Finding Freudenfreude: Deriving Subjective Well-Being From Passive Observation of a Relational Tie’s Happiness via Social Media Post

Social media are known for their overly-positive contents posted by diverse network members; but little research has directly explored the effects of individual happy posts on receivers’ well-being. Two original online experiments (Study 1: N = 326 adults in English-speaking countries; Study 2: N = 111 undergraduates in the United States) tested the effects of the desirability of a post’s content on subjective well-being, as well as direct and moderating effects of the relational tie, and additionally moderated by the perceived selective self-presentation of the post. Results of the 2 (envy: high v. low) × 2 (relational closeness: close v. distant) experiment did not evidence main effects of envy (both benign and malicious) or main or moderating effect of relational closeness; but did provide mixed findings for the main effect of selective self-presentation. Findings are discussed with respect to social comparison theory and extant literature regarding the role of passive social media use on users’ well-being.