As social media platforms like WeChat gain popularity in China, there is a notable lack of research examining the impact of social comparison orientation on users’ mental health. Grounded in the social enhancement hypothesis, this study proposes a hypothetical model to explore the relationship between social comparison orientation (SCO) and social media posting anxiety (SMPA) among WeChat users in China, with fear of missing out (FoMO) serving as a mediator and self-esteem as a moderator. An online survey with 513 Chinese adults who actively use WeChat was conducted from October 9 to November 6, 2022, via a link shared on WeChat. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0. Initially, CFA and Pearson Correlation analyses were conducted for preliminary evaluations. Following this, we performed a mediation analysis utilizing Model 4 and a moderation analysis using Model 1 in SPSS PROCESS. The results indicate that individuals with a higher orientation for social comparison are more likely to experience anxiety related to posting on WeChat (B = 0.101, p < .05, 95% CI: 0.006, 0.196). Furthermore, FoMO partially mediates the relationship between SCO and SMPA (indirect effect = 0.433, 95% CI: 0.356, 0.515). Importantly, the Johnson-Neyman analysis demonstrates that self-esteem significantly and positively moderates the relationship between SCO and FoMO (all p-values < .001); however, it does not moderate the direct correlation between SCO and SMPA. This study supports the social enhancement effect and contributes to a deeper understanding of social media use in China, emphasizing culturally specific nuances. The findings provide theoretical insights for future research and practical recommendations for WeChat users.
Long et al. (Sat,) studied this question.