BMC Psychol. 2025 Oct 30;13(1):1202. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03521-2.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: With the rapid rise of social media, college students are increasingly exposed to others’ “highlight moments,” making cyber upward social comparison more common and potentially detrimental to Well-being. This study explores how cyber upward social comparison affects well-being, focusing on self-esteem and emotional regulation as mediators, and examining gender differences.
METHODS: A questionnaire survey yielded 500 valid responses, all from Chinese college students. The participants’ ages were primarily concentrated between 18 and 20 years old (accounting for 70.80%). Among them, 234 were male (46.8%) and 266 were female (53.2%). Data were analyzed with Smart-PLS for SEM and multi-group analysis to examine gender differences.
RESULTS: SEM results showed that the model explained 60.8% of the variance in well-being. Self-esteem and cognitive reappraisal sequentially mediated the relationship between cyber upward social comparison and well-being, but expressive suppression showed no significant association. Multi-group analysis revealed a stronger negative association between cyber upward social comparison and cognitive reappraisal in females, while the positive association between cognitive reappraisal and well-being was more pronounced in males.
CONCLUSION: Cyber upward social comparison reduces college students’ well-being both directly and through a chain of lowered self-esteem and reduced cognitive reappraisal. Gender differences suggest the need for gender-sensitive psychological interventions. This study provides new insights into college students’ psychological adaptation in digital environments, with the goal of offering both theoretical support and practical recommendations for mental health promotion in higher education.
PMID:41168854 | DOI:10.1186/s40359-025-03521-2
