Proposing heightened emotions social media dependency model: review and extension of media system dependency theory

Abstract This theoretical paper extends Media System Dependency theory to better account for affective dynamics in today’s social media environment. We introduce the Heightened Emotions Social Media Dependency Model to explain how pervasive ambiguity contributes to elevated emotional states, which in turn intensify individuals’ dependency on social media across various goal domains. The model highlights a reciprocal relationship between heightened emotional states and social media dependency. This feedback loop has important consequences: it can increase cognitive vulnerability to misinformation and conspiracy beliefs and drive behaviors such as the spread of inaccurate information. By foregrounding emotion as both a condition and amplifier of media dependency, the proposed model provides a framework for analyzing social media dependency and effects in contemporary digital contexts.