SERBEST ZAMANDA SOSYAL MEDYA KULLANIMININ MUTLULUK ÜZERİNDEKİ ETKİSİ KONUSUNDA KÜLTÜRLER ARASI BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Year 2023, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 87 - 100, 15.04.2023

Esra Cizmeci Ümit , Syed Muhammad Saqib Saleem

Abstract

Serbest zamanların eğlenceli bir biçimde geçirilmesi, bireylere mutluluk getiren çok önemli faktörlerden biridir. Daha iyi bir yaşam elde edebilmek adına çalışmak durumunda olduğumuz zorunlu zamanların dışında kalan serbest zamanlarda kişiler eğlenmeye ve dinlenmeye çalışırlar. Yapılan birçok araştırmaya göre, odak noktası gençler olduğunda serbest zamanlarda keyifli vakit geçirmek için yapılan birincil aktivitenin, sosyal medyada gezinmek olduğu görülmektedir. Ancak, gençler genellikle psikolojileri ve iyilik hallerini olumsuz etkileyen, bağımlılık düzeyinde sosyal medya kullanımlarıyla anılmaktadırlar. Bu çalışma ise, konuya diğer taraftan yaklaşarak, üniversite çağındaki gençlerin sosyal medya kullanımları ile mutluluk düzeyleri arasında doğrudan bir ilişki olup olmadığını tespit etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu sebeple, mutluluk kuramını merkeze alarak, özellikle gençleri nelerin mutlu ettiğini ve mutluluk düzeylerine etki etmesi muhtemelen bir serbest zaman etkinliği olarak sosyal medya kullanımları incelenmiştir. Türkiye ve Pakistan’daki 387 üniversite öğrencisi tarafından doldurulan Sosyal Medya Kullanım Ölçeği ve Oxford Mutluluk Ölçeği’nden elde ettiğimiz sonuçlar doğrultusunda, gençlerin sosyal medya kullanımları ile mutluluk düzeyleri arasında doğrudan bir ilişki olmadığı bulunmuştur. Bu bulguların muhtemel açıklamaları, makale içerisinde tartışılacaktır.

Keywords

Mutluluk, Sosyal Medya Kullanımı, Gençler, Serbest zaman, Türkiye, Pakistan

AN EXPLORATORY CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN LEISURE TIME AND ITS IMPACT ON HAPPINESS

Abstract

Enjoying one’s leisure time is one of the significant factors that provides happiness to people. Apart from the obligatory times that we need to work to gain a better life, we try to enjoy and relax in our leisure times. As many studies demonstrate, the primary activity that young people do to enjoy their leisure times today is to navigate in social media platforms. However, young people are mostly mentioned with addictive social media usage which damages their psychology and well-being. This study, on the other hand, aims to measure whether there is a direct relationship with the social media usage of college youth and their happiness levels. For this reason, we took the theory of happiness at the center, specifically focusing on what makes today’s youth happy, and their social media use as a leisure activity which may have impact on their happiness levels. As a result of applying surveys that include Social Media Use Integration Scale and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire on 387 college-aged students in total from Turkey and Pakistan, we found that there is no direct relationship between social media use and happiness levels of youth. Possible explanations of these findings will be discussed throughout the article.

Keywords

Happinness, Social Media Use, Young People, Leisure Time, Turkey, Pakistan

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