Keeping Up with the E-Joneses: Do Online Social Networks Raise Social Comparisons?

Sabatini, Fabio; Sarracino, Francesco

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2771042

Cited by 18 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…In both specifications the proxies of social capital are significantly and positively correlated with life satisfaction. This result is consistent with previous literature examining the role of relational goods in individual happiness (Becchetti et al, ; Sarracino, ; Bartolini et al, ; Bartolini and Sarracino, ).…”

Section: Partial Correlations Using Olssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The author suggested that Internet access might raise material aspirations thereby worsening people's satisfaction with their income position. Based on Eurobarometer and on Italian MHS data, Sabatini and Sarracino () found that SNS users have a higher probability to compare their achievements to those of others, resulting in lower satisfaction with their income. Using a survey conducted on a representative sample of French Facebook users, Pénard and Mayol () showed that Facebook can interfere with subjective well‐being through its effects on self‐esteem.…”

Section: Sns and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Online Networks and Subjective Well‐Being

Sabatini¹,

Sarracino²

2017

Kyklos

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. 1 Abstract Does Facebook make people lonely and unhappy? Empirical studies have produced conflicting results about the effect of social networking sites (SNS) use on individual welfare. We use a representative sample of the Italian population to investigate how actual and virtual networks of social relationships influence subjective well-being (SWB). We find a significantly negative correlation between online networking and self-reported happiness. We address endogeneity in online networking by exploiting technological characteristics of the pre-existing voice telecommunication infrastructures that exogenously determined the availability of broadband for high-speed Internet. We try to further disentangle the direct effect of SNS use on well-being from the indirect effect possibly caused by the impact of SNS's on trust and sociability in a SEM analysis. We find that online networking plays a positive role in SWB through its impact on physical interactions. On the other hand, SNS use is associated with lower social trust, which is in turn positively correlated with SWB. The overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative. Terms of use: Documents in

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Section: Partial Correlations Using Olssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Sns and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Networks and Subjective Well‐Being

Sabatini¹,

Sarracino²

2017

Kyklos

Self Cite

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“…The typical econometric strategy to tackle this has been to employ instrumental variables, which exploit some forms of exogenous variation that can explain Internet use differences among individuals. Examples of instrumental variables that have been used in this literature are broadband infrastructures in different regions (Hyll and Schneider, 2013;Bhuller et al, 2013;Sabatini and Sarracino, 2016;, the country's slope of terrain (that affects investments in Internet infrastructure; Ganju et al, 2015), and peer effects in ICT use (Penard et al, 2013;Castellacci and Viñas-Bardolet, 2017).…”

Section: An Overview Of the Literature On Internet And Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework

2018

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How does Internet use affect well-being? This paper presents a survey of the literature investigating this question, and it develops a framework to analyze both positive effects and potential risks. We point out four distinct channels through which Internet can shape well-being: it changes time use patterns, creates new activities, facilitates access to information, and acts as powerful communication tool. We show how these four channels impact well-being in distinct domains of life. A central point emerging from the literature review is that the effects of Internet on well-being are mediated by a set of personal characteristics that are specific to each individual: psychological functioning, capabilities, and framing conditions (culture and beliefs). Hence, it is the interaction between human beings' activities in distinct domains of life and their own personal characteristics that explains why the use of Internet has stronger positive effects for some individuals and social groups than others.

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“…The emergence of SNSs may reinforce this tendency, as they display an unprecedented volume of personal information that can be a powerful source of social comparison (Sabatini and Sarracino, 2015). As suggested by Sabatini and Sarracino (2015), social comparison relies on the availability of information about the lives of others. SNSs offer a fertile environment for upward social comparison, which in turn can lead to envy and negative feelings (e.g., Krasnova et al, 2015).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mediating Roles of Upward Social Comparison and Self-esteem and the Moderating Role of Social Comparison Orientation in the Association between Social Networking Site Usage and Subjective Well-Being

et al. 2017

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The increased pervasiveness of social media use has raised questions about potential effects on users’ subjective well-being, with studies reaching contrasting conclusions. To reconcile these discrepancies and shed new light on this phenomenon, the current study examined: (1) whether upward social comparison and self-esteem mediate the association between social networking site (SNS) usage and users’ subjective well-being, and (2) whether the association between SNS usage and upward social comparison is moderated by users’ social comparison orientation. Data from 696 participants were collected. Structural equation modeling revealed that upward social comparison and self-esteem mediated the relationship between SNS usage and users’ subjective well-being. We found that social comparison orientation moderated the association between passive SNS usage and users’ upward social comparison. Specifically, social comparison orientation strengthened the association between passive SNS usage and upward social comparison. The results might suggest a process through which passive SNS usage is related to subjective well-being, and identify a context under which these associations may differ.

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Keeping Up with the E-Joneses: Do Online Social Networks Raise Social Comparisons?

Cited by 18 publications

References 45 publications

Online Networks and Subjective Well‐Being

Online Networks and Subjective Well‐Being

Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework

The Mediating Roles of Upward Social Comparison and Self-esteem and the Moderating Role of Social Comparison Orientation in the Association between Social Networking Site Usage and Subjective Well-Being

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