For many years, upward state social comparison has been one of the most popular mechanisms explaining why social media use negatively affects psychological well-being. More recent research has challenged this, showing that different types of upward state social comparison on social media could affect psychological well-being positively or negatively. Despite all these findings, existing research has multiple problems in measuring upward state social comparison. In addition, few studies clearly identify what factors could influence an individual to engage in different types of upward state social comparison on social media, which in turn affect psychological well-being positively or negatively. To address these research limitations, three studies are conducted in this dissertation. Study1, a critical review paper, reviews the literature on social media use, upward state social comparison, and psychological well-being, and discusses multiple measurement issues and a research gap in this body of research. Then, study2, addressing the measurement problems discussed in study1, develops a new measurement scale of assimilative and contrastive upward state social comparison; in addition, addressing the research gap identified in study1, study2 also tests the relationships between passive social media use, trait self-compassion, different motivations of upward social comparison, different types of upward state social comparison, and psychological well-being. Then, study3 is an experimental study that tests the causal links between different motivations of upward social comparison and different types of upward state social comparison. In general, this dissertation addresses multiple measurement issues and a research gap related to upward state social comparison on social media, enriching the theoretical understandings of the research field of social media use, upward state social comparison, and psychological well-being.

Choosing a college major sets most students on a particular trajectory of study that can have a lasting impact on their academic achievement and ultimate career choice. The United States trails behind other developed nations in their Student STEM achievement scores. STEM career fields often feature high-paying and high-demand job opportunities, but choosing a STEM field of study and subsequent career may be impacted by a variety of considerations. This study seeks to understand how proximal social influences, specifically the influence of parents and peers, may relate to STEM major choice and subsequent major satisfaction amongst college students, providing a unique perspective on promoting STEM engagement and potential strategies for promoting the STEM major experience. Using a sample of 214 second-year undergraduate STEM students, we find that parent influence on STEM major choice does indeed have a negative, direct association with satisfaction with one’s major. This study examines the role that both parents and peers may serve in promoting STEM major satisfaction and provides suggestions for future research in this area.

Social media use has become an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives and social routines. Along with the rise of social media use, there has also been a concurrent increase in mental health concerns among adolescent populations. Recent research and mainstream media have been concerned with the rise in self-diagnosing and the medicalization of normative behavior on social media sites, which has been of concern for adolescents particularly when the content comes from social media influencers. The current set of studies sought to examine the nature of user-generated content on social media about mental health topics and to investigate the effects of exposure to such content among at-risk adolescent populations who struggle with self-regulation and problematic social media use. Specifically, in Study 1 we conducted a content analysis of YouTube videos from social media influencers on four main mental health concerns among adolescents: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. In Study and Study 3, we conducted national surveys among adolescents ages 14 to 16 to assess their self-regulation skills, problematic social media use, frequency of social media use, exposure to mental health content, and mental health outcomes (i.e., anxiety, depression, and self-reported mental health). To conclude, in Study 4 we experimentally tested through an online survey experiment the immediate effects of exposure to a video on mental health produced by a social media influencer on facets of adolescent mental health. The results of our four studies revealed that adolescents with poor self-regulation and those who have higher rates of problematic social media use are more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, particularly when they spend more time on social media and follow mental health content. Mental health content on social media tends to be produced by white females, and adolescents who identified as female demonstrated poorer mental health on all metrics (clinical measures and self-report) across all three samples. Exposure to mental health content was related to higher self-report of mental health conditions, revealing that this content can be particularly suggestive. Overall, the findings in these four studies highlight the need for an increased review process of content on social media sites, as exposure to mental health content from non-professional sources can have serious detrimental effects on adolescents behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. We also identify at-risk groups for mental health struggles that can allow for interventions in a timely and effective manner.

The present dissertation proposes a new way to think about social media in a way that flips the problem of platform diversification on its head: the Personal Social Media Ecosystem Framework (PSMEF). This perspective defines social media as a type of user-centric digital environment (i.e., personal social media environment [PSME]) made up of various types of generalized mediated spaces (i.e., user interface classes) that transcend platform updates over time. Chapter 1 introduces the PSMEF. Two studies are then presented that evidence the types of user interface classes that exist, how social media use is consolidated across certain user interface classes (e.g., Chats/Messages, Search Pages, Home Pages), and detail a methodological framework to quantify user interface classes themselves (i.e., Study 2). In conclusion, outstanding questions, strengths, and limitations of the PSMEF are discussed, in addition to novel methodological inroads to advance the framework moving forward (Chapter 4).

While children can and do learn STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills from interactive media, like smartphone and tablet applications, it is not clear why digital interactivity might benefit children’s learning. As new interactive technologies, like virtual reality, become more popular, it is important to understand the mechanisms behind learning from these media to best design them for learning. Some research demonstrates that interactive media may not produce greater learning than non-interactive media (such as watching a video), and these findings come in contrast to social theories of learning. Another theory that is untested in this area of research is the Limited Capacity for Motivated Media Message Processing which would suggest that working memory demands could hinder children’s learning from interactive media. The current study was an experiment (N = 188, children ages 7-12) in which children completed both puzzles in virtual reality and physical puzzles to demonstrate learning spatial skills. Working memory demands were manipulated through working memory precues that were predictive (children saw a picture of a completed puzzle for 3s) or neutral (children saw a picture of a blank square or rectangle for 3s). Findings demonstrate that the working memory precue manipulation did not relate to number of physical puzzles completed after using virtual reality, but there was a main effect of age such that older children completed more physical puzzles than younger children. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.