{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T16:53:31Z","timestamp":1790009611239,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778803200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Social media has become a routine setting for self-evaluation, and upward social comparison with perceived better-off others may be associated with psychological maladjustment. However, the average magnitude of this association across outcome domains and the contextual factors that may moderate it remain unclear.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n This meta-analysis synthesized 94 effect sizes from 54 independent samples (\n N<\/jats:italic>\n = 36,583) using a three-level random-effects framework that modeled dependence among effect sizes within studies.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The estimated average correlation between upward social comparison and psychological maladjustment was\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.330, 95% CI [0.289, 0.370]. Outcome domains differed significantly,\n QM<\/jats:italic>\n (4) = 47.84,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt; 0.001. After reverse-coding positively valenced outcomes, the largest average estimate was observed for social-evaluative negative emotions (\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.438), followed by anxiety (\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.382), depression (\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.306), lower wellbeing (\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.268), and lower self-esteem (\n \n \n \n \n r<\/mml:mi>\n <\/mml:mrow>\n \u00af<\/mml:mo>\n <\/mml:mover>\n <\/mml:math>\n <\/jats:inline-formula>\n = 0.263). No significant moderating effects were detected for age, cultural background, or data collection year in the outcome-specific models, and exploratory design-based comparisons did not indicate stronger overall effects in longitudinal than in cross-sectional studies.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Discussion<\/jats:title>\n Online upward social comparison is, on average, associated with multiple indicators of poorer psychological functioning, with particularly strong links to social-evaluative negative emotions. These findings highlight the need for future longitudinal and culturally contextualized research on digital comparison processes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1825169","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T05:44:28Z","timestamp":1778823868000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["\u201cLooking up\u201d linked to feeling down: a meta-analysis of online upward social comparison and psychological maladjustment"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yuqing","family":"Lei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University","place":["Chongqing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shirui","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University","place":["Chongqing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yidan","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, Shanxi Normal University","place":["Taiyuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lijun","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University","place":["Chongqing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e42024","DOI":"10.2196\/42024","article-title":"Intervening on social comparisons on social media: electronic daily diary pilot study","volume":"10","author":"Andrade","year":"2023","journal-title":"JMIR Ment. 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