Tandoc et al. (2015): Facebook Use, Envy and Depression

Why investigate Facebook and depression?

Tandoc, Ferrucci and Duffy’s 2015 study, Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students: Is Facebooking depressing?, investigated whether Facebook use was linked to depression, and whether envy helped explain that relationship.

Starting university can involve leaving home, gaining independence, forming new friendships and romantic relationships, and managing demanding coursework and exams. These changes can make students vulnerable to depression. Researchers had suggested that heavy use of social networking sites might also contribute, but earlier findings disagreed. Wright et al. (2012) found a positive correlation between hours spent on Facebook and depression, whereas Jelenchick et al. (2013) found no link.

Tandoc and colleagues therefore looked beyond simply counting time online. They considered what students did on Facebook and how they felt about the information they saw.

Envy and social rank theory

Envy occurs when someone else has something that we want but cannot have. Facebook envy is the envy experienced after viewing other people’s personal information on Facebook.

For example, a student might see friends’ holiday photographs and feel that everyone else has a more exciting life. The important step is not just seeing the photographs: it is comparing lives and feeling worse about one’s own position.

The researchers used social rank theory of depression, which proposes that feelings of inferiority or subordination can contribute to depression. They suggested that repeated Facebook comparisons might produce envy, dissatisfaction with life and feelings of inferiority. Heavy users might encounter more opportunities for comparison, while having more Facebook friends might provide more people to compare themselves with. These were proposed explanations to test, not established facts.

This connects with psychological explanations such as the ABC Model: an event alone need not determine the emotional consequence; how someone interprets it also matters. Tandoc and colleagues investigated envy and social comparison rather than directly testing the ABC Model.

Aims, research questions and predictions

The study aimed to investigate whether heavy Facebook use was linked to depression among college students, using social rank theory to explore the role of envy.

The researchers asked three questions:

1. What is the relationship between frequency of Facebook use and depression?
2. Which specific uses of Facebook predict Facebook envy?
3. Does Facebook envy mediate the relationship between Facebook use and depression?

A mediating variable helps explain a relationship by acting as an intermediate step. Here, the proposed intermediate step was envy: Facebook use might be associated with envy, which in turn might be associated with depression symptoms.

They tested three hypotheses:

• H1: Heavy Facebook users would experience more Facebook envy than light users.
• H2: Users with larger networks of Facebook friends would experience more envy than those with smaller networks.
• H3: Users reporting greater Facebook envy would also report more depression symptoms.

Method and sample

The researchers used an online self-report questionnaire. Participants answered questions about their own Facebook behaviour and feelings, and their responses were coded numerically for statistical analysis. This investigated relationships between measured variables; it was not an experiment in which researchers assigned students different amounts of Facebook use.

Researchers visited classes and sent email invitations to 854 students from four sections of introductory journalism courses at a large Midwestern university in the USA. 736 students participated.

Their average age was about 19 years. Approximately 68% were female, 32% were male, and 78% were White Americans. All were Facebook users, with average use across the sample of approximately two hours per day. This average does not mean that each student used Facebook for exactly two hours.

What the questionnaire measured

Facebook use: Students reported their average daily hours of use. They also rated how often they performed seven activities on a five-point scale, from 1 = never to 5 = very frequently:

• writing a status update;
• posting photographs;
• commenting on a friend’s post;
• reading the newsfeed;
• reading a friend’s status update;
• viewing a friend’s photograph;
• browsing a friend’s timeline.

The last four activities involved observing other people rather than contributing posts. This type of activity was called surveillance use: keeping track of other people’s activities on Facebook.

Facebook envy: Students rated their agreement with eight statements using a five-point Likert scale. The statements concerned inferiority, frustration at others having a good time, unfairness about others having fun, wishing to travel as much as friends, friends having better lives, friends being happier, one’s own life being more fun than friends’ lives, and life being fair. For example, one statement was ‘Many of my friends are happier than me.’ These ratings turned feelings about comparison into numerical data.

Depression symptoms: Students completed the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a questionnaire containing 20 items about symptoms associated with depression. It measured reported symptoms rather than providing a clinical diagnosis.

Participants completed and submitted the questionnaire online.

Findings: time online was not the whole explanation

There was no significant direct relationship between frequency of Facebook use and depression. This did not support a simple explanation that more time on Facebook automatically means more depression symptoms.

Of the uses examined, only surveillance use was positively associated with Facebook envy. Keeping track of other people’s lives was therefore particularly relevant to the proposed comparison process.

The findings for the hypotheses were:

Although the total effect of surveillance use on depression was not significant, the analysis identified an indirect relationship through Facebook envy. Surveillance use without envy was associated with fewer depression symptoms; when envy was involved, it was associated with more symptoms.

Conclusions and their meaning

The researchers concluded that Facebook use alone did not directly lead to depression. Instead, Facebook envy helped explain the relationship between surveillance use and depression symptoms. When envy was statistically controlled for, Facebook use could be associated with less depression.

They regarded social rank theory as a useful explanation: feeling inferior during social comparison may matter more than simply being online. This also helps make sense of earlier conflicting research, because studies focusing only on hours of use may overlook different activities and emotional responses.

However, the questionnaire findings cannot establish that surveillance use caused envy or that envy caused depression. The results support the proposed explanation without proving its causal sequence.

Evaluating the study

A large sample and consistent measures: The 736 participants provided substantial numerical data. Using the same questionnaire and a named depression scale gave the researchers a consistent way to compare responses. Nevertheless, a large sample is not necessarily representative.

Limited generalisability: Participants came from journalism courses at one US university and were mostly around 19 years old. Their Facebook behaviour and social comparisons may differ from those of younger teenagers, older adults or people in other cultures. The findings are therefore most relevant to students resembling this sample, rather than all Facebook users.

Self-report bias: Participants might have underestimated their Facebook hours or under-reported envy and depression symptoms to appear more socially acceptable. This could make the recorded scores less accurate and distort the relationships found.

Construct validity: Numerical scales make feelings easier to compare, but envy and depression are complex experiences. Agreement with a short statement may not capture the full context of someone’s feelings. The CES-D provides a consistent symptom measure, but symptoms should not be treated as a confirmed diagnosis.

Cause and effect remain uncertain: Facebook use was not manipulated. Students already experiencing depression might compare themselves more negatively with friends, rather than comparison being the original cause. Other pressures, such as academic demands, might also influence their feelings. Overall, the study provides useful evidence about associations, but not proof that Facebook envy causes clinical depression.

Background and aim

Tandoc, Ferrucci and Duffy (2015): investigated Facebook use, envy and depression among college students.

• Earlier research conflicted: Wright et al. found a positive correlation; Jelenchick et al. found no link.
• Social rank theory: feeling inferior or subordinate may contribute to depression.
• Main question: does envy help explain the Facebook–depression relationship?

Method essentials

• Online self-report questionnaire; relationships measured, not an experiment.
• 854 invited; 736 participated, from introductory journalism courses at one Midwestern US university.
• Mean age approximately 19; 68% female, 78% White American.
• Mean Facebook use: two hours daily.
• Measures: daily hours; seven activities rated 1–5; eight envy statements rated on a five-point Likert scale; 20-item CES-D for depression symptoms.
• Questionnaire completed and submitted online.

Results and conclusions

• H1 supported: heavy users reported more envy.
• H2 not supported: friend-network size was unrelated to envy.
• H3 supported: greater envy was associated with more depression symptoms.
• No significant direct relationship between use frequency and depression.
• Only surveillance use was positively associated with envy.
• Envy mediated the surveillance-use–depression relationship; the total surveillance effect was not significant.
• Without envy, surveillance use was associated with fewer symptoms.
• Social rank theory was supported as a useful framework, not proven as a causal explanation.

Evaluation anchors

Strengths: large sample; consistent numerical measures; established depression symptom scale.

Limitations: one university and narrow age range; self-report and social desirability bias; scales may oversimplify feelings; associations cannot establish cause and effect.