This study aimed to examine whether the need for social approval plays a mediating role in the relationship between social appearance anxiety and social media addiction. This research was conducted with the relational screening model, predictive correlation design. The study group consists of 302 undergraduate students pursuing their education 2018-2019 academic year in Turkiye. The study group was selected by the convenience sampling. Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, Social Media Addiction Scale and Need for Social Approval Scale were used in the research. As a data analysis technique, the mediation model was tested in this study. When testing the mediation model, direct and indirect relationships and changes in these relationships were examined, using the Lisrel Package program within the scope of structural equation modeling (SEM).The findings of this research indicate that as the social appearance anxiety of individuals increases, social media addiction increases with an increasing social approval need. The model proposed in the research suggesting that the need for social approval mediates the relationship between social appearance anxiety and social media addiction is statistically significant. The need for social approval fully mediates the relationship between social appearance anxiety and social media addiction. The study found out that social appearance anxiety is a predictor of the need for social approval, and the need for social approval is a predictor of social media addiction. The whole model explains 52% of social media addiction. To conclude, individuals’ social appearance anxiety and their unsatisfied needs for approval seem to account for social media addiction together.

Social media addiction, social appearance anxiety, social approval need