SOCIAL COMPARISON ORIENTATION AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SELF-CONCEPT

Abstract

The study examined the impact of social comparison orientation on young adults’ mental health and further investigated the mediating role of self-concept. A sample of 300 University students (Male=150, Female=150) between the range of 20-30 years completed self-report measures of social comparison orientation, mental health inventory and self-concept clarity. Correlational analysis revealed a significant moderate positive relationship between social comparison orientation and mental health (r = .45, p<.01). Regression analysis demonstrated that social comparison orientation predicted mental health (B = -.328, p< .01), explaining 10.7% of the variance. Mediation analysis revealed that indirect effect of social comparison orientation on mental health was found to be significant (B = -0.4074, 95% CI [-0.5679, -0.2585]), which in turn, confirming that self-concept mediates the relationship between social comparison orientation and mental health. Significant results suggesting to plan interventions focused at building strong and stable self-concept.