The hustle is real: an examination of the self-related consequences of consuming idealized self-promotional content on LinkedIn
研究了领英用户看到他人理想化自我推销内容后的情绪矛盾（沮丧与为他人的快乐）及后续行为（如逃避、补偿），揭示了职业自我差异和关系亲密度的影响。
Purpose Everyday users of professional networks such as LinkedIn are flooded by posts presenting the achievements of their connections (e.g. I got a new job/award). The present research takes a self-discrepancy perspective to examine the mixed-emotional and behavioral consequences of viewing such idealized self-promotional content on professional networks. Design/methodology/approach The emotional and behavioral consequences following viewership of idealized self-promotional content on LinkedIn are explored through one pilot study (N = 109) and one online experiment (N = 714), which is evaluated using structural equation modeling. Findings Viewership of idealized self-promotional content on professional social networking sites acts as an emotional double-edged sword for LinkedIn users. Users feel both dejection and symhedonia (i.e. happiness for others), dependent on their reported career-based self-discrepancy. We find the experience of symhedonia to be bound by the relational closeness of the poster (acquaintance vs close friend). Furthermore, we show how resultant emotions drive self-regulatory compensatory IT-use behaviors (i.e. direct resolution, fluid compensation, dissociation, and escapism). Originality/value We offer four distinct contributions. Firstly, we disentangle inconsistent findings of mixed emotions by introducing symhedonia to IT literature. Secondly, we investigate the boundary condition of relational closeness. Thirdly, we extend our findings by investigating compensatory-consumption behaviors that stem from mixed-affective outcomes. Finally, we do so in the context of professional networks, which are greatly understudied and are distinctive from personal networks. Practical implications are discussed.