Why Scrolling Makes You Feel Behind: The Psychology of Social Comparison

You open your phone for a quick scroll. Ten minutes later, you feel behind in life. Nothing bad happened to you. So why does it feel this way?
Part of the answer is a very old habit of the human mind. It is called social comparison.

What is social comparison?

In 1954, the psychologist Leon Festinger proposed that people judge their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves with others. This is most likely when there is no clear, objective standard to use.

In daily life, this is normal. You check how you are doing by looking at people around you. Later researchers described two kinds of comparison:

• Upward comparison: looking at people who seem to be doing better than you.
• Downward comparison: looking at people who seem to be doing worse than you.

Social comparison is not a flaw. It is a common human habit.

Why social media makes it harder

Offline, you compare yourself with a small group of people you know well. Online, the group is huge. It also looks very polished, because many people share their best moments and leave out the rest.

This means that your feed can give you a steady supply of upward comparisons.

Vogel and colleagues (2014) tested this idea in two studies. The first was a survey. Heavier Facebook users reported lower long-term self-esteem, and this pattern went along with how often they saw upward comparisons. A survey like this shows a link only. It cannot prove that Facebook caused the lower self-esteem.

The second study was an experiment. Participants looked at the profile of another person. Those who saw upward cues, such as a busy social life and healthy habits, felt worse about themselves in that moment than those who saw downward cues, such as a quiet social life and unhealthy habits. Psychologists call this momentary feeling state self-esteem.

It does not affect everyone in the same way

The picture is more mixed than headlines suggest.

Beyens and colleagues (2020) asked adolescents to report how they felt six times a day for one week. This gave them 2,155 real-time reports. After passive social media use, 44% reported no change in mood, 46% felt better, and 10% felt worse. The same activity had very different effects on different adolescents.

A follow-up study by Valkenburg and colleagues (2022) tracked 353 adolescents aged 13 to 15 over three weeks. Browsing was linked to a worse mood for 20% of them. For the other 80%, this was not the case. Envy seemed to matter. Among adolescents who felt envy while browsing, 25% showed a drop in mood, compared with 13% of those who did not feel envy.

These studies used adolescent samples, so the numbers may not match what happens for adults. Still, they point to something useful. It may not be scrolling alone that matters. How you feel while you scroll may matter too.

What you can do

These are practical ideas, not a treatment.

1. Notice the feeling and name it. For example: "I am feeling envy right now." Naming it makes it easier to look at.
2. Ask what it points to. Envy can hint at something you want. Ask yourself: what do I actually want?
3. Check how each account makes you feel. If an account often leaves you feeling worse, mute it. If another leaves you feeling calm or inspired, keep it.
4. Remember what you are seeing. A post is one moment. It is not a whole life.
5. Talk to someone. If the feeling stays for a long time, or comes with low mood or hopelessness, speak with a trusted person or a mental health professional.

Key takeaway

Comparing yourself with others is normal. Feeling behind after a scroll does not mean something is wrong with you. Your feed shows you a small and polished part of other people's lives. Paying attention to how you feel while you scroll can help you decide what to keep in your feed and what to let go.

This article is for education only. It is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment.

References

• Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 10763. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7
• Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117-140. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202
• Valkenburg, P. M., Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., & Keijsers, L. (2022). Social media browsing and adolescent well-being: Challenging the "passive social media use hypothesis." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmab015
• Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206-222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047