Undergraduate-led research from the University of Warwick has found that older adults are less emotionally affected by negative social media comments.
A first-year undergraduate psychology student has designed and led an experimental study published in Nature portfolio journal Scientific Reports that shows younger adults are more susceptible to online negativity.
128 people aged 18 to 73 took part in an experiment where they shared blog posts on a fake online forum. After posting they then received either negative, neutral, or positive comments, generated as part of the experiment. Researchers then tracked how their mood and anxiety levels changed.
The study findings showed that reactions to negative social media comments varied according to age, and to a smaller extent by gender.
- Negative comments increased anxiety and caused more unpleasant moods across all participants, regardless of age or gender.
- Younger people experienced greater anxiety and lower mood when they were exposed to negative comments, compared to the older adults taking part.
- Males of all ages who received negative comments reported feeling marginally more anxious than females, as well as greater overall emotional arousal.
- Younger adults showed a greater emotional arousal to comments, no matter whether they were negative or positive, compared to the older adults taking part.
Lead researcher Yuetong Ai, now a second-year undergraduate, had the idea for the experimental study as she was scrolling TikTok and feeling saddened by the many negative comments she saw.
Curious about the psychological impact, Yuetong explains she investigated the existing research. "I found lots of studies focusing on how negative social media can affect adolescents, but not many studies on adults. I expected to find that females were more affected by social media than males, in line with previous research, and was surprised to discover that gender was much less significant than age. When we divided our participants into older and younger halves, we saw that the adverse psychological effects of social media that are well-known to exist for adolescents also affect younger adults - but appear to diminish in older adults.
"Our research expands understanding of the specific emotional impact of cyberbullying on adult mental health. I think that raising awareness of potential repercussions from social media across all age groups is important - our findings underscore the necessity of strategies and resourcing for managing online negativity."
Dr Adrian von Muhlenen of Warwick's Department of Psychology, and Yuetong's research supervisor, said: "Publication of research in Nature's Scientific Reports journal is a noteworthy accomplishment, and very remarkable for an undergraduate student.
"Publication of Yuetong's research has been facilitated by Warwick's Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS) which enables undergraduate students to undertake a research project during the summer while being supervised by a Warwick academic. The scheme provides an immensely valuable and flexible opportunity for undergraduates to gain research experience, develop transferable skills and expand their network. Students who have previously participated in the URSS were also more likely to be awarded a higher degree classification.
"Undergraduates present their findings at a URSS showcase as well as communicating their work to the general public. Original, gap-filling research projects may be submitted for publication, so Yuetong now has a highly impressive achievement for her CV."
Student application for URSS 2026 opens 6 October 2025.
