Online Networks and Subjective Well-Being

Online Networks and Subjective Well-Being. Fabio Sabatini and Francesco Sarracino. Kyklos, August 2017, Pages 456-480. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/kykl.12145/abstract

Abstract: We test the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and a proxy of utility, i.e. subjective well-being (SWB), using instrumental variables. Additionally, we disentangle the indirect effects of SNS on well-being mediated by face-to-face interactions and social trust using a structural equation model. Results suggest that the use of SNS hampers people's well-being directly and indirectly, through its negative effects on social trust. However, the use of SNS also has a positive impact on well-being because it increases the probability of face-to-face interactions. Yet, the net effect of the use of SNS for SWB remains negative.