Does putting down your smartphone make you happier? the effects of restricting digital media on well-being.

ABSTRACT: Both scientists and laypeople have become increasingly concerned about smartphones, especially their associated digital media (e.g., email, news, gaming, and dating apps) and social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat). Recent correlational research links substantial declines in Gen Z well-being to digital and social media use, yet other work suggests the effects are small and unnoteworthy. To help further disentangle correlation from causation, we conducted a preregistered 8-day experimental deprivation study with Gen Z individuals (N = 338). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) restrict digital media (i.e., smartphone) use, (2) restrict social media use, (3) restrict water use (active control), or (4) restrict nothing (measurement-only control). Relat

SUBMITTER: Walsh LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11472914 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature