Daily Perceptions of Social Status and Aggressive and Prosocial Behaviors on Social Media: The Moderating Role of Narcissism

Resource Control Theory suggests that adolescents strategically deploy aggressive and prosocial behaviors in response to perceived changes in social status. Given the bidirectional nature of interactions between adolescents and their social environment, however, it is also possible that these behaviors might shape their social standing in a reciprocal fashion. These processes were examined in the context of adolescents’ aggressive and prosocial social media behavior, as was the potential for youth narcissism to moderate these links. Adolescents (N = 287, M_age = 15.97, 57.1% female) completed a two-week daily diary study. Three pairs of lagged, within-person, bi-directional associations existed, including between perceived status frustration and public aggressive online behaviors, perceived status frustration and private prosocial behaviors, and perceived status satisfaction and private prosocial behaviors. Results support the notion of adaptive and vicious cycles of status attainment. Narcissistic rivalry predicted stronger increases in frustration-related public aggression, while narcissistic admiration predicted stronger increases in satisfaction-related private prosociality. Results highlight the complexity of adolescents’ interpersonal dynamics online, from online aggression following perceived status frustrations to prosocial attempts to consolidate or regain status.