Digital Overuse and Subjective Well-Being in a Digitized Society

Abstract

In modern everyday life, individuals experience an abundance of digital information and communication options, and pressure to use them effectively and constantly. While there are many benefits attainable through the use of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs), digital overuse needs to be explored as it may impair individual well-being. A nationally representative survey explored the extent of perceived digital overuse (PDO) and tested its relation to social digital pressure, digital coping skills, and, to assess everyday offline relevance, to individual subjective well-being. Results indicated that 28% of Swiss Internet users pereived digital overuse, which was strongly and negatively associated with well-being. Social pressure was positively related to overuse. Differences in experiencing and dealing with digital overabundance are highly relevant to general well-being and need to be further researched in light of social change and ICT innovations.

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