Factors Predicting Life Satisfaction Among Social Media Users

Year 2020, Issue: 78, 47 - 62, 25.06.2020

Veysel Bozkurt Aşkın Keser Haluk Zülfikar

https://doi.org/10.26650/jspc.2019.78.0035

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the factors predicting life satisfaction among social media users, such as loneliness, age, gender, education, unemployment, marital status, trust, and religious involvement. Data was collected from 1547 social media users using convenience sampling. In the data collection process of the study, a questionnaire was shared on social media networks after uploading it to Google forms. In the correlation analysis, life satisfaction was determined to have a statistically significant negative relationship with loneliness, social media usage time, being unemployed and age. Conversely, a positive correlation was determined with trust in people, optimism about the future, religious involvement, marital status and female gender. Of the total respondents, 54.2% thought that social media increases loneliness, 20.3% stated that the use of social media increased their unhappiness, and 68.3% considered people to be very disrespectful to each other on social media networks. The predictors of life satisfaction found in the multiple regression model were loneliness, female gender, having a graduate or postgraduate degree, trusting people, positive expectation about the future, religious involvement and not being unemployed. Age and internet usage time did not have a significant effect in the regression analysis.

Keywords

Social media usage, Life satisfaction and loneliness, .

References

• Allen, R. L., & Oshagan, H. (1995). The UCLA loneliness scale: Invariance of social structural characteristics. Personality and Individual Differences, 19(2), 185–195.
• Al-Attiyah, A., & Nasser, R. (2013). Gender and age differences in life satisfaction within a sex-segregated society: Sampling youth in Qatar. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth.
• Balcı, Ş. ve Koçak, M. C. (2017). Sosyal medya kullanımı ile yaşam doyumu arasındaki ilişki: Üniversite öğrencileri üzerinde bir araştırma. Uluslararası İletişimde Yeni Yönelimler Konferansı, 34–45.
• Bauman, Z. (2011). Akışkan Modern Dünyadan 44 Mektup (Çev. P. Siral). İstanbul: Habitus Yayıncılık.
• Bekmezci, M., ve Mert, İ . (2018). Yaşam tatmini ölçeğinin Türkçe geçerlilik ve güvenirlilik çalışması. Toros Üniversitesi İİSBF Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 5(8), 166–177 .
• Bibi, F., Chaudhry, A. G., & Awan, E. A. (2014). Impact of gender, age and culture on life satisfaction. Pakistan Association of Anthropology, Islamabad, Pakistan
• Borges, M. A., Levine, J. R., & Dutton, L. J. (1984). Men’s and women’s ratings of life satisfaction by age of respondent and age interval judged. Sex Roles, 11(3-4), 345–350
• Bozkurt, V. (2017). Değişen dünyada sosyoloj. Bursa: Ekin Yayınları.
• Bozkurt, V. (2018). Sosyal Medya Kullanan Gençler Arasında Bencillik ve Yalnızlık, Türkiye’nin Yüzyılı ve Geleceği Uluslararası Gençlik Sempozyumu Tebliğler Kitabı, Yayına haz. M. Aslan, İstanbul.
• Çavuş, Ş. ve Cumaliyeva, D. (2013). İş doyumu ve yaşam doyumu ilişkisi: Özel güvenlikte çalışanlar üzerine bir araştırma. Akademik Bakış Dergisi, 37, 1–17.
• Deiner, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, E. R. (2009). Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction. The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, Lopez, S.J. & Snyder, C.R.,Oxford University Press, 187-194.
• Diener, E., & Ryan, K. (2009). Subjective well-being: A general overview. South African Journal of Psychology, 39, 391–406.
• Dikmen, A. A. (1995). İş Doyumu ve Yaşam Doyumu İlişkisi. Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi, 50(3-4).
• Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide. A study in sociology. Glencoe: Free Press. Ellison, C. G., David, A. G., & Thomas, A. (1989). Does religious commitment contribute to individual life satisfaction? Social Forces, 68, 100–123.
• Erdogan, B., Bauer, N. T., Truxillo, D. M., & Mansfield, L. R. (2012). Whistle While You Work: A Review of the Life Satisfaction Literature. Journal of Management, 38(4), 1038–1083.
• Goodwin, R., Cook, O., & Yung, Y. (2001). Loneliness and life satisfaction among three cultural groups. Personal Relationships, 8, 225–230.
• Haworth, T. J. (1997). Work, leisure and well-being. London: Routledge. https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/life-satisfaction/
• Karoğlu, K. A. ve Atasoy, B. (2018). Sosyal medya kullanımı ile serbest zaman tatmini arasındaki ilişki. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 42(2), 826–839.
• Keser, A. (2019). Çalışma yaşamında motivasyon. Kocaeli: Umuttepe Yayınevi.
• Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing wellbeing: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 1007–1022.
• Kortt, M. A., Dollery, B., & Grant, B. (2015). Religion and life satisfaction down under. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 277–293.
• Lim, C., & Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 75, 914–933.
• Meisenberg G., & Woodley M. A. (2014). Gender differences in subjective well-being and their relationships with gender equality. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(6), 1–17.
• Mineo, L. (2017). Good genes are nice, but joy is better, The Harvard Gazette, April 11, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-studyhas-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/
• Pavot W., & Diener, E. (2009). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. In: Diener E. (eds) Assessing Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, Vol 39, Springer, Dordrecht
• Pew Research. (2017). Global Attitudes & Trends data, October
• Realo, A., & Dobewall, H. (2011). Does life satisfaction change with age? A comparison of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(3), 297–308.
• Ree, J., & Alessie, R. (2011). Life satisfaction and age: dealing with under identification in age-period-cohort models. Social Science & Medicine, 73(1), 177–182.
• Riesman, D., Glazer, N., & Denny, R. (1953). The Lonely Crowd: A study of the Changing American Character. Garden City, NY: Doubleday
• Salimi, A. (2011). Social-emotional loneliness and life satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 292–295.
• Schmitter, A. C. (2003). Life Satisfaction in Centenarians Residing in Long-Term Care. http://www. mmhc.com/articles/NHM9912/cutillo.html , 21.02.2003.
• Stepanikova, I., Nie, N. H., & He, X. (2010). Time on the internet at home, loneliness, and life satisfaction: Evidence from panel time-diary data. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(3), 329–338.
• Stutzer, A. (2004). The role of income aspirations in individual happiness. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 54, 89–109.
• Taşçıoğlu, C. ve Tosun, L. P. (2018). Facebook’taki benlik sunumları, otantiklik ve psikolojik iyi oluş. Nesne, 6(12), 103–125.
• Veenhoven, R. (2012). Happiness: Also Known as “Life Satisfaction” and “Subjective Well-Being”. In: Land K., Michalos A., Sirgy M. (eds) Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research. Springer, Dordrecht
• Weich, S., & Lewis, G. (1998). Poverty, unemployment, and common mental disorders: Population based cohort study. British Medical Journal, 317, 115–119.
• Yalom, I. D. (2016). Nietzsche ağladığında. İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.
• Yılmaz, E. ve Altınok, V. (2009). Okul yöneticilerinin yalnızlık ve yaşam doyum düzeylerinin incelenmesi. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 15(59), 451–469.
• Zhan, L., Sun, Y., Wang, N., & Zhang, X. (2016). Understanding the influence of social media on people’s life satisfaction through two competing explanatory mechanisms. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 68(3), 347–361.