Does social media use always lead to negative career results? The role of growth mindset

Prior studies on social media have suggested that it primarily elicits negative career-related outcomes due to upward social comparison. Drawing upon social comparison theory, particularly the assimilative perspective, we challenge this prevailing view by identifying inspiration as a mediating mechanism and growth mindset as a boundary condition to explain when and how social media use fosters subjective career success (SCS). We conducted a three-wave survey among employees from the UK. Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to test our hypotheses. Results show that inspiration mediates the relationship between social media use and SCS. Moreover, the growth mindset strengthens the effect of social media use on inspiration and the indirect effect of inspiration. This study reveals the bright side of social media within career and its beneficial influence on SCS. It provides theoretical and practical implications for employees, organizations, and career counselors.