Social competencies mediate relationships between styles of social media usage and psychosocial wellbeing

Background & Aim: Studies have produced inconsistent findings when exploring relationships between social media usage (SMU) and wellbeing. This likely reflects the vast heterogeneity in subjective measures of SMU, coupled with a lack of consideration for the factors that influence different styles of SMU and drive individual differences in susceptibility to their effects. To advance our understanding of social media effects, the present study used a novel objective measure of individuals’ behaviour on social networking sites to examine whether distinct SMU styles are related differentially to social competencies that support real-world social interaction, and if these user characteristics mediate relationships between SMU styles and indices of psychosocial wellbeing. Methods: A total of 509 participants (261 females) completed the Social Networking Site Behaviour Task that measured styles of SMU objectively, the Multidimensional Social Competency Scale that captured self-reported competencies in seven domains of interpersonal behaviour, and four subjective measures of psychosocial wellbeing. Findings: We identify interactive, reactive and passive SMU styles, reveal that users expressing these distinct styles differ on several social competencies, and discover that these competencies mediate differential relationships between SMU styles and indices of psychosocial wellbeing. Discussion: Just as individual differences in social competencies manifest in face-to-face interactions, we suggest that they also underpin SMU styles and shape individual differences in susceptibility to their effects on wellbeing.