Social media use and well-being: testing an integrated self-determination theory model

ABSTRACT Although some commentators assert that social media use (SMU) has large negative effects on peoples’ mental health, meta-analyses show the effect is tiny at best, implying that individual differences play an important role. We combined self-determination theory’s organismic integration and basic psychological needs mini-theories to address this issue. Our integrated process model stated that self-determined motivation for SMU affects the extent peoples’ relatedness needs are met during the activity, which in turn affects their subjective well-being (SWB). Cross-sectional study 1 found initial support for this model. Short-term longitudinal studies 2 and 3 assigned Ps to spend a few minutes on an enjoyable social media site (study 2) or on both an enjoyable and a less-enjoyable site (study 3), during the survey itself. In all three cases, self-determined motivation predicted relatedness need-satisfaction and enhanced SWB, after the experience. We conclude that, as with any behavior, peoples’ motivation for SMU matters. Without considering this, blanket statements about SMU effects are likely to be misleading.