Internet use and subjective well-being in China

Nie, Peng; Nimrod, Galit; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso

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Nie, Peng ; Nimrod, Galit ; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso

Internet use and subjective well-being in China

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URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:100-opus-11047
URL: http://opus.uni-hohenheim.de/volltexte/2015/1104/

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SWD-Schlagwörter:

China , Medienkonsum , Lebensgefühl

Freie Schlagwörter (Englisch):

China , digital divides , depression , happiness , Internet use , life satisfaction

Institut:

Institut für Health Care & Public Management

DDC-Sachgruppe:

Wirtschaft

Dokumentart:

ResearchPaper

Schriftenreihe:

Hohenheim discussion papers in business, economics and social sciences

Bandnummer:

2015,07

Sprache:

Englisch

Erstellungsjahr:

2015

Publikationsdatum:

07.09.2015

Lizenz:

Veröffentlichungsvertrag mit der Universitätsbibliothek Hohenheim

Kurzfassung auf Englisch:

Using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies, we analyze the association between Internet use and various measures of subjective well-being (SWB) in a sample of 16- to 60- year-old Chinese. Our analysis shows that although intensive Internet use is significantly associated with lower levels of SWB, we hardly observe any associations when the focus is on participation in specific online activities. Nevertheless, SWB depends on perceptions of Internet use; that is, the importance that different individuals ascribe to different purposes for using the Internet and how much they believe that their Internet use is displacing other activities. Our results suggest that, contrary to previous findings, differences in beneficial outcomes (the third level digital divide) do not necessarily arise from individuals’ actual Internet use (the second level digital divide) but rather may result from their subjective perceptions of such usage. Our findings also point to a possible cultural factor that puts Chinese Internet users at psychological risk.