Time on the Internet at home, loneliness, and life satisfaction: Evidence from panel time-diary data

Authors:
Irena Stepanikova;Norman H. Nie;Xiaobin He
Affiliations:
Department of Sociology, Sloan College, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA;Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, Stanford University, 417 Galvez Mall, Encina Hall West, Room 104, Stanford, CA 94305, USA;Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2010

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Abstract

This study uses data collected from adult U.S. residents in 2004 and 2005 to examine whether loneliness and life satisfaction are associated with time spent at home on various Internet activities. Cross-sectional models reveal that time spent browsing the web is positively related to loneliness and negatively related to life satisfaction. Some of the relationships revealed by cross-sectional models persist even when considering the same individuals over time in fixed-effects models that account for time-invariant, individual-level characteristics. Our results vary according to how the time use data were collected, indicating that survey design can have important consequences for research in this area.