Introduction: Social media provide a convenient platform for social comparison, an activity that should play an important role in youth's identity development at the transition to college. Yet, the identity implications of online social comparison have not been thoroughly explored. Drawing on the theories of social comparison, introspective processes, and identity distress, we examined a dual-path model. The paths from two types of social media social comparison (i.e., comparison of ability and comparison of opinion) to two introspective processes (i.e., rumination and reflection) and finally to identity distress were tested. Methods: Short-term longitudinal survey data were collected from 219 college freshmen at a state university in the United States of America (M age = 18.29, S.D. = 0.75; 74% female; 41% White, 38% Black). Results: Social comparison of ability on social media had a positive association with concurrent rumination, which predicted higher identity distress. In contrast, social comparison of opinion on social media had a positive relationship with concurrent reflection, which, however, did not predict identity distress. Conclusion:Results indicate that different types of online social comparison yield distinct implications for young people's identity development. Largely, the study reaffirms the recently rising call for distinguishing the competition-based social comparison of ability from the information-based social comparison of opinion. At the same time, the study expands current knowledge of why these forms of social comparison may lead to differential outcomes, namely through the type of introspection they induce.Identity development is a major developmental task for adolescents and emerging adults (Arnett, 2014;Erikson, 1968). The task seems particularly challenging in modern society, where major socio-cultural changes make it a more complicated issue . For instance, scholars have discussed how globalization and economic recessions may require more time for identity exploration and delay youth's identity commitment and integration (Arnett, 2002;Sica, Sestito, & Ragozini, 2014). This study turned to the growth of social media as another contributor to the complexity of identity negotiation in the digital age. Specifically, it explored the identity implications of a widely experienced behavior on social media-social comparison, the process of comparing oneself with others as a way to understand and evaluate oneself (Festinger, 1954).Identity development in the social media context is typically studied through the lens of online self-presentation (e.g., Manago,

Social comparison on social media has received increasing attention, but most research has focused on one type of social comparison and its psycho-emotional implications. Little is known about how different types of social comparison influence youth's identity development. Drawing on the theories of identity processing styles and social comparison, we examined how two different forms of social comparison on social media related to three identity processing styles, which in turn predicted youth's global self-esteem and identity clarity. We surveyed 219 college freshmen (M = 18.29; 74% female) once in the Fall and once in the Spring. Social comparison of ability on social media was related to concurrent diffuse-avoidant identity processing style, which predicted lower identity clarity months later. In contrast, social comparison of opinion on social media did not influence college freshmen's global self-esteem and identity clarity through identity processing styles. The findings clarified the implications of online social comparison for youth's identity development.

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