Values-Alignment Messaging Boosts Adolescents' Motivation to Control Social Media Use.

Two preregistered experiments with 2,733 U.S. high school students (age range = 13-19 years) compared the impact of different messages on adolescents' motivation to control social media use (SMU). A traditional message emphasized the benefits of avoiding SMU, whereas a values-alignment message framed controlling SMU as being consistent with autonomy and social justice. Compared to no message or a traditional message, in both studies, a values-alignment message led to greater motivation to control SMU immediately afterward, and in Study 2, awareness of "addictive" social media designs 3 months later. As hypothesized, values-alignment messaging was more motivating for girls than boys. Results offer preliminary support for leveraging adolescents' drives for autonomy and social justice to motivate self-regulation of SMU.