How do most people act when they log on to Facebook and are in a bad mood? According to a recent study, they seek out friends who are in even worse shape than they are.
“In general, most of us look for something positive on social networking sites,” says study co-author Dr. Benjamin Johnson, an assistant professor at VU University Amsterdam. “But when you’re feeling vulnerable, you’ll seek out friends on Facebook who are having a bad day or who aren’t so good at presenting themselves positively, just to make yourself feel better.”
For their study, the researchers tested 168 college students, who were asked to answer mood-related questions to determine whether they were in a good or bad mood. The students were then able to use a fake social networking site called SocialLink.
Students on this social network could find profiles that were designed to appear attractive or unattractive, successful or unsuccessful. There was no difference in the content of each profile's posts.
“So the only real difference between the profiles was the ratings of career success and attractiveness, determined by various symbols like dollar signs and hearts,” Johnson says.
Participants in the bad mood survey had to choose which of these profiles they would like to click on. Their decision was based in part on their moods.
What the researchers found? Overall, the students spent the most time on the profiles of people who seemed successful and had attractive profiles. But when the researchers compared the results with those of students who were in a bad mood, they found that the moody students spent more time on the less attractive profiles of less successful people.
“If you need a self-esteem boost, you’ll look for people who are worse off than you,” says co-author Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, a professor of communication at Ohio State University.
The new research was published online by the journal Computers in Human Behavior on September 28.
