Examining the antecedents of social media fatigue: an empirical study using the stress-strain-outcome framework

This study examines social media anxiety through the Stressor–Strain–Outcome (SSO) framework, investigating how psychological and environmental stressors lead to social media addiction and consequently influence social media anxiety as a psychological outcome. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was conducted, collecting data from 219 active social media users in Turkey. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyze the relationships among constructs. Results indicate that both psychological stressors (Fear of Missing Out, impression concerns and social overload) and environmental stressors (advertising intrusiveness, platform complexity and information equivocality) significantly explain social media addiction. Specifically, environmental stressors exerted a stronger influence (β = 0.39, p <.001) compared to psychological stressors (β = 0.33, p < .001). Social media addiction, in turn, significantly explained social media anxiety (β = 0.32, p <.001), representing full mediation between the stressors and social media anxiety. The model explained 29.5% of the variance in social media addiction and 10.3% in social media anxiety. The findings suggest practical interventions targeting platform design improvements, user-centric psychological support programs, and regulatory measures. Limitations include the cross-sectional nature of the study, which restricts causal interpretations. Future research should employ longitudinal designs and explore additional moderators to enhance explanatory power.