Effects Of Social Media Use On Youth Employment Anxiety

Nowadays,social media participates in all aspects of life and every aspect of life is closely linked to social media,including one of the most important topics for young people,which is employment.When using social media,young people receive more information to stimulate upward social comparisons,while at the same time developing and maintaining online social relationships,gaining online social support and adjusting for self-perceived factors,this has an impact on employment anxiety.Based on social comparison theory and social support theory,this study constructed a model of the impact of social media use on youth employment anxiety.A questionnaire survey was conducted among 18 to 44-year-old Chinese youth,and 1204 valid samples were obtained.Through descriptive statistics,difference analysis,regression analysis,intermediary effect analysis,adjustment effect analysis,this study investigated the effects of youth social media use(use degree,use motivation),youth internal and external social perception factors(uplink social comparison,online social support),youth self-perception factors(self-esteem,core self-evaluation)on youth employment anxiety.The result:(1)the use of social media had a significant impact on employment anxiety,the more social media use and motivation,the higher the level of employment anxiety;(2)the degree of social media use affects employment anxiety through the mediating effect of upward social comparison,and the motivation of social media use affects employment anxiety through the mediating effect of upward social comparison;(3)the use of social media affected employment anxiety partly through the mediating effect of online social support,and the social media use motivation affected employment anxiety completely through the mediating effect of online social support;(4)negative self-esteem moderates the positive effect of upward social comparison on employment anxiety,that is,individuals with high self-esteem have less positive effect on employment anxiety than those with low selfesteem;(5)core self-evaluation negatively moderated the positive effect of online social support on employment anxiety,that is,individuals with high core self-evaluation were more likely to have low core self-evaluation than those with low core self-evaluation,online social support had less of a positive effect on employment anxiety.This study explains the mechanism of the influence of social media use on employment anxiety,and provides theoretical basis and data support for the adjustment of youth employment anxiety.It emphasizes the importance of proper social media strategy,good internal and external social perception and self-perception to young people’s good employment mentality.