Abstract

Social networking website (SNS) addiction has led to a rise in research on its negative impacts, especially depression, due to a significant increase in SNS users over the past decade. According to social comparison theory, the use of SNS makes individ- uals vulnerable to depression through a comparison with others who are perceived to be superior to them, and via photos displaying an individual’s appearance (which are the main upload target), as being likely to cause individuals to become ex- cessively preoccupied with their own bodies. Hence, this study aimed to test whether objectified body consciousness (OBC) mediates the relationship between SNS addiction tendency and depression. Furthermore, we examined whether self-compas- sion moderates the consequences of OBC on depression. The participants (n = 271) completed questionnaires measuring SNS addiction tendency, OBC, self-compassion and depression. The results revealed that the indirect effect of SNS addiction tendency on depression through OBC was moderated by self-compassion, and that, specifically, this indirect effect was found to decrease as self-compassion increased. The results of this study suggest that an individual’s SNS addiction tendency passes through OBC in the process of influencing depression, and that the effect of such a path may vary depending on the individ- ual's level of self-compassion.