Mental health content on social media usually highlights positive emotions, especially hope. This article presents an experimental study on the effects of hopeful social media posts on Instagram. Drawing on appraisal theory and the phenomenon of spillover effects, we developed a 2 × 2 between-subjects post-test experiment, where we manipulated the message type (i.e., hope message vs. control condition) and the level of endorsement (i.e., high vs. low number of likes) of Instagram posts. Following exposure to our media stimuli, we studied the effects on subsequent levels of hope, life satisfaction, mental health stigma, willingness to disclose about mental health, and willingness to provide support on social media among a sample of n = 479 young adults ( Mage = 20.97 years, SD = 2.10). Our pre-registered analysis revealed no significant main or interaction effects in the predicted direction. We discuss the findings in the context of health communication, reflect the study’s limitations, and provide suggestions for future research.

中文翻译：

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“未来是光明的！是吗？”：调查社交媒体上充满希望的心理健康内容和认可线索的影响


社交媒体上的心理健康内容通常会强调积极的情绪，尤其是希望。本文介绍了一项关于 Instagram 上充满希望的社交媒体帖子影响的实验研究。借鉴评价理论和溢出效应现象，我们开发了一个 2 × 2 受试者间测试后实验，其中我们操纵消息类型（即希望消息与控制条件）和认可水平（即高Instagram 帖子的点赞数与低点赞数相比。在受到媒体刺激后，我们研究了对 479 名年轻人样本的后续希望水平、生活满意度、心理健康耻辱、披露心理健康的意愿以及在社交媒体上提供支持的意愿的影响（Mage = 20.97 年，SD = 2.10）。我们的预先注册分析显示，在预测方向上没有显着的主要效应或相互作用效应。我们在健康传播的背景下讨论研究结果，反映研究的局限性，并为未来的研究提供建议。