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Facebook use predicts declines in happiness, new study finds

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2013Culture, Technologybelgium, decline, dynamic processes, emre demiralp, ethan kross, facebook accounts, facebook use, facebook user demographic, free networking website, happiness, jiyoung park, life satisfaction levels, philippe verduyn, predict, research foundation flanders, social research, university of leuven, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR — Facebook helps people feel connected, but it doesn’t necessarily make them happier, a new study shows.   Facebook use actually predicts declines in a user’s well-being, according to a University of Michigan study that is the first known published research examining Facebook influence on happiness and satisfaction.

The study about the use of Facebook, a free networking website, appears online in PLOS ONE.

“On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection,” said U-M social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the article and a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research. “But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result—it undermines it.” (more…)

Friends with Cognitive Benefits: Mental Function Improves After Certain Kinds of Socializing

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2010Culturebrain functions, cognitive benefits, cognitive flexibility, common life problems, conversation, friends, mental benefits, oscar ybarra, psychologist, social cognitive, social contact, social interactions, social research, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems, a new University of Michigan study shows. But conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits.

“This study shows that simply talking to other people, the way you do when you’re making friends, can provide mental benefits,” said psychologist Oscar Ybarra, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). (more…)

Brooding Russians: Less distressed than Americans

By Guest PostJuly 16, 20101 commentCultureamericans, brooding, daniel katz dissertation fellowship, dostoyevsky, ethan kross, ethnographers, igor grossmann, isr, psychological science, psychology, russians, social research, tolstoy, ukraine, university of michigan, westerners

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy portrayed Russians as a brooding, complicated people, and ethnographers have confirmed that Russians tend to focus on dark feelings and memories more than Westerners do.

But a new University of Michigan study finds that even though Russians tend to brood, they are less likely than Americans to feel as depressed as a result.

(more…)

Tag Archives: social research

Facebook use predicts declines in happiness, new study finds

Friends with Cognitive Benefits: Mental Function Improves After Certain Kinds of Socializing

Brooding Russians: Less distressed than Americans