Open Access

ARTICLE

Exploring the Relationships between Passive Social Media Use and Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults—The Role of Trait Self-Compassion, Motivations, and Upward Social Comparison

Muheng Yu^1,*, Drew P. Cingel²
1 School of Journalism, Communication University of China, No. 1 Dingfuzhuang East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
2 Department of Communication, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA
* Corresponding Author: Muheng Yu. Email:

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.080222

Received 05 February 2026; Accepted 30 March 2026; Published online 14 April 2026

Abstract

Objectives: Drawing on the motivational perspective of the social comparison theory and the relevant literature on trait self-compassion, the objective of this research article is to examine that, during young adults’ passive social media use, how their trait self-compassion is related to their self-improvement or self-destruction motivations, which in turn are related to their assimilative or contrastive upward social comparison, which correspondingly is related to their positive or negative psychological well-being. Methods: the current study administered a cross-sectional survey to American college students who used social media. Participants first reported their trait self-compassion. Afterwards, participants reported that, when they used social media the last time, the frequencies that they passively used social media, their self-improvement and self-destruction motivations, their assimilative and contrastive upward social comparison, and their psychological well-being. Results: During passive use of social media, young adults with high trait self-compassion were likely to have more self-improvement (than self-destruction) motivations, which in turn were likely to compare with others more upwardly assimilative (than contrastive), which in turn were likely to have more favorable (than unfavorable) psychological well-being. Conversely, those with more self-destruction (than self-improvement) motivations were likely to compare with others more upwardly contrastive (than assimilative), which in turn were likely to have more unfavorable (than favorable) psychological well-being. Conclusions: The current study makes contributions by adding the motivational perspective of the social comparison theory and the relevant literature on trait self-compassion to more comprehensive explain the associations between passive social media use, upward social comparison, and psychological well-being of young adults. Findings could also offer valuable suggestions on promoting the psychological well-being of young adult social media users.

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Keywords

Passive social media use; psychological well-being; trait self-compassion; motivations; upward social comparison

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