September 10, 2013

How Fac book Mak s Us Unhappy

Posted by Maria Konnikova 

o one !oins Facebook to be sad and "one"y# $%t a new st%dy  &rom the University o&

Michi'an psycho"o'ist (than Kross ar'%es that that)s e*act"y how it makes %s &ee"# +ver

two weeks, Kross and his co""ea'%es sent te*t messa'es to ei'htytwo -nn -rbor

residents &ive times per day# .he researchers wanted to know a &ew thin's/ how their

s%b!ects &e"t overa"", how worried and "one"y they were, how m%ch they had %sed

Facebook, and how o&ten they had had direct interaction with others since the previo%s

te*t messa'e# Kross &o%nd that the more peop"e %sed Facebook in the time between the

two te*ts, the "ess happy they &e"tand the more their overa"" satis&action dec"ined &rom

the be'innin' o& the st%dy %nti" its end# .he data, he ar'%es, shows that Facebook was

makin' them %nhappy#

esearch into the a"ienatin' nat%re o& the nternetand Facebook in partic%"ars%pports

Kross)s conc"%sion# n 14, obert Kra%t, a researcher at 5arne'ie Me""on University,

 

&o%nd that the more peop"e %sed the 6eb, the "one"ier and more depressed they &e"t#

 -&ter peop"e went on"ine &or the &irst time, their sense o& happiness and socia"

connectedness dropped, over one to two years, as a &%nction o& how o&ten they %sed the

nternet#

7one"ier peop"e weren)t inherent"y more "ike"y to 'o on"ine, either8 a recent review o&

some seventy&ive st%dies conc"%ded that 9%sers o& Facebook do not di&&er in most

persona"ity traits &rom non%sers o& Facebook#: ;athan He""er wrote abo%t "one"iness in

the ma'a<ine "ast year#= $%t, somehow, the nternet seemed to make them &ee" more

a"ienated# - 2010 ana"ysis o& &orty st%dies a"so con&irmed the trend/ nternet %se had a

sma"", si'ni&icant detrimenta" e&&ect on overa"" we""bein'# +ne e*periment conc"%ded that

Facebook co%"d even ca%se prob"ems in re"ationships, by increasin' &ee"in's o& !ea"o%sy#

 -nother 'ro%p o& researchers has s%''ested that envy, too, increases with Facebook %se/

the more time peop"e spent browsin' the site, as opposed to active"y creatin' content

and en'a'in' with it, the more envio%s they &e"t# .he e&&ect, s%''ested Hanna Krasnova

and her co""ea'%es, was a res%"t o& the we""known socia"psycho"o'y phenomenon o&

socia" comparison# t was &%rther e*acerbated by a 'enera" simi"arity o& peop"e)s socia"

networks to themse"ves/ beca%se the point o& comparison is "ikeminded peers, "earnin'

abo%t the achievements o& others hits even harder# .he psycho"o'ist $eth -nderson and

her co""ea'%es ar'%e, in a recent review o& Facebook)s e&&ects, that %sin' the network can

>%ick"y become addictive, which comes with a na''in' sense o& ne'ativity that can "ead

to resentment o& the network &or some o& the same reasons we !oined it to be'in with# 6e

want to "earn abo%t other peop"e and have others "earn abo%t %sb%t thro%'h that very

"earnin' process we may start to resent both others) "ives and the ima'e o& o%rse"ves that

we &ee" we need to contin%o%s"y maintain# 9t may be that the same thin' peop"e &ind

attractive is what they %"timate"y &ind repe""in',: said the psycho"o'ist Sam%e" ?os"in',

whose research &oc%sses on socia"media %se and the motivations behind socia"

networkin' and sharin'#

$%t, as with most &indin's on Facebook, the opposite ar'%ment is e>%a""y prominent# n

200, Sebasti@n Aa"en<%e"a and his co""ea'%es came to the opposite conc"%sion o& Kross/

that %sin' Facebook makes %s happier # .hey a"so &o%nd that it increases socia" tr%st and

en'a'ementand even enco%ra'es po"itica" participation# Aa"en<%e"a)s &indin's &it neat"y

with what socia" psycho"o'ists have "on' known abo%t socia"ity/ as Matthew 7ieberman

ar'%es in his book 9Socia"/ 6hy +%r $rains are 6ired to 5onnect,: socia" networks are a

way to share, and the e*perience o& s%ccess&%" sharin' comes with a psycho"o'ica" and

physio"o'ica" r%sh that is o&ten se"&rein&orcin'# .he preva"ence o& socia" media has, as a

res%"t, &%ndamenta""y chan'ed the way we read and watch/ we think abo%t how we)""

share somethin', and whom we)"" share it with, as we cons%me it# .he mere tho%'ht o&

s%ccess&%" sharin' activates o%r rewardprocessin' centers, even be&ore we)ve act%a""y

shared a sin'"e thin'#

 Airt%a" socia" connection can even provide a b%&&er a'ainst stress and pain/ in a 200

st%dy , 7ieberman and his co""ea'%es demonstrated that a pain&%" stim%"%s h%rt "ess when

a woman either he"d her boy&riend)s hand or "ooked at his pict%re8 the paind%""in'

 

e&&ects o& the pict%re were, in &act, twice as power&%" as physica" contact# Somehow, the

e"ement o& distance and &orced ima'inationa menta" representation in "ie% o& the rea"

thin', somethin' that the psycho"o'ists 6endi ?ardner and 5indy Pickett ca"" 9socia"

snackin':had an anesthetic e&&ect one we mi'ht e*pect to carry thro%'h to an entire‚

network o& pict%res o& &riends#

.he key to %nderstandin' why rep%tab"e st%dies are so stark"y divided on the >%estion o&

what Facebook does to o%r emotiona" state may be in simp"y "ookin' at what peop"e

act%a""y do when they)re on Facebook# 96hat makes it comp"icated is that Facebook is

&or "ots o& di&&erent thin'sand di&&erent peop"e %se it &or di&&erent s%bsets o& those

thin's# ot on"y that, b%t they are a"so chan'in'  thin's, beca%se o& peop"e themse"ves

chan'in',: said ?os"in'# - 2010 st%dy  &rom 5arne'ie Me""on &o%nd that, when peop"e

en'a'ed in direct interaction with othersthat is, postin' on wa""s, messa'in', or 9"ikin':

somethin'their &ee"in's o& bondin' and 'enera" socia" capita" increased, whi"e their

sense o& "one"iness decreased# $%t when participants simp"y cons%med a "ot o& content

passive"y, Facebook had the opposite e&&ect, "owerin' their &ee"in's o& connection and

increasin' their sense o& "one"iness#

n an %nre"ated e*periment &rom the University o& Misso%ri, a 'ro%p o& psycho"o'ists

&o%nd a physica" mani&estation o& these same e&&ects# -s st%dy participants interacted

with the site, &o%r e"ectrodes attached to the areas !%st above their eyebrows and !%st

be"ow their eyes recorded their &acia" e*pressions in a proced%re known as &acia"

e"ectromyo'raphy# 6hen the s%b!ects were active"y en'a'ed with Facebook, their

physio"o'ica" response meas%red a si'ni&icant %ptick in happiness# 6hen they were

passive"y browsin', however, the positive e&&ect disappeared#

.his a"i'ns with research cond%cted ear"ier this year by Bohn (astwood and his

co""ea'%es at Cork University in a metaana"ysis o& boredom# 6hat ca%ses %s to &ee" bored

and, as a res%"t, %nhappyD -ttention# 6hen o%r attention is active"y en'a'ed, we aren)t

bored8 when we &ai" to en'a'e, boredom sets in# -s (astwood)s work, a"on' with recent

research on media m%"titaskin', have i""%strated, the 'reater the n%mber o& thin's we

have p%""in' at o%r attention, the "ess we are ab"e to meanin'&%""y en'a'e, and the more

discontented we become#

n other words, the wor"d o& constant connectivity and media, as embodied by Facebook,

is the socia" network)s worst enemy/ in every st%dy that distin'%ished the two types o&

Facebook e*periencesactive vers%s passivepeop"e spent, on avera'e, &ar more time

passive"y scro""in' thro%'h news&eeds than they did active"y en'a'in' with content# .his

may be why 'enera" st%dies o& overa"" Facebook %se, "ike Kross)s o& -nn -rbor residents,

so o&ten show de"eterio%s e&&ects on o%r emotiona" state# Eemands on o%r attention "ead

%s to %se Facebook more passive"y than active"y, and passive e*periences, no matter the

medi%m, trans"ate to &ee"in's o& disconnection and boredom#

n on'oin' research, the psycho"o'ist .imothy 6i"son has "earned, as he p%t it to me, that

co""e'e st%dents start 'oin' 9cra<y: a&ter !%st a &ew min%tes in a room witho%t their

phones or a comp%ter# 9+ne wo%"d think we co%"d spend the time menta""y entertainin'

 

o%rse"ves,: he said# 9$%t we can)t# 6e)ve &or'otten how#: 6henever we have downtime,

the nternet is an enticin', >%ick so"%tion that immediate"y &i""s the 'ap# 6e 'et bored,

"ook at Facebook or .witter, and become more bored# ?ettin' rid o& Facebook wo%"dn)t

chan'e the &act that o%r attention is, more and more &re>%ent"y, &or'ettin' the path to

proper, &%"&i""in' en'a'ement# -nd in that sense, Facebook isn)t the prob"em# t)s the

symptom#

Maria Konnikova  is the a%thor o& the ew Cork .imes best,se""er 9 Mastermind/ How to

.hink 7ike Sher"ock Ho"mes #: She has a Ph#E# in psycho"o'y &rom 5o"%mbia University#

Photo'raph by 7%on' .hai 7inhF(P-F5orbis