Oxford: A new global study has called into question the assumptions associated with internet use in the past.
In a study conducted at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, researchers analyzed the data of 2.4 million people from 168 countries for more than 15 years. The purpose of the research was to try to find out the positive or negative effects of regular internet use on health.
The study found that people who had Internet access in all these countries had an 8.5 percent higher rate of life satisfaction, while those who had a positive Internet experience had an 8.3 percent higher rate.
In 33,000 different numerical models and a subset of the data, the researchers found that 84.9 percent of the correlations between the Internet and well-being were positive.
Andrew Rzybylski, a professor of human behavior and technology at the Oxford Internet Institute, said it was an outdated idea, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
“If we want to make the internet world safe for children, we can’t have a one-size-fits-all attitude,” he said. We need to make sure that our minds are influenced by data.
The study assessed well-being on eight indicators, including life satisfaction, negative and positive daily experiences, two measures of social well-being, physical well-being, social well-being and experiences of purpose.
The study also looked at factors such as education, income and health. However, the study also did not look at social media use.
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