Title: The impact of internet use on Chinese residents' subjective well-being

Authors: Jianyu Chi

Addresses: School of Economics and Management, Communication University of China, Building 32, No. 1, Dingfuzhuang East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Abstract: As internet technology plays an increasingly important role in modern life, the impact of internet use on residents has also attracted more attention. Based on the 2017 China General Social Survey data (CGSS2017), we established an Ologit model to test the relationship between internet use and residents' subjective well-being (SWB). We found that using the internet can significantly improve the subjective well-being of residents. Compared with never surfing the internet, a lower frequency of internet surfing does not improve happiness, but a higher frequency will significantly improve residents' happiness. It positively impacts their SWB through two channels: increasing residents' participation in leisure and entertainment and improving residents' sense of social justice. Increasing active hedonic leisure time, can improve the happiness of Chinese urban residents. Furthermore, social justice is also one of the factors that affect happiness.

Keywords: internet use; internet usage frequency; leisure and entertainment; social justice; subjective well-being.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHD.2023.134382

International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2023 Vol.8 No.2, pp.83 - 101

Received: 18 Aug 2022
Accepted: 21 Dec 2022
Published online: 19 Oct 2023 *

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