The Impact of Social Media Use on Job Burnout: The Role of Social Comparison
Open accessAbstract
= 530), this study examines the role of social comparison between social media use and job burnout. The results show that: (1) there is a significant positive correlation between social media use and job burnout; (2) social comparison plays a moderating role in social media's impact on burnout. In high social comparative groups, the moderating role develops into an mediating role, which means that job burnout is only significant when social media addiction and the inclination of social comparison are simultaneously strong; (3) Social media users who often make downward comparison and get positive emotions from it are more prone to job burnout. This study reveals the possible negative effects of overuse of new media and enriches the understanding of how social media shapes individuals' psychology and behavior. Studies have also shown that regulating and controlling social comparisons and avoiding excessive use of social media may be effective in reducing job burnout.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
SMA has been linked to poor academic performance and job burnout.
“SMA has been linked to poor academic performance [72] and job burnout [73]”
From Correlations between social media addiction and anxiety, depression, FoMO, loneliness and self-esteem among students: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [73]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,542 · see citing works
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532 · see citing works
A theory of social comparison processes
Festinger, L. (1954) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/001872675400700202 · Cited by 20,926 · see citing works
The job demands-resources model of burnout.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499 · Cited by 13,643 · see citing works
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397 · Cited by 12,852 · see citing works
Freudenberger, H. J. (1974) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x · Cited by 5,463 · see citing works
Early predictors of job burnout and engagement.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2008) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.498 · Cited by 2,397 · cited 1× · see citing works
“It includes exhaustion, cynicism, and sense of inefficacy (6).”
BackgroundFriend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem
Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.584 · Cited by 1,531 · see citing works
Maslach, C. (2003) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-8721.01258 · Cited by 1,492 · see citing works
Looking at, looking up or keeping up with people?: motives and use of facebook
Joinson, A. N. (2008) · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1357054.1357213 · Cited by 1,393 · see citing works
Junco, R. (2012) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.08.004 · Cited by 1,233 · see citing works
Online Social Network Site Addiction: A Comprehensive Review
Andreassen, C. S. (2015) · Current Addiction Reports · doi:10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9 · Cited by 1,212 · see citing works
Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field
Buunk, A. P., & Gibbons, F. X. (2006) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.007 · Cited by 1,020 · see citing works
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0 · Cited by 758 · see citing works
Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Okdie, B. M., Eckles, K., & Franz, B. (2015) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.06.026 · Cited by 545 · see citing works
Nabi, R. L., Prestin, A., & So, J. (2013) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0521 · Cited by 510 · see citing works
Sagioglou, C., & Greitemeyer, T. (2014) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.03.003 · Cited by 387 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Sagioglou and Greitemeyer (22) states that the longer individuals use Facebook, the stronger are their negative emotions.”
BackgroundSchouten, A. P., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007) · Media Psychology · doi:10.1080/15213260701375686 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Organizational members’ use of social networking sites and job performance
Moqbel, M., Nevo, S., & Kock, N. (2013) · Information Technology and People · doi:10.1108/itp-10-2012-0110 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
How Has the Internet Reshaped Human Cognition?
Loh, K. K., & Kanai, R. (2016) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/1073858415595005 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Norman, S. M., Avey, J. B., Nimnicht, J. L., & Pigeon, N. G. (2010) · Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies · doi:10.1177/1548051809353764 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Sriwilai, K., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2016) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.2637 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Community-based Treatment for Young Adult Offenders
Bradley, H. B. (1969) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/001112876901500307 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Buunk, B. P., Ybema, J. F., Gibbons, F. X., & Ipenburg, M. (2001) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.41 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Rodríguez, C. C., Buunk, A. P., Silla, J. M. P., Rodríguez, I., & Bravo, M. J. (2006) · Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1348/096317905x40808 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Social Comparison, Perceived Control, and Occupational Burnout
Michinov, N. (2005) · Applied Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00198.x · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Psychometric Properties and Validation of the Arabic Social Media Addiction Scale
Al-Menayes, J. J. (2015) · Journal of Addiction · doi:10.1155/2015/291743 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Teacher Job Satisfaction and Burnout Viewed through Social Comparisons
Kitchel, T. J., Smith, A. R., Henry, A. L., Robinson, S. S., Lawver, R. G., Park, T. D., & Schell, A. (2012) · Journal of Agricultural Education · doi:10.5032/jae.2012.01031 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
An Investigation on Job Burnout of Doctor and Nurse
Zheng-xue, L. (2003) · Zhongguo linchuang xinlixue zazhi · Cited by 35 · see citing works
A Review on Research of Social Comparison
Guoliang, X. S. Y. (2005) · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Al-Menayes, J. J. (2015) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t52828-000 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [14]Zhen X Excessive Use of Mobile Social Networking Applications: Negative Consequences on Individuals. Doctoral dissertation, University of Science and Technology of China (2014) 90 p. [in Chinese].
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The dark side of social media platforms: A situation-organism-behaviour-consequence approach
Jabeen, F., Tandon, A., Azad, N., Islam, A. K. M. N., & Pereira, V. E. (2022) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122104 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Harren, N., Walburg, V., & Chabrol, H. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100117 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Liu, J., Wang, W., Hu, Q., Wang, P., Lei, L., & Jiang, S. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.070 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Gossip 2.0: The role of social media and moral attentiveness on counterproductive work behaviour
Murtaza, G., Neveu, J., Khan, R., & Talpur, Q. (2022) · Applied Psychology · doi:10.1111/apps.12449 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Jing, Z., Yang, W., Lei, Z., Junmei, W., Hui, L., & Tianmin, Z. (2025) · PLOS One · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0329466 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“SMA has been linked to poor academic performance [72] and job burnout [73], which has a negative impact on students’ academic and career development.”
Tu, B., Luo, X., Sitar, S., & Huang, C. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.908921 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
The association between problematic internet use and burnout: A three-level meta-analysis
Mao, P., Cai, Z., Chen, B., & Sun, X. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.240 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Lü, Y., Zhao, T., Song, S., & Wei, S. (2024) · Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research · doi:10.3390/jtaer19020062 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Gebbia, V., Piazza, D., Valerio, M. R., & Firenze, A. (2021) · ecancermedicalscience · doi:10.3332/ecancer.2021.1334 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Tomaszek, K., & Muchacka-Cymerman, A. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18158055 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Sosyal medya tükenmişliği ölçeğinin uyarlanması: geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması
Gündoğan, S. (2022) · Journal of Dependence · doi:10.51982/bagimli.1053234 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Problematic Social Media Use and Employee Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review
Gao, S., & Shao, B. (2024) · Sage Open · doi:10.1177/21582440241259158 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Fang, Z., Bao, Y., & Hua, M. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1391554 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Social comparison feedback in online teacher training and its impact on asynchronous collaboration
Lu, Y., Ma, N., & Yan, W.-Y. (2024) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-024-00486-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
How active social network site use affects green consumption: A moderated mediation model
Gong, Y., Chen, C., Tan, Y., & Tang, D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1124025 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
The impact of hedonic social media use during microbreaks on employee resources recovery
Grobelny, J., Glinka, M., & Chirkowska-Smolak, T. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-72825-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Social media and well-being at work, at home, and in-between: a review
Klingelhoefer, J., & Meier, A. (2023) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781789906769.00032 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
KARA, F. M., SAROL, H., GÜRBÜZ, B., & GÜRKAN, R. K. (2023) · Journal of Education and Recreation Patterns · doi:10.53016/jerp.v4i2.178 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Burnout and motivation to study medicine among students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Metakides, C., Pielemeier, L., Lytras, T., Mytilinaios, D. G., Themistocleous, S., Pieridi, C., Tsioutis, C., Johnson, E. O., Ntourakis, D., & Nikas, I. P. (2023) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1214320 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Salazar, L. R., García, N., Huntington, H., & Brooks, M. E. (2022) · Trends in Psychology · doi:10.1007/s43076-022-00246-8 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Uprety, M., Barik, P., & Nim, D. (2025) · Prabandhan Indian Journal of Management · doi:10.17010/pijom/2025/v18i12/175033 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Liao, G., Yi, L., Zhang, Q., & Li, M. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su141912413 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Veleda, G. W., Seoane, G. R., Ezequiel, G. R., Ferreira, C. M., de Figueiredo, V. L. M., Meyer, T. D. S., Araújo, J. M. G., Rizo, L., Cardoso, T. D. A., de Aguiar, K. R., et al. (2023) · Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy · doi:10.47626/2237-6089-2022-0573 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Xiao, H. F., Li, X., Chen, X., Guo, J., & Liu, J. (2025) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-025-03505-2 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Badri, H. M., Aboalshamat, K. T., Abdouh, I. M., Quronfulah, B. S., Mahmoud, M. A., Rajeh, M. T., Badawoud, A. M., & Alzhrani, A. M. (2023) · International Journal of Academic Medicine · doi:10.4103/ijam.ijam_72_22 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The new frontier: social media’s influence on farming practices in the Brazilian Amazon
Sevigny, C., Caviglia‐Harris, J. L., Santiago, T. M. O., & Mullan, K. (2025) · Agricultural and Resource Economics Review · doi:10.1017/age.2025.18 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Guan, H., & Jamil, R. (2025) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100766 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Investigating sustainable employee well-being: A decade of research on burnout studies
Ensour, W., & Maaitah, H. A. (2024) · Corporate Governance and Organizational Behavior Review · doi:10.22495/cgobrv8i3p3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Factors affecting medical students’ academic burnout: a moderation analysis
Khosravi, M. (2023) · Italian Journal of Medicine · doi:10.4081/itjm.2023.1659 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Obrenovic, B., Godinić, D., Du, G., Khudaykulov, A., & Gan, H. (2024) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs14080648 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Gu, J., Zhu, P., Chu, Y., Yan, Y., Yang, Y., Guo, J., Biao, X., Zhu, S., Liang, H., Xiao, J., et al. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/70398 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Chen, R. R., Huang, Q., Chen, X.-Y., & Gao, J. (2024) · International journal of human computer interactions · doi:10.1080/10447318.2024.2379721 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Allahverdi, F. Z., BAYER, N., & Kart, M. (2025) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104976 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
A systematic review of problematic social media use and occupational functioning
Kelber, M. S., Shank, L. M., Boyd, C. C., Bellanti, D. M., Morgan, M. A., Libretto, S., Edwards‐Stewart, A., Parisi, K., & Evatt, D. P. (2024) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-024-06826-4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Relationships between problematic social media use and social comparison: a meta-analysis
Demi̇r, M., Yayla, İ. E., Kaya, M., Koçak, L., Arpacı, İ., & Baloglu, M. (2026) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-026-05023-1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Preoccupation with Social Media and Employee Performance
ŞAHİN, D., Karaşın, Y., Stefanidis, A., & Banai, M. (2025) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2504187 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Ma, Y., & Zhou, S. (2024) · Journalism and Media · doi:10.3390/journalmedia5040089 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
How Can Social Media Affect EFL Teachers' Digital Well-Being and Digital Burnout?
Dehghan, F. (2023) · Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-9246-8.ch007 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Behind the screens: an exploration of social media marketer burnout
Pettit, K., Anderson, K. C., Mertz, B. A., & Hass, A. (2025) · Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice · doi:10.1080/10696679.2025.2563367
Hassan, H. M., Magdy, A., & Salem, I. E. (2026) · Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication · doi:10.1108/gkmc-06-2025-0423 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Daniel, O. D. (2021) · Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research · doi:10.26717/bjstr.2021.36.005902 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Hudziak, J. J., Morrell, Z., Schork, N. J., Graf, A. B. A., Lincoln, L., Smalley, S., Freckleton, D., Copeland, W., & Rettew, D. C. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1053776/v1
Jiao, C., & Fazilah Idris (2023) · Personalia Pelajar · doi:10.17576/personalia.2601.2023.010
Habits on Social Networks at Workplace: A Survey of Motivations and Behaviour
Kouassi, T., Koné, D., Bamba, A., Kamagaté, A., Asseu, O., & Kermarrec, Y. (2024) · Open Journal of Applied Sciences · doi:10.4236/ojapps.2024.148143
A Mixed Methods Examination of Perfectionism and Online Social Comparison Among Texas Choir Teachers
Nápoles, J., & Rinn, T. J. (2025) · Journal of Research in Music Education · doi:10.1177/00224294251394398
La crueldad digital: la violencia invisible de las redes sociales
Vigo, A. A. (2025) · Revista Internacional de Educación y Análisis Social Crítico Mañé Ferrer & Swartz · doi:10.51896/easc.v3i2.1073
Social comparison and mental health among academics in Qatar: a cross-sectional study
Halat, D. H., Abdel-Rahman, M., Al-Jayyousi, G., & Malki, A. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1732269 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Harren, N. (2022) · doi:10.70675/35c7d92cz534bz4cd2za939zfc1fa0155592
So, C., Zhou, Y., & Du, J. (2026) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs16050782
Sanz-Martín, D., González-Valero, G., Caracuel-Cáliz, R. F., & Zurita-Ortega, F. (2026) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/00332941261480098
Corvite, S., & Hui, J. S. (2026) · ACM Transactions on Social Computing · doi:10.1145/3857841
Sharma, A., Kaur, S., & Kaur, H. (2026) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-80686-545-120261013
Pathways Between Online Social Support and Individual Psychological Resilience: A Systematic Review
Wibowo, D. H., Pandjaitan, L. N., & Elisabeth, M. P. (2025) · Indigenous Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi · doi:10.23917/indigenous.v11i3.18065
- Authors
- Han, R., Xu, J., Ge, Y., & Qin, Y.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Xu, Jian
- Venue
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-11-19
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 588097-588097
- ISSN
- 2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7710858
- OpenAlex
- W3098566747
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 6.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Social Sciences › Demography › Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- social media use, burnout, social comparison, downward social comparison, social media addiction, moderating effect, mediating effect, occupational stress
- MeSH terms
- Social Comparison, Burnout, Professional, Humans, Job Satisfaction, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Media
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review