The more popular, the happier? Exploring curvilinear relationships between popularity and subjective well‐being in the social networking context of China

The rising popularity of social networking sites has resulted in more social connections taking place within digital environments, leading to changes in users' psychological states. While prior research rooted in social capital theory (SCT) often assumes that greater online popularity enhances well‐being, we challenge this linear view by examining a moderated curvilinear model using a national sample from China ( N = 4587). Hierarchical polynomial regression analyses indicated that both low and high levels of perceived popularity predict reduced life satisfaction and heightened anxiety, with moderate levels associated with the most favourable outcomes. Additionally, face concerns—a culturally specific motivation to maintain social harmony and reputation—moderated the inverted U‐shaped relationship between popularity and life satisfaction: individuals high in face concerns reported diminished life satisfaction at lower levels of popularity compared to their low face‐concern counterparts. However, face concerns did not moderate the relationship between popularity and anxiety, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. These findings refine SCT by identifying threshold effects and introducing cultural moderators that shape the psychological returns of social capital in digital environments. The study also offers practical implications for mental health professionals, platform designers and public health campaigns aiming to promote balanced, culturally aware social media use.