Facebook, social comparison and happiness: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

Abstract

The ubiquity of Facebook usage compels us to study its effects on well-being. We identified a unique sample of Facebook users and non-users who are employed at a security-related organization, where Facebook usage was differentially restricted (even at home) creating a quasi-natural experiment. Performing between-subject analysis, we found significant differences between Facebook users and non-users with regard to social comparison orientation and happiness. Given the exogenous nature of the assignment into groups (i.e., users and non-users), we attribute these differences to the accumulated effect of Facebook usage. Specifically, we infer that Facebook usage increases engagement in social comparison which is liable to reduce user happiness. Social comparison fully mediates the effect of Facebook on happiness, but only among young employees and only among those who believe that others have many more positive experiences than they do. Overall, our findings suggest that even if Facebook users understand that their friend's posts are positively biased, the increased engagement in social comparison may adversely affect those who believe that their friends’ lives are better than their own.