The Happiness Research Institute in Denmark decided to put this question to the test. Do you think you were happier before you started using Facebook, the popular social network?
The study
1095 Danish people were selected by The Happiness Research Institute and questioned about their Facebook habits, which were as follows:
- 94 per cent visit Facebook as part of a daily routine
- 78 per cent use Facebook 30 minutes or more daily
- 86 per cent browse the news feed often or very often
- 69 per cent prefer to post pictures of the great things they experience
- 61 per cent prefer to post their good sides on Facebook
They were also questioned on their moods and satisfaction with their social lives.
Afterwards, the group was randomly split into two halves – the ‘treatment group’ was asked to stop using Facebook for one week, while the ‘control group’ went on as usual using the network.
The results
After one week, The Happiness Research Institute found the users that were not using the network were significantly happier.
When asked “In general, how satisfied are you with you life today?” and to rank their answer on a scale from 1-10, the non Facebook using treatment group averaged at 8.12/10, compared to the Facebook using control group, which averaged at 7.75/10.
Before the study began, the treatment group averaged at 7.56/10, whereas the control group averaged at 7.67/10.
On the last day of the study, the participants were also asked, ‘What moods they had experienced that day’. Facebook abstaining members of the treatment group were more likely to be happy, enthusiastic and enjoying life; while also less likely to be sad, depressed, worried, lonely or angry.
You can download the full report at The Happiness Research Institute website.
What do you think about this study? Do you believe the results would have differed over a longer period of time? Let us and your fellow readers know in the comments below.
