How active and passive social media interaction influence psychological wellbeing: a dual-mediation model of self-evaluation and social face concern

Abstract

Introduction Social media has become a central context for social interaction and self-evaluation among young adults. Prior research links social media use to mixed mental health outcomes, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying active versus passive interaction remain insufficiently differentiated and theoretically integrated. Limited attention has been paid to how these engagement styles influence psychological wellbeing through distinct cognitive pathways, and few studies incorporate culturally salient constructs specific to collectivistic contexts. Understanding these mechanisms is clinically critical, as maladaptive self-evaluation and excessive social evaluation concern—including social face concern, a culturally unique transdiagnostic risk factor—underlie multiple psychiatric conditions. Methods This cross-sectional study examined the differential relationships between active and passive social media interaction and psychological wellbeing among Chinese young adults. A total of 810 active social media users aged 18–35 years (Mage = 25.0, SD = 3.78) completed an online survey assessing active interaction, passive browsing, context-specific digital self-evaluation, social face concern, and psychological wellbeing. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) was employed to test the proposed dual-mediation model. Results The results indicated that active social media interaction was positively associated with context-specific digital self-evaluation (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) and directly linked to higher psychological wellbeing (β = 0.15, p = 0.001). Conversely, passive interaction was positively associated with elevated social face concern (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and directly linked to lower psychological wellbeing (β = −0.19, p < 0.001). Context-specific digital self-evaluation was significantly positively related to psychological wellbeing (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), while social face concern showed a significant negative association with the outcome variable (β = −0.11, p = 0.012). Mediation analyses further confirmed significant partial mediation effects: context-specific digital self-evaluation mediated the positive relationship between active interaction and psychological wellbeing (indirect effect = 0.067, 95% CI [0.035, 0.102]), and social face concern mediated the negative relationship between passive interaction and psychological wellbeing (indirect effect = −0.034, 95% CI [−0.063, −0.010]). Discussion These findings support a dual-pathway psycho-behavioral framework, demonstrating that active and passive social media interaction exert divergent effects on psychological wellbeing through distinct cognitive mechanisms. The study underscores that interaction quality, rather than usage intensity, determines the mental health impacts of social media engagement. It also addresses Western-centric bias by integrating culturally salient social face concern into the mediation model, offering implications for digital mental health interventions targeting maladaptive self-evaluation and social evaluative distress.