{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T05:17:12Z","timestamp":1788412632472,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Major Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China","award":["22&ZD310"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22&ZD310"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>With the increasing embeddedness of social media in everyday life, digital platforms have become important spaces for interpersonal connection, self-presentation, and emotional experience. However, continuous social media engagement does not necessarily enhance users\u2019 happiness; instead, it may coincide with psychological strain and lower subjective well-being (SWB), forming what this study refers to as the social media happiness paradox. In this study, the paradox is positioned as the focal phenomenon to be explained rather than as a standalone empirical construct. Drawing on social comparison theory and the stress-strain-outcome framework, this study examines the associations of social overload (SO), fear of missing out (FOMO), and upward social comparison tendency (USCT) with social media fatigue (SMF) and SWB, including statistical indirect associations through SMF. Based on 748 valid questionnaire responses, this study constructs an integrated conceptual model to examine the relationships among social media-related stressors, fatigue, and well-being. The findings show that SO, FOMO, and USCT are significantly and positively associated with SMF, while all three variables are significantly and negatively associated with SWB. In addition, significant statistical indirect associations between each stressor and SWB were observed through SMF. Taken together, the observed pattern is consistent with an integrated stressor\u2013strain account of the social media happiness paradox and suggests directions for future digital well-being research and intervention design.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091551","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T15:08:43Z","timestamp":1788275323000},"page":"1551","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Unpacking the Social Media Happiness Paradox: How Social Media Stressors Undermine Subjective Well-Being Through Social Media Fatigue"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Yuzi","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Journalism and Communication, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6490-9035","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hua","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of New Media and Communication, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunze","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1007\/s40501-024-00313-0","article-title":"Social comparison and mental health","volume":"11","author":"Arigo","year":"2024","journal-title":"Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1108\/ITP-03-2022-0207","article-title":"Antecedents and outcomes of social media fatigue","volume":"36","year":"2023","journal-title":"Information Technology & People"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.18863\/pgy.1336880","article-title":"Conceptual and theoretical review of self-worth","volume":"16","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psikiyatride G\u00fcncel Yakla\u015f\u0131mlar"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bowden-Green, T., Hinds, J., and Joinson, A. 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