Internet Use and Happiness: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

This is an extension of a previous study, which explored the relationship between happiness and Internet use [1]. An Internet Use Scale (IUS), developed in the previous study, was administered to college students along with the Flourishing Scale [2] and the Satisfaction with Life Scale [3]; and three new open-ended questions. We compared changes in the relationship between these measures, and their mean values, across the two samples, and carried out qualitative analyses of the open-ended questions. Results indicated that those who reported spending less time on the internet, less time expressing emotions, and more time checking facts, scored higher on measures of happiness. Further, participants found negative affective expression on the Internet particularly aversive. Finally, those with lower happiness scores were more likely to report playing on-line games; and those with higher happiness scores were more likely to identify Internet disinformation as aversive.

Meeting Name

4th International Conference on HCI in Business, Government, and Organizations, HCIBGO 2017 (2017: Jul. 9-14, Vancouver, Canada)

Department(s)

Business and Information Technology

Keywords and Phrases

Logic programming; Students; College students; Happiness; Internet use; Longitudinal analysis; On-line games; Open-ended questions; Qualitative analysis; Time checking; Internet

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-3-319-58483-6

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0302-9743

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2017 Springer Verlag, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jul 2017

Link to Full Text

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