Millions of people are turning to Facebook for socialization and becoming more unhappy. According to new research out of Stanford University, assuming you are alone in your unhappiness makes you even more depressed.
In the January issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, a report on a series of studies reveal that “Misery Has More Company Than People Think” which was the title of the article. Alex Jordan, who is a Ph.D student in the Stanford psychology department found out that people underestimated how dejected others were and ended up feeling even more dejected as a result of this. Jordan first noticed that some of his peers actually felt more down on themselves after logging onto Facebook and scrolling through other people's photographs, hyped up updates, and various big accomplishment biographies. Apparently, his friends and colleagues were convinced that other people were leading a perfect life, because of what they saw on Facebook.
Four separate studies document this exact concept. In the first study, it evaluated all the participants reports that their negative emotions were hidden and private much more so than their positive ones. In the second part of this same study, these participants underestimated these common negative experiences. In a another study, similar to the previous one, people underestimated their negative emotions and overestimated their positive emotions, and they even did this for their well known friends.
Yet another study found out that lower estimations of someone's negative emotional experiences would predict a greater loneliness and even a lower life satisfaction. It also found out that higher estimations for positive emotions would predict a lower life satisfaction. When evaluated together, these studies find that many people may think they are more alone in their emotional difficulties that they actually are. The bottom line is that misery loves company.
In one of these studies, Jordan and his associates asked exactly eighty freshmen a couple of questions about how they recently experienced both their negative and positive emotional events. These participants ended up underestimating how many negative experiences their peers were having yet they actually overestimated how much fun that these same peers were having. Some experts believe that Facebook aggravates this natural tendency in people, too. According to some, people end up being misinformed of other people's real life and, while scrolling through their Facebook, see only the happy parts of their life, and not the negative parts. By constantly viewing what we presume to be others’ joyful and witty lives, we tend to see ourselves as losers and have lower self-esteem because of all the comparisons we make to other people who seem to be having much funner lives.
In Sherry Turkle’s book "Alone Together", she writes about how teenagers and young adults are faced with “presentation anxiety” regarding their online social networking sites. The book’s main theory is that technology doesn't make us closer, but actually makes us lonelier by preventing true intimacy. One teen told this MIT professor that Facebook “is like being in a play where you make up a character”.
Apparently, according to some studies, women are more susceptible to this false perceived happiness. Experts say that men use the site to share items that are related to current events and news where women tend to use it to engage in personal communication. This is thought to make it more difficult for women to avoid the comparisons that lead to personal suffering. According to Turkle, “we begin to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible”.
Basically, the picture of you smiling is just a snapshot of time, not the real you most of the time. So you must assume that the pictures you view of others are only snapshots of their lives, not the real life they live most of the time. Before you let Facebook bring you down, consider this: the grass is not always greener, everything that glitters is not gold, and no one has a perfect happy life all of the time.
Four separate studies document this exact concept. In the first study, it evaluated all the participants reports that their negative emotions were hidden and private much more so than their positive ones. In the second part of this same study, these participants underestimated these common negative experiences. In a another study, similar to the previous one, people underestimated their negative emotions and overestimated their positive emotions, and they even did this for their well known friends.
Yet another study found out that lower estimations of someone's negative emotional experiences would predict a greater loneliness and even a lower life satisfaction. It also found out that higher estimations for positive emotions would predict a lower life satisfaction. When evaluated together, these studies find that many people may think they are more alone in their emotional difficulties that they actually are. The bottom line is that misery loves company.
In one of these studies, Jordan and his associates asked exactly eighty freshmen a couple of questions about how they recently experienced both their negative and positive emotional events. These participants ended up underestimating how many negative experiences their peers were having yet they actually overestimated how much fun that these same peers were having. Some experts believe that Facebook aggravates this natural tendency in people, too. According to some, people end up being misinformed of other people's real life and, while scrolling through their Facebook, see only the happy parts of their life, and not the negative parts. By constantly viewing what we presume to be others’ joyful and witty lives, we tend to see ourselves as losers and have lower self-esteem because of all the comparisons we make to other people who seem to be having much funner lives.
In Sherry Turkle’s book "Alone Together", she writes about how teenagers and young adults are faced with “presentation anxiety” regarding their online social networking sites. The book’s main theory is that technology doesn't make us closer, but actually makes us lonelier by preventing true intimacy. One teen told this MIT professor that Facebook “is like being in a play where you make up a character”.
Apparently, according to some studies, women are more susceptible to this false perceived happiness. Experts say that men use the site to share items that are related to current events and news where women tend to use it to engage in personal communication. This is thought to make it more difficult for women to avoid the comparisons that lead to personal suffering. According to Turkle, “we begin to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible”.
Why Facebook Makes You Miserable
Are Facebook users “fake” or do they project a true image of their current lives? Some experts would argue that while you can make things appear near perfect, the real lives of Facebook users are nothing like what they project them to be. Someone even started a group called “Fakebook”.Basically, the picture of you smiling is just a snapshot of time, not the real you most of the time. So you must assume that the pictures you view of others are only snapshots of their lives, not the real life they live most of the time. Before you let Facebook bring you down, consider this: the grass is not always greener, everything that glitters is not gold, and no one has a perfect happy life all of the time.
- Copeland, L. (2011). The anti-social network. Retrieved from: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/01/the_antisocial_network.html
- Gulati, D. (2012). Facebook is making us miserable. Retrieved from: www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-gulati/facebook-impact_b_1170169.html
- Jordan, A.H., Monin, B., Dweck, C.S., Lovett, B.J., John,O.P., & Gross, J.J. (2011). Misery Has More Company Than People Think: Underestimating the Prevalence of Others’ Negative Emotions. Retrieved from: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/37/1/120.abstract
- Szalavitz, M. (2011). Misery has more company than you think, especially on Facebook. Retrieved from: healthland.time.com/2011/01/27/youre-not-alone-misery-has-more-company-than-you-think/
- Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together. Retrieved from: alonetogetherbook.com/