Are Online Social Experiences Associated With General Interpersonal Problems? A Circumplex Assessment

Social media use can promote social connection but also often includes negative experiences, raising questions about its associations with broader interpersonal functioning.

This preregistered study used the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) to examine associations of self-reported online social support and negativity, and excessive social media use with self-reports of general interpersonal problems, compared to associations for offline support and social anxiety, in a representative sample of U.S. adult social media users (n = 1356; mean age = 44.9; 52% women; 61.9% non-Hispanic White; median income $50k-75k).

Online negativity and excessive social media use were strongly associated with more severe general interpersonal problems; online support had a small positive association with greater problems. These associations were stronger for men than women, and weaker for older participants. In contrast to online support, off-line social support was inversely associated with interpersonal problems, and the positive association for social anxiety was similar in magnitude to those for online negativity and excessive social media use.

Findings suggest that online social experiences and excessive social media use are associated with broader interpersonal difficulties, and that the interpersonal perspective may be useful in understanding psychosocial issues emerging in the digital age.