The Internet makes people happier because it makes them think they’re better off - Evidence from China and Germany

  • The subjective well-being (SWB) of people increasingly concerns policymakers and economists alike. But what matters, after basic income concerns are satisfied, has sparked debates. Social comparison theory (SCT) offers an intuitive answer, which explains happiness as an outcome of comparisons to the social environment and past experiences. Examining this theory as a potential determinant of wellbeing, we discover that the advent of the Internet has led to a dramatic shift in parameters, potentially magnifying the impact of social comparisons. For a number of reasons, China and Germany serve as an ideal testing ground for the hypothesised relations: Both share a surprisingly similar SWB trajectory, but, whereas China has recently experienced a rapid expansion of Internet access, Germany already saw widespread adoption of this technology for over a decade. Therefore, looking at survey data from the China General Social Survey from 2011 to 2015, promised to yield conclusive answers about this triangular relation. Findings suggest that, first, social comparison concerns predict subjective wellbeing better than any objective measures. Second, only in China was spending more time online associated with an improved life satisfaction and better social comparison outcomes. Here, having access was more important than the frequency of use. This could imply that individuals initially gain immensely from the introduction of the Internet, in terms of social comparison outcomes, but that those effects wear off over time.

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Metadaten
Author:Kai Julian von Carnap-Bornheim
URN:urn:nbn:de:kobv:b721-opus4-22932
Referee:Jennifer Pedussel-Wu
Advisor:Lu Jian
Document Type:Master's Thesis
Language:English
Year of Completion:2018
Date of first Publication:2020/08/11
Publishing Institution:Hochschulbibliothek HWR Berlin
Granting Institution:Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin
Date of final exam:2018/07/13
Release Date:2020/08/11
Tag:China; Germany; Internet Use Intensity; Social Comparison Theory; Subjective Well-Being
Page Number:65
Institutes:Berlin Professional School (BPS) / Chinese-European Economics Business Studies M.A. (CEEBS)
Licence (German):License LogoUrheberrechtsschutz