The relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of core self-evaluation

The relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of core self-evaluation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of core self-evaluation Wei Feng, Man-Yu Zhang, Yu-Bo Bu, Chang-Le Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7194599/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social comparison orientation can have a negative effecton college students’ use of social networking sites. This study aims to explore the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students, as well as the roles of fear of negative evaluation and core self-evaluation in this relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2,437 college students from five universities in Huai'an city, Jiangsu Province, China, using the Social Comparison Orientation Scale, Social network addiction Scale, Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Core Self-Evaluation Scale. The results demonstrated that social comparison orientation was significantly positively correlated with fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction. Core self-evaluations weresignificantly negatively correlated with social comparison orientation, fear of negative evaluation, and social network addiction. Social comparison orientation positively predicted social network addiction. Fear of negative evaluation played a mediating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students. Core self-evaluationsmoderated the direct path of the abovementioned mediating model and the first and second half paths of the mediating effect. Enhancing core self-evaluationsamong college students can mitigate the negative impact of a social comparison orientation and the fear of negative evaluationson individuals, which is beneficial for encouraging college students to develop good habits of using social networking sites and improvingtheir mental health levels. Health sciences/Health care Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Social comparison orientation Social network addiction Fear of negative evaluation Core self-evaluations College students Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 1 Introduction With the rapid development of the internet, the continuous innovation of internet social forms, and the rise of platforms such as WeChat Moments, QQ Spaces, Zhihu, and TikTok, interactive social interactions through social networking sites (such as liking, commenting, and sharing) have become increasingly popular. The 53rd China internet Development Status Statistical Report indicates that the usage scale of Chinese netizens in social applications such as online video, instant messaging, short videos, and live streaming exceeds 800 million, with an average weekly internet usage time of 26.10 hours per person (CNNIC, 2024). Compared with workers and elderly individuals, college students have more free time, greater proficiency in using smartphones, and greater acceptance of new things, which may lead to more frequent and prolonged internet social interactions. The user stickiness of social networking sites is relatively high (Chen et al., 2018 ), and if long-term, high-frequency use of social networking sites is not controlled, it is very likely to evolve into social network addiction (Stangl et al., 2023 ). Social network addiction refers to an individual’s inability to control the compulsive use of social networking sites (Koc & Gulyagci, 2013 ). Previous empirical studies have shown that the reasonable use of social networking sites can effectively enhance individuals’ connections with others (Kim et al., 2021 ), but social network addiction is not aimed at satisfying individuals’ normal social needs. Instead, it is a difficult-to-control compulsive behaviour (Ihssen & Wadsley, 2021 ), which not only increases the risk of psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness (Bottaro & Faraci, 2022 ) but also leads to physical discomfort symptoms such as insomnia, which threatens individuals’ physical and mental health. Therefore, to help young college students develop good habits of using social networking sites and improve their physical and mental health, deeply exploring the underlying mechanisms behind college students’ social network addiction is highly practical. 1.1 Social comparison orientation and social network addiction Social comparison orientation refers to an individual’s personality tendency to be sensitive to others’ relevant information compared with others (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999 ). Research has shown that social comparison orientation is a motive for individuals’ social network addiction (Kim et al., 2021 ). Social comparison theory suggests that when self-evaluations lack objective information, people use others as reference standards for social comparison to obtain self-evaluations (Festinger, 1954 ). Social comparison is not only a common social psychological phenomenon but also an interpersonal influence atmosphere (Zhao et al., 2024 ), which means that everyone is involved in the vortex of comparison with the people around them. The university is a critical period for individual development (Liu & Li, 2024 ). Before officially entering society, relatively familiar classmates and roommates are more likely to become reference objects for individuals to obtain self-evaluations through social comparison, thus forming a potential atmosphere of comparison. In addition, the social comparison assimilation effect may lead to mutual influence among classmates and roommates (Xing & Yu, 2006 ), causing individuals to excessively use social networking sites and eventually develop social network addiction (SNA). A study on Chinese adolescents revealed that individual behaviour (frequency, duration, preferences, etc.) can affect close peers, leading some peers to increase their investment (time, energy, money, etc.), which eventually evolves into addictive behaviour (Jin et al., 2021 ). Marengo et al. also reported in Italian student groups that the relationship atmosphere in real and online social interactions (acceptance, exclusion, etc.) is one of the important reasons for individuals’ addiction to social networks (Marengo et al., 2020 ). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis 1: Social comparison orientation positively predicts college students’ social network addiction. 1.2 The Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation To better prevent and intervene in social network addiction in college students, it is necessary to further explore the mediating variables and their mechanisms between social comparison orientation and social network addiction. Research has shown a significant positive relationship between fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and social network addiction (Xu et al., 2024 ). Fear of negative evaluation refers to an individual’s anticipation and concern about negative evaluations from others, as well as sensitivity to negative evaluations in social settings (Leary, 1983 ). In short, fear of negative evaluation is a common social anxiety symptom characterized by worry about receiving negative evaluations from others and the resulting anxiety. Hungarian scholars Zsido et al. reported that fear of negative evaluation can lead to cognitive distortions, affecting individuals’ self-evaluations and self-esteem levels (Zsido et al., 2020 ), and low self-evaluations and self-esteem are risk factors for social network addiction (Baturay & Toker, 2017 ). Another empirical study of Chinese college students revealed that using social networking sites eliminates the need for face-to-face communication, reducing the risk of receiving negative evaluations and negative feedback, leading individuals with fear of negative evaluation to frequently use social networking sites as a substitute for real social settings, eventually resulting in social network addiction (Xiao & Huang, 2022 ). This suggests that individuals with higher levels of fear of negative evaluation are more prone to developing social network addiction. Additionally, Yang et al. reported that social comparison orientation is an important factor influencing individuals’ levels of fear of negative evaluation (Yang & Robinson, 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2020). People engage in social comparison to evaluate themselves (Kim et al., 2021 ), and individuals with a high social comparison orientation may frequently engage in self-evaluation, increasing their sensitivity to others’ evaluations and leading to social anxiety, which is a key characteristic of individuals with a fear of negative evaluation (Leary, 1983 ). Numerous empirical studies have shown that fear of negative evaluation plays a mediating role between social comparison and problematic social media use (Ma, 2022 ), as well as between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction (Xu et al., 2024 ). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis 2: Fear of negative evaluation plays a mediating role between social comparison orientation and social network addiction. 1.3 The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation Core self-evaluation (CSE) refers to the most basic evaluation and estimation that individuals hold about their own abilities and worth (Judge et al., 2010 ). Core self-evaluations not only influence self-evaluations in specific domains (Li & Nie, 2010 ) but are also closely related to individuals' subjective well-being, life satisfaction, social anxiety, depression, and academic behavior (Li & Nie, 2010 ; Gao et al., 2021 ). Individuals with lower core self-evaluations tend to have vague self-positioning, and when they perform poorly, their reactions are more negative (Ding & Lin, 2020 ), which can lead to fear of negative evaluation over time. Additionally, people tend to maintain a good image in social activities to avoid negative evaluations (Jia et al., 2019 ), but individuals with lower core self-evaluations are prone to forming negative self-schemia in their minds (Jahara et al., 2022 ), which can have negative impacts on subsequent emotional experiences and behaviours (such as avoidance, withdrawal, and addiction). Currently, numerous studies have shown that core self-evaluations are important protective factors (Gao et al., 2021 ; Gu et al., 2024 ), but self-verification theory suggests that people actively seek information that is consistent with their self-concept, thereby expressing emotions and behaviours that align with their self-concept (Booth et al., 2020 ). If individuals have negative self-evaluations, they tend to interpret neutral information more negatively (Li & Nie, 2010 ; Swann, 1992 ). Thus, the impact of core self-evaluations on individuals' psychology is complex, as it can fully mobilize psychological resources to help individuals actively cope with problems (Gu et al., 2024 ; George & Collard, 2024 ), but it can also lead to the production of negative emotions or maladaptive behaviours due to negative cognition (Jahara et al., 2022 ), exhibiting a "double-edged sword" effect. Therefore, what kind of moderating role does core self-evaluation play in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction? On the basis of previous research, this study proposes Hypothesis 3: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation; Hypothesis 4: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction; Hypothesis 5: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction. In summary, this study aims to explore the relationships and mechanisms among social comparison orientation, fear of negative evaluation, core self-evaluations, and social network addiction among college students. It proposes a moderated mediation model: core self-evaluations moderate the direct path from social comparison orientation to social network addiction, as well as the first and second half paths of the mediation model from social comparison orientation to fear of negative evaluation and then to social network addiction. The hypothesized model is illustrated in Fig. 1 . 2 Methods 2.1 Participants In May 2024, a convenience sampling method was used to select college students from five universities in Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 2,899 questionnaires were distributed, and 2,437 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid questionnaires based on three screening questions, resulting in an effective response rate of 84.06%. The sample included 957 males (39.27%), 1,480 females (60.73%), 1,794 vocational college students (73.62%), and 643 undergraduate students (26.38%). In terms of long-term family residence, 1,402 were from urban areas (57.53%), and 1,035 were from rural areas (42.47%). There were 588 only children (24.13%) and 1,849 non-only children (75.87%). The age range of all participants was 17–21 years ( M = 19.20, SD = 0.83). 2.2 Instruments 2.2.1 Social Comparison Orientation The Social Comparison Orientation Scale, developed by Gibbons and Buunk ( 1999 ) and translated and revised by Wang et al. ( 2006 ) in Chinese, includes two dimensions: conceptual social comparison (items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11) and ability social comparison (items 7, 8, 9, and 10), with a total of 11 items (e.g., “I often compare what I have achieved in life with others” and “If I want to know more about something, I will try to determine what others think about it”). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “1” (strongly disagree) to “5” (strongly agree), with no reverse-scored items. The total score represents the level of social comparison orientation among college students, with higher scores indicating a greater tendency. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for this scale was 0.816. 2.2.2 Social network addiction The Social network addiction Scale, developed by Koc and Gulyagci ( 2013 ) and revised by Chen Chunyu et al. (2018) in Chinese, consists of 8 items (e.g., “Even when I can’t use these social media, I still want to know what’s happening on them”). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “1” (completely disagree) to “5” (completely agree), with no reverse-scored items. Higher average scores indicate a higher level of social network addiction among college students. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for the social network addiction scale was 0.922. 2.2.3 Fear of Negative Evaluation The Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, developed by Leary ( 1983 ), consists of 12 items (e.g., “Even though I know others’ opinions are not important, I still worry about how they perceive me”). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “1” (completely disagree) to “5” (completely agree), with reverse-scored items of 2, 4, 7, and 10. After the scores of the reverse-scored items are reversed, the total score represents the level of fear of negative evaluation among college students, with higher scores indicating a greater level of fear. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for this scale was 0.863. 2.2.4 Core self-evaluation The Core Self-Evaluation Scale, developed by Judge et al. ( 2010 ) and revised by Du Jianzheng et al. (2012) in Chinese, consists of 10 items (e.g., “I am capable of dealing with most of my problems”). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “1” (completely disagree) to “5” (completely agree), with reverse-scored items of 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10. After the scores of the reverse-scored items are reversed, the average score represents the level of core self-evaluation among college students, with higher scores indicating a higher level of core self-evaluation. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for this scale was 0.843. 2.3 Statistical methods Data analysis was conducted via SPSS 27.0 statistical software and the PROCESS 4.0 plugin. The original data of the main variables were standardized. Harman’s single-factor test was used to examine common method bias. Pearson’s product‒moment correlation was used to explore the relationships between the main variables. The PROCESS 4.0 plugin’s Model 4 and Model 59 were used to test the mediating and moderating effects. 3 Results 3.1 Common Method Bias This study used a self-report questionnaire to collect data, which may have resulted in a certain degree of common method bias (Zhou & Long, 2004 ). The Harman single-factor test results revealed that a total of 8 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were extracted, and the first factor explained 28.76% of the variance, which is less than the 40% standard (Podsakoff et al., 2003 ). Therefore, this study does not have significant common method bias. 3.2 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis The descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results of this study are shown in Table 1 . There was a significant positive correlation between social comparison orientation and social network addiction ( r = 0.485, p < 0.001), a significant positive correlation between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation ( r = 0.532, p < 0.001), and a significant positive correlation between social network addiction and fear of negative evaluation ( r = 0.370, p < 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between college students’ core self-evaluations and social comparison orientation ( r = -0.328, p < 0.001), social network addiction ( r = -0.309, p < 0.001), and fear of negative evaluation ( r = -0.561, p < 0.001). T tests revealed significant differences in social comparison orientation, social network addiction, fear of negative evaluation, and core self-evaluation across genders, educational levels, places of origin, and whether they were only children. Therefore, this study included gender, educational level, place of origin, and whether they were only children as control variables in subsequent analyses. Table 1 Mean, Standard deviation, Correlation analysis results (N = 2437) Variables M ± SD 1 2 3 4 1 SCO 2.916 ± 0.652 — 2 SNA 2.227 ± 0.902 .485 *** — 3 FNE 3.013 ± 0.761 .532 *** .370 *** — 4 CSE 3.370 ± 0.696 − .328 *** − .309 *** − .561 *** — *** p <0.001, the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation. 3.3 Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation The mediating role of fear of negative evaluation between college students’ social comparison orientation and social network addiction was tested via Model 4 of the SPSS macro program PROCESS. The results revealed that social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β = 0.479, p < 0.001) and that social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β = 0.523, p < 0.001). When social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation were used together to predict social network addiction, fear of negative evaluation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (β = 0.132, p < 0.001), and the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on social network addiction remained significant (β = 0.410, p < 0.001). The mediating effect value was 0.07, and the bootstrap 95% confidence interval was [0.046, 0.094], indicating that the mediating effect accounted for 14.64% of the total effect. Table 2 The regression equation of the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation Regression Indicators Coefficient significance Dependent variable Independent variable R R 2 F β SE t SNA SCO 0.523 0.274 183.184 *** 0.479 0.018 27.223 *** Gender 0.302 0.036 8.377 *** Education 0.055 0.040 1.376 Place of Origin 0.207 0.036 5.797 *** Only Child 0.105 0.042 2.516 * FNE SCO 0.545 0.297 205.642 *** 0.523 0.017 30.211 *** Gender 0.177 0.035 4.997 *** Education 0.007 0.039 0.196 Place of Origin 0.169 0.035 4.791 *** Only Child -0.121 0.041 -2.943 ** SNA SCO 0.535 0.286 162.203 *** 0.410 0.021 20.025 *** FNE 0.132 0.020 6.472 *** Gender 0.278 0.036 7.751 *** Education 0.054 0.040 1.361 Place of Origin 0.185 0.036 5.193 *** Only Child 0.121 0.041 2.918 ** * p<0.05 , ** p<0.01 , *** p<0.001 , the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation. 3.4 Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation The moderating role of core self-evaluations was tested via Model 59 of the SPSS macro program. The detailed results are shown in Table 3 . When fear of negative evaluation was the outcome variable, college students' social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β = 0.380, p < 0.001), and core self-evaluation significantly negatively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β = -0.428, p < 0.001). The interaction term between social comparison orientation and core self-evaluations significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β = 0.092, p < 0.001). The bootstrap 95% confidence intervals for these effects were [0.348, 0.412], [-0.460, -0.395], and [0.069, 0.115], respectively, all not 0, indicating that core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation. The results revealed that when social network addiction was the outcome variable, college students' social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β = 0.393, p < 0.001), fear of negative evaluation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β = 0.077, p = 0.001 < 0.01), and core self-evaluations significantly negatively predicted social network addiction (β = -0.110, p < 0.001). The interaction term between social comparison orientation and core self-evaluations significantly negatively predicted social network addiction (β = -0.040, p = 0.018 < 0.05), and the interaction term between fear of negative evaluation and core self-evaluations significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β = 0.078, p < 0.001). The bootstrap 95% confidence intervals for these effects were [0.352, 0.438], [0.027, 0.128], [-0.153, -0.064], [-0.080, -0.002], and [0.037, 0.119], respectively, all not containing 0, indicating that core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction, as well as between fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction. Table 3 The moderating effect regression equation of core self-evaluation Regression Indicators Coefficient significance Dependent variable Independent variable R R 2 F β SE t LLCI ULCI FNE SCO 0.684 0.468 305.175 *** 0.380 0.016 23.909 *** 0.349 0.411 CSE -0.428 0.016 -27.026 *** -0.459 -0.397 SCO*CSE 0.092 0.013 7.173 *** 0.067 0.118 Gender 0.067 0.031 2.159 * 0.006 0.128 Education -0.025 0.034 -0.741 -0.093 0.042 Place of Origin 0.108 0.031 3.511 *** 0.048 0.168 Only Child -0.119 0.036 -3.343 ** -0.189 -0.049 SNA SCO 0.547 0.300 115.415 *** 0.393 0.02 19.221 ** 0.353 0.434 FNE 0.077 0.023 3.295 ** 0.031 0.122 CSE -0.110 0.021 -5.283 *** -0.150 -0.069 SCO*CSE -0.040 0.017 -2.362 * -0.074 -0.007 FNE*CSE 0.078 0.018 4.348 *** 0.043 0.113 Gender 0.265 0.036 7.416 *** 0.195 0.335 Education 0.055 0.039 1.403 -0.022 0.133 Place of Origin 0.168 0.036 4.728 *** 0.098 0.237 Only Child 0.122 0.041 2.966 ** 0.041 0.203 * p<0.05 , ** p<0.01 , *** p<0.001 , the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation. To further explain the substantive effects of the interaction between core self-evaluations and fear of negative evaluation, as well as the interaction between core self-evaluations and social comparison orientation, the participants were divided into high core self-evaluations and low core self-evaluations groups on the basis of the mean plus or minus one standard deviation of the core self-evaluations for simple slope analysis. As shown in Fig. 2 , at a low level of core self-evaluation, social comparison orientation had a significant predictive effect on fear of negative evaluation (B simple = 0.288, t = 13.649, p < 0.001). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on fear of negative evaluation was significantly greater (B simple = 0.473, t = 23.857, p < 0.001). As shown in Fig. 3 , at a low level of core self-evaluation, college students’ social comparison orientation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B simple = 0.433, t = 19.682, p < 0.001). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on social network addiction was significantly reduced (B simple = 0.353, t = 16.045, p < 0.001). As indicated by Fig. 4 , at a low level of core self-evaluation, fear of negative evaluation did not have a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B simple = -0.001, t = -0.038, p = 0.970 > 0.05). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, fear of negative evaluation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B simple = 0.155, t = 5.962, p < 0.001). 4 Discussion 4.1 Social comparison orientation and social network addiction This study explored the impact of social comparison orientation on social network addiction, providing empirical support for the relationship between the two. College students' social comparison orientation can significantly positively predict social network addiction, which is consistent with previous research findings (Zhang et al., 2019 ; Ma, 2022 ), thus confirming Hypothesis 1. The compensatory internet use theory suggests that when individuals encounter challenges or threats in real life, they will seek self-compensation and satisfaction through the virtual environment created by the internet (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014 ). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation, when comparing themselves to others who are more successful, may experience psychological threats and a sense of unmet needs (Zhao et al., 2024 ) and are more likely to seek comfort and satisfaction through the internet, leading to excessive use of social networking sites. In addition, individuals with a high social comparison orientation are more sensitive and concerned about information (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999 ), and information acquisition is one of the important motivations for using social networking sites (Zhang et al., 2019 ). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation need a large amount of information to complete social comparisons and form self-evaluations, so they spend much of their time browsing or collecting information on social networking sites, gradually becoming addicted to social networking use, and eventually leading to social network addiction. 4.2 Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation This study also explained the mediating mechanism by which social comparison orientation affects social network addiction, revealing the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation, which is consistent with previous research findings (Xu et al., 2024 ; Ma, 2022 ), thus confirming Hypothesis 2. The I-PACE model suggests that the development of addictive behaviours is the result of interactions between susceptibility variables, such as individual traits, emotional responses, and cognitive responses (Brand et al., 2019 ). The personality trait of social comparison orientation can trigger negative emotional experiences and distorted cognition in individuals, leading to social network addiction. The psychological evolutionary model also suggests that fear of negative evaluation is a capability to avoid threats and ensure personal safety (Alcaro et al., 2021 ). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation are more likely to experience the dual threat of upwards social comparison and fear of negative evaluation, leading to long-term cognitive dissonance (Xu et al., 2024 ) and ultimately resulting in addictive behaviours. The social comparison orientation reinforces individuals' fear of negative evaluation and combined with the characteristics of social networking sites, such as ease of operation, timely feedback, and strong entertainment value (Xiao & Huang, 2022 ), is more likely to activate pathological compensation mechanisms (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014 ), leading to individuals' social network addiction. 4.3 Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation In addition, this study revealed that core self-evaluations not only moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction but also moderate the first and second half paths of the mediating effect of fear of negative evaluation. Specifically, core self-evaluations are important protective factors against individuals' maladaptive behaviours (Gao et al., 2021 ; Gu et al., 2024 ). Compared with college students with higher levels of core self-evaluations, those with lower levels are more likely to experience fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction after social comparison orientation is activated and are also more likely to develop social network addiction after experiencing fear of negative evaluation, further validating the protective-reactive model and the risk buffering hypothesis (Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005 ; Johnson et al., 2011 ). This is because core self-evaluations, as positive psychological resources for individuals' physical and mental development (Li & Nie, 2010 ; Gao et al., 2021 ), can help college students build objective and reasonable self-cognition and positively accept themselves (George & Collard, 2024 ). Therefore, when faced with negative information, stress, or threats, individuals with higher levels of core self-evaluations still believe in their abilities, accept their shortcomings, and alleviate their fear of negative evaluations from others. In addition, individuals with higher levels of core self-evaluations usually have better social skills (Ding & Lin, 2020 ), better relationships in real-life social interactions, and are more likely to mobilize resources to actively cope with interpersonal conflicts rather than seek compensation in online social environments. 4.4 Limitations This study has several limitations that need to be further validated in the future. First, owing to the timing of the questionnaire distribution near graduation, the sample of this study included only students from vocational (first and second years) and undergraduate (first, second, and third years) programs, excluding graduating students, which may have affected the generalizability of the research results. Second, although this study constructed a hypothetical model on the basis of previous theoretical research, the use of cross-sectional research may not be able to establish a clear causal relationship between variables over time. Future research can use longitudinal studies to test the conclusions of this study further. Third, this study used a self-report questionnaire to collect data, which may have had methodological effects. In the future, experimental methods can be used to collect data on variables such as social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation, which can not only validate each other but also make the data more multisource and objective. Declarations Author contributions Wei Feng: Conceptualization, data collection, methodology, writing original draft, writing reviews, and editing. Man-Yu Zhang: Conceptualization, writing of the original draft, writing of the reviews, and editing. Yu-Bo Bu: Conceptualization, data collection, methodology, writing of reviews. Chang-Le Wang: Data collection, formal analysis, writing of reviews. Funding None. Data availability We communicated with the managers of our college, and they agreed to allow us to upload the data. However, some information related to the privacy of the research subjects had been removed from the data. We have prepared the anonymized dataset and have uploaded it as supplementary material to the submission system. If any researchers need our data, please contact our corresponding author. After obtaining the consent of our college's management, we will assist them in using the data we have uploaded. Ethical approval Our research was approved by the Academic Ethics Committee of Huaiyin Normal University on February 20, 2024 (approval number: HNU202402201643). Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Research Involving Human and Animal Rights All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. All the participants have signed the informed consent form, and the management department of the school where the participants are from has also approved our research. Questionnaire Copyright The questionnaires or scales we used in the paper are all publicly available measurement tools, which can be freely copied and used in the original paper. We have followed academic norms and indicated in the paper the developers of the tools and the revisers of the Chinese version. These measurement tools have been widely used and we have used them multiple times. No written questionnaire usage license certificate is required. They can be freely granted to you (Springer Nature Limited). If there are any related issues or risks, the first author and the corresponding author shall bear the responsibility themselves. References Alcaro, A., Brennan, A. & Conversi, D. The SEEKING drive and its fixation: A neuropsycho-evolutionary approach to the pathology of addiction. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 15 , 635932. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.635932 (2021). Baturay, M. H. & Toker, S. Self-esteem shapes the impact of GPA and general health on Facebook addiction. Social Sci. Comput. Rev. 35 (5), 555–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316656606 (2017). Booth, J. E. et al. 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Sci. 42 (3), 653–659. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20190321 (2019). Jin, Y. et al. Social factors associated with video game addiction among teenagers: School, family, and peers. In 2021 4th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2021) (pp. 763–768). Atlantis Press. (2021). https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211220.131 Johnson, J. et al. Resilience to suicidality: The buffering hypothesis. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 31 (4), 563–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.12.007 (2011). Judge, T. A. et al. The core self-evaluations scale: Development of a measure. Pers. Psychol. 56 (2), 303–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2003.tb00152.x (2010). Kardefelt-Winther, D. A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addiction research: Towards a model of compensatory internet use. Comput. Hum. Behav. 31 (31), 351–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.059 (2014). Kim, H. et al. The contributions of social comparison to social network site addiction. PLoS ONE . 16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257795 (2021). Koc, M. & Gulyagci, S. Facebook addiction among Turkish college students: The role of psychological health, demographic, and usage characteristics. Cyberpsychology Behav. Social Netw. 16 (4), 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0249 (2013). Leary, M. R. A brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 9 (3), 371–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167283093007 (1983). Li, J. B. & Nie, Y. G. Reflections and prospects for research on core self-evaluations. Adv. Psychol. Sci. 18 (12), 1848–1857 (2010). Liu, H. & Li, Y. F. The dynamic relationship between university freshmen's learning adaptation, social adaptation, and emotional adaptation: A longitudinal study. Psychol. Dev. Educ. 40 (2), 270–278. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2024.02.14 (2024). Ma, J. M. A study on the influencing factors of social comparison on problematic mobile social media use. Jinan Univ. https://doi.org/10.27167/d.cnki.gjinu.2022.000897 (2022). Marengo, D. et al. Alone, together: The role of fear of missing out in the link between peer exclusion in WhatsApp classmate groups and psychological adjustment in early adolescence. J. Social Personal Relationships . https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407521991917 (2020). Podsakoff, P. M. et al. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J. Appl. Psychol. 88 (5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879 (2003). Stangl, F. J., Riedl, R., Kiemeswenger, R. & Montag, C. Negative psychological and physiological effects of social networking site use: The example of Facebook. Front. Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1141663 (2023). Swann, W. B. Jr Seeking truth, finding despair: Some unhappy consequences of a negative self-concept. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 1 (1), 15–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10767800 (1992). Wang, M. J., Wang, L. & Shi, J. Q. The reliability and validity test of the Chinese version of the Social Comparison Orientation Scale. Chinese J. Mental Health , (5), 302–305. (2006). Xiao, Z. & Huang, J. The relation between college students' social anxiety and mobile phone addiction: The mediating role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and subjective well-being. Front. Psychol. 13 , 861527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.861527 (2022). Xing, S. F. & Yu, G. L. Social comparison: Contrast effect or assimilation effect? Adv. Psychol. Sci. 6 , 944–949 (2006). Xu, Y., Liu, H. Y. & Liu, H. M. The relationship between college students' social anxiety and mobile phone addiction: The parallel mediating role of techno-invasion and fear of negative evaluation. Chin. J. Health Psychol. 32 (06), 926–933. https://doi.org/10.13342/j.cnki.cjhp.2024.06.023 (2024). Yang, C. C. & Robinson, A. Not necessarily detrimental: Two social comparison orientations and their associations with social media use and college social adjustment. Comput. Hum. Behav. 86 , 49–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.020 (2018). Zhang, Y. X. et al. The mediating role of fear of missing out in the relationship between social comparison orientation and college students' social network addiction. Chin. J. Clin. Psychol. 27 (5), 928–931. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2019.05.015 (2019). Zhao, X. Y., Li, L. & Li, L. B. The relationship between social comparison orientation and vocational college students' compulsive online buying: A moderated mediation model. Chin. J. Clin. Psychol. 32 (2), 436–440. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2024.02.035 (2024). Zhou, H. & Long, L. R. Statistical tests and control methods for common method bias. Adv. Psychol. Sci. 6 , 942–950 (2004). Zsido, A. N. et al. The connection and background mechanisms of social fears and problematic social networking site use: A structural equation modelling analysis. Psychiatry Res. 288 , 113323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113323 (2020). Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7194599","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504692923,"identity":"73ed7f7b-e7fe-4a44-867f-f8b0e145daf5","order_by":0,"name":"Wei 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1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":213526,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eConceptual model to be tested\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/2cda229755e09aba0d37cdfa.png"},{"id":90123712,"identity":"2749ff65-0481-4e71-a563-b5c989a2fb3c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 18:26:04","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":28869,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eModerating role of Core Self-Evaluation in the relationship between Social Comparison Orientation and Fear of Negative Evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/bce02897186aa6df91954a15.png"},{"id":90123960,"identity":"7b96d854-59e1-457a-adf3-922c91e8aaca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 18:34:04","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":27665,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eModerating role of Core Self-Evaluation between Social Comparison Orientation and Social Network Addiction\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/9a388e013dee53576b31633e.png"},{"id":90123095,"identity":"1b67de5e-744f-4f57-a85c-ef88ccad21c6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 18:18:04","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":25942,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eModerating role of Core Self-Evaluation between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Social Network Addiction\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/e5f402e1bbf2c07a7eb97f63.png"},{"id":96650187,"identity":"6d224876-b196-4fd2-a4d9-e254e069a5b9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-24 16:09:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1394439,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/62d989a9-42bf-4fec-8552-676e234fb08f.pdf"},{"id":90123715,"identity":"640b6231-e89b-491e-9ff5-3be6dc46cece","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 18:26:04","extension":"xlsx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":343688,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Originaldata.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7194599/v1/f8c86b42793d44aca7b6158d.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of core self-evaluation","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eWith the rapid development of the internet, the continuous innovation of internet social forms, and the rise of platforms such as WeChat Moments, QQ Spaces, Zhihu, and TikTok, interactive social interactions through social networking sites (such as liking, commenting, and sharing) have become increasingly popular. The 53rd China internet Development Status Statistical Report indicates that the usage scale of Chinese netizens in social applications such as online video, instant messaging, short videos, and live streaming exceeds 800\u0026nbsp;million, with an average weekly internet usage time of 26.10 hours per person (CNNIC, 2024). Compared with workers and elderly individuals, college students have more free time, greater proficiency in using smartphones, and greater acceptance of new things, which may lead to more frequent and prolonged internet social interactions. The user stickiness of social networking sites is relatively high (Chen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), and if long-term, high-frequency use of social networking sites is not controlled, it is very likely to evolve into social network addiction (Stangl et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Social network addiction refers to an individual\u0026rsquo;s inability to control the compulsive use of social networking sites (Koc \u0026amp; Gulyagci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Previous empirical studies have shown that the reasonable use of social networking sites can effectively enhance individuals\u0026rsquo; connections with others (Kim et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), but social network addiction is not aimed at satisfying individuals\u0026rsquo; normal social needs. Instead, it is a difficult-to-control compulsive behaviour (Ihssen \u0026amp; Wadsley, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), which not only increases the risk of psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness (Bottaro \u0026amp; Faraci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) but also leads to physical discomfort symptoms such as insomnia, which threatens individuals\u0026rsquo; physical and mental health. Therefore, to help young college students develop good habits of using social networking sites and improve their physical and mental health, deeply exploring the underlying mechanisms behind college students\u0026rsquo; social network addiction is highly practical.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.1 Social comparison orientation and social network addiction\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial comparison orientation refers to an individual\u0026rsquo;s personality tendency to be sensitive to others\u0026rsquo; relevant information compared with others (Gibbons \u0026amp; Buunk, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). Research has shown that social comparison orientation is a motive for individuals\u0026rsquo; social network addiction (Kim et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Social comparison theory suggests that when self-evaluations lack objective information, people use others as reference standards for social comparison to obtain self-evaluations (Festinger, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1954\u003c/span\u003e). Social comparison is not only a common social psychological phenomenon but also an interpersonal influence atmosphere (Zhao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), which means that everyone is involved in the vortex of comparison with the people around them. The university is a critical period for individual development (Liu \u0026amp; Li, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Before officially entering society, relatively familiar classmates and roommates are more likely to become reference objects for individuals to obtain self-evaluations through social comparison, thus forming a potential atmosphere of comparison. In addition, the social comparison assimilation effect may lead to mutual influence among classmates and roommates (Xing \u0026amp; Yu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e), causing individuals to excessively use social networking sites and eventually develop social network addiction (SNA). A study on Chinese adolescents revealed that individual behaviour (frequency, duration, preferences, etc.) can affect close peers, leading some peers to increase their investment (time, energy, money, etc.), which eventually evolves into addictive behaviour (Jin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Marengo et al. also reported in Italian student groups that the relationship atmosphere in real and online social interactions (acceptance, exclusion, etc.) is one of the important reasons for individuals\u0026rsquo; addiction to social networks (Marengo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis 1: Social comparison orientation positively predicts college students\u0026rsquo; social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.2 The Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo better prevent and intervene in social network addiction in college students, it is necessary to further explore the mediating variables and their mechanisms between social comparison orientation and social network addiction. Research has shown a significant positive relationship between fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and social network addiction (Xu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Fear of negative evaluation refers to an individual\u0026rsquo;s anticipation and concern about negative evaluations from others, as well as sensitivity to negative evaluations in social settings (Leary, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e). In short, fear of negative evaluation is a common social anxiety symptom characterized by worry about receiving negative evaluations from others and the resulting anxiety. Hungarian scholars Zsido et al. reported that fear of negative evaluation can lead to cognitive distortions, affecting individuals\u0026rsquo; self-evaluations and self-esteem levels (Zsido et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), and low self-evaluations and self-esteem are risk factors for social network addiction (Baturay \u0026amp; Toker, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Another empirical study of Chinese college students revealed that using social networking sites eliminates the need for face-to-face communication, reducing the risk of receiving negative evaluations and negative feedback, leading individuals with fear of negative evaluation to frequently use social networking sites as a substitute for real social settings, eventually resulting in social network addiction (Xiao \u0026amp; Huang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). This suggests that individuals with higher levels of fear of negative evaluation are more prone to developing social network addiction. Additionally, Yang et al. reported that social comparison orientation is an important factor influencing individuals\u0026rsquo; levels of fear of negative evaluation (Yang \u0026amp; Robinson, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Zhang et al., 2020). People engage in social comparison to evaluate themselves (Kim et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), and individuals with a high social comparison orientation may frequently engage in self-evaluation, increasing their sensitivity to others\u0026rsquo; evaluations and leading to social anxiety, which is a key characteristic of individuals with a fear of negative evaluation (Leary, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e). Numerous empirical studies have shown that fear of negative evaluation plays a mediating role between social comparison and problematic social media use (Ma, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), as well as between social anxiety and mobile phone addiction (Xu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, this study proposes Hypothesis 2: Fear of negative evaluation plays a mediating role between social comparison orientation and social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.3 The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eCore self-evaluation (CSE) refers to the most basic evaluation and estimation that individuals hold about their own abilities and worth (Judge et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). Core self-evaluations not only influence self-evaluations in specific domains (Li \u0026amp; Nie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) but are also closely related to individuals' subjective well-being, life satisfaction, social anxiety, depression, and academic behavior (Li \u0026amp; Nie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Gao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Individuals with lower core self-evaluations tend to have vague self-positioning, and when they perform poorly, their reactions are more negative (Ding \u0026amp; Lin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), which can lead to fear of negative evaluation over time. Additionally, people tend to maintain a good image in social activities to avoid negative evaluations (Jia et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), but individuals with lower core self-evaluations are prone to forming negative self-schemia in their minds (Jahara et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), which can have negative impacts on subsequent emotional experiences and behaviours (such as avoidance, withdrawal, and addiction). Currently, numerous studies have shown that core self-evaluations are important protective factors (Gao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Gu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), but self-verification theory suggests that people actively seek information that is consistent with their self-concept, thereby expressing emotions and behaviours that align with their self-concept (Booth et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). If individuals have negative self-evaluations, they tend to interpret neutral information more negatively (Li \u0026amp; Nie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Swann, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1992\u003c/span\u003e). Thus, the impact of core self-evaluations on individuals' psychology is complex, as it can fully mobilize psychological resources to help individuals actively cope with problems (Gu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; George \u0026amp; Collard, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), but it can also lead to the production of negative emotions or maladaptive behaviours due to negative cognition (Jahara et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), exhibiting a \"double-edged sword\" effect. Therefore, what kind of moderating role does core self-evaluation play in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction? On the basis of previous research, this study proposes Hypothesis 3: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation; Hypothesis 4: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction; Hypothesis 5: Core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn summary, this study aims to explore the relationships and mechanisms among social comparison orientation, fear of negative evaluation, core self-evaluations, and social network addiction among college students. It proposes a moderated mediation model: core self-evaluations moderate the direct path from social comparison orientation to social network addiction, as well as the first and second half paths of the mediation model from social comparison orientation to fear of negative evaluation and then to social network addiction. The hypothesized model is illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"2 Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1 Participants\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn May 2024, a convenience sampling method was used to select college students from five universities in Huai\u0026rsquo;an, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 2,899 questionnaires were distributed, and 2,437 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid questionnaires based on three screening questions, resulting in an effective response rate of 84.06%. The sample included 957 males (39.27%), 1,480 females (60.73%), 1,794 vocational college students (73.62%), and 643 undergraduate students (26.38%). In terms of long-term family residence, 1,402 were from urban areas (57.53%), and 1,035 were from rural areas (42.47%). There were 588 only children (24.13%) and 1,849 non-only children (75.87%). The age range of all participants was 17\u0026ndash;21 years (\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;19.20, \u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.83).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2 Instruments\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.1 Social Comparison Orientation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Social Comparison Orientation Scale, developed by Gibbons and Buunk (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e) and translated and revised by Wang et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) in Chinese, includes two dimensions: conceptual social comparison (items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11) and ability social comparison (items 7, 8, 9, and 10), with a total of 11 items (e.g., \u0026ldquo;I often compare what I have achieved in life with others\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;If I want to know more about something, I will try to determine what others think about it\u0026rdquo;). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; (strongly disagree) to \u0026ldquo;5\u0026rdquo; (strongly agree), with no reverse-scored items. The total score represents the level of social comparison orientation among college students, with higher scores indicating a greater tendency. In this study, the Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α coefficient for this scale was 0.816.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.2 Social network addiction\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Social network addiction Scale, developed by Koc and Gulyagci (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) and revised by Chen Chunyu et al. (2018) in Chinese, consists of 8 items (e.g., \u0026ldquo;Even when I can\u0026rsquo;t use these social media, I still want to know what\u0026rsquo;s happening on them\u0026rdquo;). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; (completely disagree) to \u0026ldquo;5\u0026rdquo; (completely agree), with no reverse-scored items. Higher average scores indicate a higher level of social network addiction among college students. In this study, the Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α coefficient for the social network addiction scale was 0.922.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.3 Fear of Negative Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, developed by Leary (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e), consists of 12 items (e.g., \u0026ldquo;Even though I know others\u0026rsquo; opinions are not important, I still worry about how they perceive me\u0026rdquo;). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; (completely disagree) to \u0026ldquo;5\u0026rdquo; (completely agree), with reverse-scored items of 2, 4, 7, and 10. After the scores of the reverse-scored items are reversed, the total score represents the level of fear of negative evaluation among college students, with higher scores indicating a greater level of fear. In this study, the Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α coefficient for this scale was 0.863.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2.4 Core self-evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Core Self-Evaluation Scale, developed by Judge et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) and revised by Du Jianzheng et al. (2012) in Chinese, consists of 10 items (e.g., \u0026ldquo;I am capable of dealing with most of my problems\u0026rdquo;). The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from \u0026ldquo;1\u0026rdquo; (completely disagree) to \u0026ldquo;5\u0026rdquo; (completely agree), with reverse-scored items of 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10. After the scores of the reverse-scored items are reversed, the average score represents the level of core self-evaluation among college students, with higher scores indicating a higher level of core self-evaluation. In this study, the Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α coefficient for this scale was 0.843.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.3 Statistical methods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eData analysis was conducted via SPSS 27.0 statistical software and the PROCESS 4.0 plugin. The original data of the main variables were standardized. Harman\u0026rsquo;s single-factor test was used to examine common method bias. Pearson\u0026rsquo;s product‒moment correlation was used to explore the relationships between the main variables. The PROCESS 4.0 plugin\u0026rsquo;s Model 4 and Model 59 were used to test the mediating and moderating effects.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1 Common Method Bias\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study used a self-report questionnaire to collect data, which may have resulted in a certain degree of common method bias (Zhou \u0026amp; Long, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). The Harman single-factor test results revealed that a total of 8 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were extracted, and the first factor explained 28.76% of the variance, which is less than the 40% standard (Podsakoff et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, this study does not have significant common method bias.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.2 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe descriptive statistics and correlation analysis results of this study are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. There was a significant positive correlation between social comparison orientation and social network addiction (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.485, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), a significant positive correlation between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.532, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), and a significant positive correlation between social network addiction and fear of negative evaluation (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.370, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between college students\u0026rsquo; core self-evaluations and social comparison orientation (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.328, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), social network addiction (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.309, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), and fear of negative evaluation (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.561, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). T tests revealed significant differences in social comparison orientation, social network addiction, fear of negative evaluation, and core self-evaluation across genders, educational levels, places of origin, and whether they were only children. Therefore, this study included gender, educational level, place of origin, and whether they were only children as control variables in subsequent analyses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e Mean, Standard deviation, Correlation analysis results (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2437)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVariables\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;SD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 SCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.916\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.652\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 SNA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.227\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.902\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.485\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 FNE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.013\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.761\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.532\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.370\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 CSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.370\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.696\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.328\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.309\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.561\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026lt;0.001, the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.3 Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mediating role of fear of negative evaluation between college students\u0026rsquo; social comparison orientation and social network addiction was tested via Model 4 of the SPSS macro program PROCESS. The results revealed that social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.479, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) and that social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.523, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). When social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation were used together to predict social network addiction, fear of negative evaluation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.132, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), and the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on social network addiction remained significant (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.410, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The mediating effect value was 0.07, and the bootstrap 95% confidence interval was [0.046, 0.094], indicating that the mediating effect accounted for 14.64% of the total effect.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe regression equation of the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegression\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndicators\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoefficient significance\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDependent variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndependent variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSNA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.523\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.274\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e183.184\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.479\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.018\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27.223\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.302\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.377\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.055\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.040\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.376\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Origin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.207\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.797\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly Child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.105\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.042\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.516\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFNE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.545\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.297\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e205.642\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.523\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.017\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.211\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.177\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.035\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.997\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.007\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.039\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.196\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Origin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.169\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.035\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.791\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly Child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.121\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.041\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-2.943\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSNA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.535\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.286\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e162.203\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.410\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.021\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.025\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFNE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.132\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.472\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.278\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.751\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.054\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.040\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.361\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Origin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.185\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.193\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly Child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.041\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.918\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"8\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.05\u003c/em\u003e, \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.01\u003c/em\u003e, \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.001\u003c/em\u003e, the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.4 Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe moderating role of core self-evaluations was tested via Model 59 of the SPSS macro program. The detailed results are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. When fear of negative evaluation was the outcome variable, college students' social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.380, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), and core self-evaluation significantly negatively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β = -0.428, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The interaction term between social comparison orientation and core self-evaluations significantly positively predicted fear of negative evaluation (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.092, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The bootstrap 95% confidence intervals for these effects were [0.348, 0.412], [-0.460, -0.395], and [0.069, 0.115], respectively, all not 0, indicating that core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe results revealed that when social network addiction was the outcome variable, college students' social comparison orientation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.393, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), fear of negative evaluation significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.077, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01), and core self-evaluations significantly negatively predicted social network addiction (β = -0.110, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The interaction term between social comparison orientation and core self-evaluations significantly negatively predicted social network addiction (β = -0.040, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.018\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), and the interaction term between fear of negative evaluation and core self-evaluations significantly positively predicted social network addiction (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.078, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The bootstrap 95% confidence intervals for these effects were [0.352, 0.438], [0.027, 0.128], [-0.153, -0.064], [-0.080, -0.002], and [0.037, 0.119], respectively, all not containing 0, indicating that core self-evaluations play a moderating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction, as well as between fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe moderating effect regression equation of core self-evaluation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegression\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndicators\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoefficient significance\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDependent variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndependent variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLLCI\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eULCI\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFNE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.684\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.468\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e305.175\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.380\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.016\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23.909\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.349\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.411\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.428\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.016\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-27.026\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.459\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.397\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO*CSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.092\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.013\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.173\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.118\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.159\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.006\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.128\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.025\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.034\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.741\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.093\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.042\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Origin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.108\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.511\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.048\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.168\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly Child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.119\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-3.343\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.189\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.049\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSNA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.547\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.300\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e115.415\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.393\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.02\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.221\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.353\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.434\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFNE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.077\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.023\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.295\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.122\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.110\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.021\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-5.283\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.150\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.069\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCO*CSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.040\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.017\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-2.362\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.074\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.007\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFNE*CSE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.078\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.018\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.348\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.043\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.113\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.265\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.416\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.195\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.335\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEducation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.055\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.039\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.403\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.133\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlace of Origin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.168\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.728\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.098\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.237\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly Child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.122\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.041\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.966\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.041\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.203\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"10\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.05\u003c/em\u003e, \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.01\u003c/em\u003e, \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u0026lt;0.001\u003c/em\u003e, the SCO stands for Social Comparison Orientation, the SNA stands for Social Network Addiction, the FNE stands for Fear of Negative Evaluation, the SCO stands for Core Self-Evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further explain the substantive effects of the interaction between core self-evaluations and fear of negative evaluation, as well as the interaction between core self-evaluations and social comparison orientation, the participants were divided into high core self-evaluations and low core self-evaluations groups on the basis of the mean plus or minus one standard deviation of the core self-evaluations for simple slope analysis. As shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, at a low level of core self-evaluation, social comparison orientation had a significant predictive effect on fear of negative evaluation (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = 0.288, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;13.649, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on fear of negative evaluation was significantly greater (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = 0.473, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;23.857, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, at a low level of core self-evaluation, college students\u0026rsquo; social comparison orientation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = 0.433, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;19.682, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, the predictive effect of social comparison orientation on social network addiction was significantly reduced (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = 0.353, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;16.045, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). As indicated by Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, at a low level of core self-evaluation, fear of negative evaluation did not have a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = -0.001, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -0.038, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.970\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). However, at a high level of core self-evaluation, fear of negative evaluation had a significant predictive effect on social network addiction (B\u003csub\u003esimple\u003c/sub\u003e = 0.155, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.962, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4 Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.1 Social comparison orientation and social network addiction\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study explored the impact of social comparison orientation on social network addiction, providing empirical support for the relationship between the two. College students' social comparison orientation can significantly positively predict social network addiction, which is consistent with previous research findings (Zhang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Ma, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), thus confirming Hypothesis 1. The compensatory internet use theory suggests that when individuals encounter challenges or threats in real life, they will seek self-compensation and satisfaction through the virtual environment created by the internet (Kardefelt-Winther, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation, when comparing themselves to others who are more successful, may experience psychological threats and a sense of unmet needs (Zhao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and are more likely to seek comfort and satisfaction through the internet, leading to excessive use of social networking sites. In addition, individuals with a high social comparison orientation are more sensitive and concerned about information (Gibbons \u0026amp; Buunk, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e), and information acquisition is one of the important motivations for using social networking sites (Zhang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation need a large amount of information to complete social comparisons and form self-evaluations, so they spend much of their time browsing or collecting information on social networking sites, gradually becoming addicted to social networking use, and eventually leading to social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.2 Mediating Role of Fear of Negative Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study also explained the mediating mechanism by which social comparison orientation affects social network addiction, revealing the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation, which is consistent with previous research findings (Xu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Ma, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), thus confirming Hypothesis 2. The I-PACE model suggests that the development of addictive behaviours is the result of interactions between susceptibility variables, such as individual traits, emotional responses, and cognitive responses (Brand et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). The personality trait of social comparison orientation can trigger negative emotional experiences and distorted cognition in individuals, leading to social network addiction. The psychological evolutionary model also suggests that fear of negative evaluation is a capability to avoid threats and ensure personal safety (Alcaro et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Individuals with a high social comparison orientation are more likely to experience the dual threat of upwards social comparison and fear of negative evaluation, leading to long-term cognitive dissonance (Xu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and ultimately resulting in addictive behaviours. The social comparison orientation reinforces individuals' fear of negative evaluation and combined with the characteristics of social networking sites, such as ease of operation, timely feedback, and strong entertainment value (Xiao \u0026amp; Huang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), is more likely to activate pathological compensation mechanisms (Kardefelt-Winther, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), leading to individuals' social network addiction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.3 Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluation\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, this study revealed that core self-evaluations not only moderate the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction but also moderate the first and second half paths of the mediating effect of fear of negative evaluation. Specifically, core self-evaluations are important protective factors against individuals' maladaptive behaviours (Gao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Gu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Compared with college students with higher levels of core self-evaluations, those with lower levels are more likely to experience fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction after social comparison orientation is activated and are also more likely to develop social network addiction after experiencing fear of negative evaluation, further validating the protective-reactive model and the risk buffering hypothesis (Fergus \u0026amp; Zimmerman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e; Johnson et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). This is because core self-evaluations, as positive psychological resources for individuals' physical and mental development (Li \u0026amp; Nie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Gao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), can help college students build objective and reasonable self-cognition and positively accept themselves (George \u0026amp; Collard, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, when faced with negative information, stress, or threats, individuals with higher levels of core self-evaluations still believe in their abilities, accept their shortcomings, and alleviate their fear of negative evaluations from others. In addition, individuals with higher levels of core self-evaluations usually have better social skills (Ding \u0026amp; Lin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), better relationships in real-life social interactions, and are more likely to mobilize resources to actively cope with interpersonal conflicts rather than seek compensation in online social environments.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.4 Limitations\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study has several limitations that need to be further validated in the future. First, owing to the timing of the questionnaire distribution near graduation, the sample of this study included only students from vocational (first and second years) and undergraduate (first, second, and third years) programs, excluding graduating students, which may have affected the generalizability of the research results. Second, although this study constructed a hypothetical model on the basis of previous theoretical research, the use of cross-sectional research may not be able to establish a clear causal relationship between variables over time. Future research can use longitudinal studies to test the conclusions of this study further. Third, this study used a self-report questionnaire to collect data, which may have had methodological effects. In the future, experimental methods can be used to collect data on variables such as social comparison orientation and fear of negative evaluation, which can not only validate each other but also make the data more multisource and objective.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWei Feng: Conceptualization, data collection, methodology, writing original draft, writing reviews, and editing. Man-Yu Zhang: Conceptualization, writing of the original draft, writing of the reviews, and editing. Yu-Bo Bu: Conceptualization, data collection, methodology, writing of reviews. Chang-Le Wang:\u0026nbsp;Data collection, formal analysis, writing\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;reviews.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNone.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe communicated with the managers of our college, and they agreed to allow us to upload the data. However, some information related to the privacy of the research subjects had been removed from the data. We have prepared the anonymized dataset and have uploaded it as supplementary material to the submission system. If any researchers need our data, please contact our corresponding author. After obtaining the consent of our college\u0026apos;s management, we will assist them in using the data we have uploaded.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical approval\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur research was approved by the Academic Ethics Committee of Huaiyin Normal University on February 20, 2024 (approval number: HNU202402201643).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of interest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResearch Involving Human and Animal Rights\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. All the participants have signed the informed consent form, and the management department of the school where the participants are from has also approved our research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQuestionnaire Copyright\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe questionnaires or scales we used in the paper are all publicly available measurement tools, which can be freely copied and used in the original paper. We have followed academic norms and indicated in the paper the developers of the tools and the revisers of the Chinese version. These measurement tools have been widely used and we have used them multiple times. No written questionnaire usage license certificate is required. They can be freely granted to you (Springer Nature Limited). If there are any related issues or risks, the first author and the corresponding author shall bear the responsibility themselves.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlcaro, A., Brennan, A. \u0026amp; Conversi, D. The SEEKING drive and its fixation: A neuropsycho-evolutionary approach to the pathology of addiction. \u003cem\u003eFront. Hum. Neurosci.\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e15\u003c/b\u003e, 635932. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.635932\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.3389/fnhum.2021.635932\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (2021).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBaturay, M. H. \u0026amp; Toker, S. Self-esteem shapes the impact of GPA and general health on Facebook addiction. \u003cem\u003eSocial Sci. Comput. 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The connection and background mechanisms of social fears and problematic social networking site use: A structural equation modelling analysis. \u003cem\u003ePsychiatry Res.\u003c/em\u003e \u003cb\u003e288\u003c/b\u003e, 113323. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113323\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113323\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e (2020).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Social comparison orientation, Social network addiction, Fear of negative evaluation, Core self-evaluations, College students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7194599/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7194599/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial comparison orientation can have a negative effecton college students’ use of social networking sites. This study aims to explore the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students, as well as the roles of fear of negative evaluation and core self-evaluation in this relationship. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2,437 college students from five universities in Huai'an city, Jiangsu Province, China, using the Social Comparison Orientation Scale, Social network addiction Scale, Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Core Self-Evaluation Scale. The results demonstrated that social comparison orientation was significantly positively correlated with fear of negative evaluation and social network addiction. Core self-evaluations weresignificantly negatively correlated with social comparison orientation, fear of negative evaluation, and social network addiction. Social comparison orientation positively predicted social network addiction. Fear of negative evaluation played a mediating role in the relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students. Core self-evaluationsmoderated the direct path of the abovementioned mediating model and the first and second half paths of the mediating effect. Enhancing core self-evaluationsamong college students can mitigate the negative impact of a social comparison orientation and the fear of negative evaluationson individuals, which is beneficial for encouraging college students to develop good habits of using social networking sites and improvingtheir mental health levels.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The relationship between social comparison orientation and social network addiction among college students: the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of core self-evaluation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-28 18:17:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7194599/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-09-29T09:53:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-28T10:57:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"198625584892064766724301816088233401136","date":"2025-09-28T09:23:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-04T10:38:12+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"53072477225995592570514428302961336029","date":"2025-08-24T00:48:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"145250262697783348002712682807087023618","date":"2025-08-20T14:18:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"337382457894628470948570232380401495063","date":"2025-08-20T08:44:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-20T07:46:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-20T07:39:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-06T06:03:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-28T15:11:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-07-28T15:06:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bdddbf2e-e03e-401e-bf0a-9d80681337a2","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 28th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":53614905,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"},{"id":53614906,"name":"Biological sciences/Psychology"},{"id":53614907,"name":"Social science/Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-24T16:03:53+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7194599","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25327-3","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-11-21 15:58:38","publishedOnDateReadable":"November 21st, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-28 18:17:59","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-25327-3","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25327-3","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7194599","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7194599","identity":"rs-7194599","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}