SScrolling through social media, we’re bombarded with photos of our friends’ vacations and fancy brunches, their career milestones, their happy families, and their fitness accomplishments. Although we may welcome them, these social comparisons (evaluations of self relative to others) can leave us feeling inadequate and dissatisfied. This may be particularly true for young people – recent studies have shown that social media use is associated with negative social comparisons – leading to reduced well-being, more cravings and greater depressive symptoms. Some researchers, such as Professor Jonathan Haidt, link the harms of social media and its “toxic” social comparison to a mental health crisis among adolescents, arguing for a ban on cell phones in schools.
Social media is practically inevitable in many people’s lives, and of course, it has its benefits too. This then begs the question: is there a way to better navigate social media without incurring possible mental health consequences?
As social scientists who study how people think about and interact with others, we have recently found promising clues in our research on people with autism. Since autistic people don’t process social exchanges in the same way as neurotypical individuals, their responses to social comparisons can be a useful guide for the rest of us.
In a series of studies, published in August 2024 in the journal Social cognitionour research team examined individuals’ emotional responses to social comparisons. We compared the extent to which autistic and neurotypical participants expressed social comparison emotions, such as envy. Participants in our study read a hypothetical situation describing a peer who was much better off than the participants: he lived in a nicer home, was more romantically successful, and was more accomplished in his career. After hearing about this person, participants reported how much envy they felt. Our findings were striking. On average, autistic participants reported 24% less craving than neurotypical participants.
So what is it about autism that seems to protect against the negative impact of social comparisons?
One possible explanation is related to the social cognitive differences often observed in autistic people. Autism spectrum disorders are often characterized by difficulties with social communication, reciprocal social interaction, and more general understanding of the intentions and mental states of others. Autistic people may be less likely to feel bad after a negative social comparison because they are less likely to consider what is going on in the minds of others, a psychological process known as perspective taking or “perspective theory”. the mind.” But why should this reduced attention to the mental state of others prevent them from feeling envious or dissatisfied?
Learn more: The pervasive loneliness of autism
It may be that envy is motivated not only by seeing what others have, but also by imagining how happy or satisfied they feel at that given moment. A 2012 study showed that certain brain regions involved in understanding the mental states of others may function differently in autistic individuals compared to neurotypical individuals. These differences in neural activity suggest that autistic individuals may rely less on information about their mental state, which is unobservable and abstract, when processing social interactions, and more on tangible, concrete details. This way, they might be less likely to wonder whether others are happier than them, which could explain why they report feeling less bad in response to social comparisons.
Further reinforcing this logic, a 2014 study examined responses to social comparison in autistic and neurotypical people using a game in which participants received monetary rewards. The researchers assigned participants to two conditions. In the social comparison condition, participants compared the amount they won to another participant’s larger reward. In the private comparison condition, they compared the amount they had won to a larger amount they could have won. While neurotypical participants were significantly less satisfied with their reward in the social comparison condition, autistic participants’ satisfaction did not depend as much on the condition they were in. Together with our findings, these findings highlight a critical difference in how social comparisons can be experienced: while some people’s happiness depends on their ability to compare themselves favorably to others, others focus more on their own. results without taking into account social comparisons.
What can this teach us about how to protect ourselves from the potentially harmful effects of social media comparisons on our mental well-being?
While it can be difficult to avoid comparing ourselves to others on social media, fortunately how we respond to these social comparisons is not set in stone. Adopting strategies that shift our focus away from others and perhaps ourselves (an approach that may come more naturally to autistic people) can help reduce negative feelings related to mental health issues. For example, keeping a gratitude journal or dedicating our time to hobbies and passions that bring us joy can help us redirect our energy and better appreciate our own lives.
Although comparisons on social media can inspire us to think about what we don’t have, they can also provide us with new ideas and perspectives, motivating us to improve and set and achieve goals. In line with this optimism, a 2018 article reveals that while comparisons on Instagram can spark envy, they can also be a source of inspiration, highlighting the positive motivational potential of social media.
Although our experiences on social media may lead us to feel like the grass is greener on the other side, we might be better off cultivating a mindset of self-improvement and occupying our own emotional landscapes and, ultimately, our personal growth.
