Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Older adults are the fastest growing group to adopt and use social media.Social media allows individuals to remain socially connected when face-to-face contact becomes difficult.Previous research shows happiness may spread through face-to-face social networks.Since older adults may experience changes in their social networks over time, examining whether happiness is also related to online networks is important to understand.The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the use of multiple social media sites and happiness among n=870 adults age 45 years and older.Data from the 2016 wave of the General Social Survey was used to conduct crosssectional binary logistic regression analyses.Fifty-six percent of participants used at least one social media site.Findings indicate the two predictor variables of interest (amount of time spent on the internet/web-enabled applications and number of social media sites used) had no significant relationship with happiness.Happiness was significantly related to number of children, marital status, total family income, and having a graduate degree.Future research in this area can develop new theories and explore how happiness is derived through a network by comparing an individual's in-person and online network.
Author: Meghan Young
Institution: Miami University
Language: English
Subfield: Geriatrics and Gerontology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2888934361