Title |
Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults
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Published in |
PLOS ONE, August 2013
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DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0069841 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Ethan Kross, Philippe Verduyn, Emre Demiralp, Jiyoung Park, David Seungjae Lee, Natalie Lin, Holly Shablack, John Jonides, Oscar Ybarra |
Abstract |
Over 500 million people interact daily with Facebook. Yet, whether Facebook use influences subjective well-being over time is unknown. We addressed this issue using experience-sampling, the most reliable method for measuring in-vivo behavior and psychological experience. We text-messaged people five times per day for two-weeks to examine how Facebook use influences the two components of subjective well-being: how people feel moment-to-moment and how satisfied they are with their lives. Our results indicate that Facebook use predicts negative shifts on both of these variables over time. The more people used Facebook at one time point, the worse they felt the next time we text-messaged them; the more they used Facebook over two-weeks, the more their life satisfaction levels declined over time. Interacting with other people "directly" did not predict these negative outcomes. They were also not moderated by the size of people's Facebook networks, their perceived supportiveness, motivation for using Facebook, gender, loneliness, self-esteem, or depression. On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 241 | 18% |
Japan | 128 | 9% |
United Kingdom | 84 | 6% |
Mexico | 47 | 3% |
Canada | 41 | 3% |
Spain | 23 | 2% |
Australia | 19 | 1% |
Netherlands | 15 | 1% |
Italy | 14 | 1% |
Other | 172 | 13% |
Unknown | 564 | 42% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 1109 | 82% |
Scientists | 162 | 12% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 45 | 3% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 31 | 2% |
Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 24 | 1% |
United Kingdom | 13 | <1% |
Spain | 6 | <1% |
Australia | 6 | <1% |
Germany | 5 | <1% |
Japan | 4 | <1% |
Canada | 4 | <1% |
France | 4 | <1% |
Ireland | 3 | <1% |
Other | 39 | 2% |
Unknown | 1997 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 402 | 19% |
Student > Master | 318 | 15% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 291 | 14% |
Researcher | 146 | 7% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 114 | 5% |
Other | 336 | 16% |
Unknown | 498 | 24% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 603 | 29% |
Social Sciences | 270 | 13% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 109 | 5% |
Computer Science | 105 | 5% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 97 | 5% |
Other | 339 | 16% |
Unknown | 582 | 28% |