Women who quitted Instagram, users who are no longer exposed to direct evaluative feedback about their images, reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect

Taking a Short Break from Instagram: The Effects on Subjective Well-Being. Giulia Fioravanti, Alfonso Prostamo, and Silvia Casale. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Dec 17 2019. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0400

Abstract: This study investigated whether abstaining from Instagram (Ig) affects subjective well-being among young men and women. By comparing an intervention group (40 participants who take a break from Ig for a week) with a control group (40 participants who kept using Ig), we found that women who quitted Ig reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect than women who kept using it. Whereas positive affect increment depended on social appearance comparison, life satisfaction rose independent of the tendency to compare one's own appearance with others. It is possible that users who are no longer exposed to direct evaluative feedback about their images on Ig—be it related to their appearance, habits, or opinions—can witness an increase in their global satisfaction levels. No significant effects were found among men.