The psychophysiology of Instagram – Brief bouts of Instagram use elicit appetitive arousal and attentional immersion followed by aversive arousal when use is stopped

Abstract

Checking social networking site (SNS) accounts periodically has become a quintessential daily habit for billions of people. The present study tracked the psychophysiological impact of brief periods of SNS use and subsequent use cessation, designed to mimic natural usage patterns. It specifically aimed to identify markers of problematic/compulsive use during these periods in 54 Instagram users varying in problematic SNS behaviors. Heart rate, galvanic skin response (GSR) and affective/motivational ratings were recorded across three 15-min phases consisting of a baseline reading task, Instagram exposure and Instagram cessation phase. Participants reported increased stress, anxiety and SNS cravings following Instagram cessation. Instagram exposure resulted in a large decrease in heart rate and increase in GSR compared to baseline, indicating increased appetitive arousal and a state of deep attentional engagement. Instagram cessation resulted in an increase in heart rate and GSR compared to exposure, indicating increased aversive (stress-related) arousal. Importantly, changes in physiology were not associated with problematic use symptoms. Our findings indicate that brief engagement with SNSs elicits reward-driven arousal and attentional immersion while ending such states can induce aversive physiological and subjective stress in both problematic and regular SNS users.