LinkedIn·Tuesday, 4 August 2026·22d ago

Excited to share our new paper on digital status-seeking in adolescence! Social media gives young people countless opportunities to gain…

Jolien Trekels

Assistant Professor of Media Literacy - University of Vienna

Excited to share our new paper on digital status-seeking in adolescence! Social media gives young people countless opportunities to gain status through likes, followers, and other visible metrics - but why do some adolescents pursue these signals more than others? In this study, we combined fMRI data, peer sociometric nominations, and longitudinal survey data to examine how adolescents' neural responses to their real-life peers interact with their social motivations. We found that: 🧠 Neural sensitivity to low-status peers predicted greater digital status-seeking two years later, but only among adolescents with a high need for approval. 🙅 Importantly, neither brain responses nor social motivations alone were sufficient to predict digital status-seeking. Instead, it was the combination of heightened neural sensitivity and stronger approval motives that mattered. These findings highlight how individual differences in the social brain and psychological motivations work together to shape adolescents' online behavior, underscoring the value of integrating neuroscience, psychology, and communication research to better understand social media use during development. This project is another example of the incredible collaboration I've been fortunate to have with David Beshel Jack, Kristen Lindquist, Jimmy Capella, Ph.D., Maria Teresa Maza, Mitch Prinstein, and Eva Telzer. Proud to represent University of Vienna alongside our collaborators at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 📄 Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/e_iZ6Jsy #SocialMedia #Adolescence #DevelopmentalScience #Neuroscience #Psychology #CommunicationScience #DigitalWellbeing #LongitudinalResearch Neural and psychological predictors of digital status‐seeking in adolescence https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70240

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