Does social media have an effect on happiness, depending on

type and frequency of use, a quantitative study

Max Kurevlev

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology

Abstract (150 words)

Introduction (900 words)

Social media refers to online spaces that allow users to share content, self-present and interact
with one another. With the emergence of the internet and online hubs, social media has
transformed communication, allowing for easier, quicker, and more accessible ways for humans
to connect. Although this streamline of interaction opens up a world full of opportunities,
current research echoes the question of whether it positively or negatively impacts on the
mental health of its users.

The impact of social media has been under the eye of scrutiny by the public for its potentially
negative effects on mental health, but is this an exaggeration brought on by moral panic, or a
reasonable assumption? Many studies support the theory that social medias impact on well-
being is negative, such as a three weeklong study by Hunt et al. (2018) which showed that
participants who had limited social media use to 10 minutes per day had significant reductions
in feelings of loneliness and symptoms of depression suggesting that limiting the frequency of
social media use way improve well-being.

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However, an eight-year longitudinal study by Coyne et al. (2020) found that increased use of
social media was in fact not associated with greater mental health issues when observing
individuals, claiming much of previous research to be polluted by cross-sectional research and
lacking in analytic techniques focusing on individual change over time for a user. A study by Boer
et al. (2021) observed very similar results by using three waves of longitudinal data, reporting
that the intensity of social media usage and mental health were not associated. Both
longitudinal studies noted that other Cross-sectional research seemed to suggest the opposite
of their findings, associating the frequency of social media usage with lower life satisfaction and
greater symptoms of depression. A selection of studies () argue that time on social media itself is
not necessarily showing of mental health issues and instead it is social media content and the
surrounding context that might explain the increases in mental health issues ().

Therefore, when discussing time spent on social media, it is important to note how and what
type of content is being consumed. Social media platforms provide a constant stream of media,
readily available to be browsed and refreshed. Navigating this endless stream of content has the
potential to bring on a state of flow, “ a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to
absolute absorption in an activity” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), for its users, resulting in
prolonged and more frequent social media use (Pelet et al., 2017). Excessive time spent solely
online can reduce face to face interactions, contributing to users feeling isolated as observed in
a study by Primack et al. (2017) which concluded that young adults with more frequent social
media use felt more socially isolated than those who had lower frequency of social media use.
However not all social media are created equal, with each platform having its own unique
features and predominant type of media sharing available. Visual, animated and test media have
the potential to effect users differently with some forms of media invoking a state of flow more
easily that other, for example the shortform scrollable content of TikTok. A study by __ focused

Considering the expansive research available on the effects of social media

on mental health, it can be concluded that this is a vast subject with room for
further research. Not many of the studies mentioned above considered how
greatly social media platforms can differ from one another, instead focusing
on social media as a generalised term or looking into the effects of one
individual platform per study, resulting in general conclusions about social
media as a term or results that are focused solely on one social media

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without being put into the context of other types of media sharing platforms.
The current study aims to contribute to this field of research and fill gaps by
examining the relationship between the participants most frequently used
social media platform and the participants happiness. Using this research,
this study aims to answer the research question stated below as well as
support the hypothesis stated below. In a future study, the current study can
be improved on by allowing participants a wider variety of social media
platforms to choose from and by observing other variables such as age and
gender. The study can be developed further by examining how frequent the
use of social media is along side the specific platform used.

Research Question: Will there be differences in participants’ happiness

depending on their most frequently used social media?

Hypothesis: There will be differences in the participants’ happiness

depending on their most frequently used social media.

Method

Design

The present study implemented a quantitative-based correlational design. The design of this

study observed the participants most frequently used social media as an independent variable

and the participants’ happiness as a dependent variable. Participants were provided with eight

different social media platforms to choose from, WhatsApp, Meta/Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

LinkedIn, YouTube, Telegram and TikTok.

Participants

Participants were sampled using convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 374 students

and faculty (204 women, 142 men, 29 non-binary, age range: 18–61 years) located at the

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campus of the Institute of Art and Design in Dun Laoghaire who were randomly invited to

participate in the study. FSUFNDVBJN CHANGE NUMBERSA ADD MISSING CASES PERCENTAGE

AND HOW IT WAS DEALTH WITH

Materials

The materials used in the present study can all be found in the Appendices section of this report.

This includes a QR Code and survey link (see Appendix A), an information sheet (see Appendix

B), a data protection page (see Appendix C) used to inform participants of the nature of the

study, a consent form (see Appendix D), an online survey (see Appendix E), a debrief document

(see Appendix G), the raw data (see Appendix H) and the SPSS tests. Additionally, within the

online survey, a multiple-choice question (see Appendix E) was used to observe the participants

most frequently used social media platform and a Subjective Happiness Scale (see Appendix F),

was utilised to measure the participants happiness, this measures Cronbach’s alphas were from

0.79 to 0.94, indicating acceptable internal consistency (Alquwez et al., 2021).

Procedure

Participants were approached by the researcher, briefly introduced to the study and if

interested in participating were provided with a survey QR code or survey link. The online survey

contained an initial introduction sheet, a mandatory consent form and a questionnaire. Once

participants submitted their answers, they were brought to an online debrief document.

Participants were thanked for their time and reminded of their right to withdraw from the study

if they wished to do so.

Ethics

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To ensure that the study followed ethical guidelines, the PSI Code of Professional Ethics was
followed. This involved getting the participants’ informed consent by providing an information
sheet and a consent form. Participants also retained the right to withdraw at any stage of the
study.

Results

The independent variable for this experiment on social media and happiness was:

(i) Participants most frequently used social media platform

The dependent variable for this experiment was:

(i) Participants self-reported happiness

Descriptive Statistics:

The data collected for the analysis is summarised in Table 1 below. The n values, mean, and

standard deviation for each of the seven social media platforms are presented.

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics for total Happiness per Social Media Platform

Platform n M SD

WhatsApp 32 4.56 1.25

Meta/Facebook 2 5.25 1.77

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 Twitter 13 4.06 1.36

Instagram 131 4.40 1.18

YouTube 55 4.18 1.15

Telegram 3 4.17 1.04

TikTok 138 4.34 1.15

Additional data of interest for the analysis is summarised in Figure 1 below. In order to observe

the data in a stacked bar graph, the happiness scores are grouped into three levels, low

happiness score (0-3.5), medium happiness score (3.51-5) and high happiness score (5.01-7).

Figure 1

Stacked bar graph for grouped Happiness scores per Social Media Platform

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Inferential Statistics:

The Hypothesis stated there would be a difference in the participants happiness based on their

most frequently used social media platform. A Shapiro-Wilk test carried out on the data showed

that some of the data was not normally distributed, W(138) = 0.98, p = 0.046. It is also important

to note the unequal sample sizes amongst the IV groups. Due to not normally distributed data

and unequal sample sizes, a non-parametric test was implemented for the current study.

An independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted to examine the differences of total

happiness scores according to type of social media platform used most frequently, H(6) = 4.29, p

= 0.64. No significant differences were found among the seven social media platforms,

WhatsApp (Mdn = 4.88), Meta/Facebook (Mdn = 5.25), Twitter (Mdn = 3.50), Instagram (Mdn =

4.50), YouTube (Mdn = 4.25), Telegram (Mdn = 4.50) and TikTok (Mdn = 4.25). Therefore, the

null hypothesis was retained as the distribution of happiness scores is the same across the types

of social media platforms observed.

Discussion (350 words)

Provide an evaluation of your research.

A brief interpretation of the findings

Strengths and weaknesses of the study, what do they mean in the

context of previous theory and research?

Suggestions for future research

Conclusion

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 References (min 10) and Appendices

Alquwez, N., Cruz, J. P., Alotaibi, N. S., & Alshammari, F. (2021). Validity and

reliability of the Subjective Happiness Scale Arabic version among Saudi working

women. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 16(6), 835–842.

[Link]

Provide a list of references in APA style and Appendices presented

according to the logical order they are used in the report.

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 Appendices

Appendix A – QR Code and Survey Link

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Appendix B – Information Sheet (Participant Brief)

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Appendix C – Data Protection Page

Appendix D – Consent Form

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Appendix E – Online Survey

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Appendix F – Debrief

Appendix F: Raw Data

Appendix G: Test SPSS

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Appendix H: The Subjective Happiness Scale

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