{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T14:52:35Z","timestamp":1787496755475,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":82,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750723200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CCNU25ZZ156"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CCNU25ZZ156"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2019B07"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019B07"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education","award":["CCNU25ZZ156"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CCNU25ZZ156"]}]},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education","award":["2019B07"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019B07"]}]},{"name":"Qin Xin Run Zhi Education Consulting Co., Ltd.","award":["CCNU25ZZ156"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CCNU25ZZ156"]}]},{"name":"Qin Xin Run Zhi Education Consulting Co., Ltd.","award":["2019B07"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019B07"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Online social comparisons play a vital role in adolescents and young adults\u2019 self-development. This study extended research on the influence of online social comparisons on self-concept clarity among college freshmen. This study investigated the mediating role of rumination in the relationship between online social comparisons and self-concept clarity among college freshmen and further examined the moderating effect of self-compassion on this mediational pathway. A sample of 975 Chinese university freshmen were recruited to complete the Online Social Comparisons Scale, Self-Concept Clarity Scale, Rumination Scale and Self-Compassion Scale. The results indicated that among college freshmen, online social comparisons can negatively impact self-concept clarity both directly and indirectly through rumination. Self-compassion moderated the effect of rumination on self-concept clarity. Compared to college freshmen with high self-compassion, those with low self-compassion showed a steeper decline in self-concept clarity as rumination increased. This study not only uncovers the psychological mechanisms through which online social comparison damages self-concept clarity but also provides empirical support for universities to develop targeted psychological health intervention programs based on self-compassion.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15070849","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T10:44:41Z","timestamp":1750761881000},"page":"849","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Do College Freshmen Who Engage More in Online Social Comparison Tend to Be More Confused About Themselves? The Roles of Rumination and Self-Compassion"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Sujie","family":"Kang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Mental Health Education Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Gu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Educational Science, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252059, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sanming","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mental Health Education Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6127-4836","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yukang","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qishan","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chuanhua","family":"Gu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuqi","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"School of Humanities, Political Science and Law, Henan University of Engineering\u200c, Zhengzhou 451191, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cpr.2009.11.004","article-title":"Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review","volume":"30","author":"Aldao","year":"2010","journal-title":"Clinical Psychology Review"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1751-9004.2009.00246.x","article-title":"Self-compassion, stress, and coping","volume":"4","author":"Allen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Social and Personality Psychology Compass"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160","DOI":"10.1027\/1864-1105\/a000192","article-title":"Intensity of Facebook use is associated with lower self-concept clarity: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence","volume":"30","author":"Appel","year":"2018","journal-title":"Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arigo, D., Mogle, J. 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