce immediate increases. During the stressor, participants in the downward comparison condition reported greater anticipatory social anxiety than those in the upward comparison condition, suggesting that downward comparison was not uniformly buffering. Reappraisal-related neural activity did not moderate immediate responses but moderated post-stressor social anxiety, such that associations between neural responding and anxiety differed across comparison conditions. Overall, social media-based social comparison did not have uniform emotional effects; instead, its impact depended on comparison direction, evaluative context, timing, and individual differences in reappraisal-related neural responding.

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