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8/8/2019 Why Social Networking Makes You Happy
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The
InormationDividend:
Prepared or BCS, The Chartered Institute or IT by Trajectory Partnership.
September 2010
Why IT makes
you happier
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Enabling the Inormation Society
BCS, The Chartered Institute or IT is working to enable the inormation
society. One o our goals is to help people understand how their lives can
be improved by understanding, having access to and being able to use
inormation and inormation technology better.
The Institute commissioned this study, The Inormation Dividend: Why
IT makes you happier, in order to stimulate debate about the social
contribution o inormation and inormation technology to the happinesso nations and individuals.
Earlier reports rom the study took a quantitative look at the link
between access to and use o inormation technology and well-being
or lie satisaction, as well as looking at inormation well-being across
countries. This nal report brings all our ndings together, tests our
earlier hypotheses and builds a bigger picture o our initial
conclusions by adding a qualitative analysis o inormation well-being
in Great Britain.
The Institute believes that the social and personal benets o inormation
and IT outweigh the negatives or the majority. Inormation technology
and inormation may even make us happier on balance, as this study
suggests. We do not pretend that inormation and inormation technology
are inherently benecial. The Inormation Society, as we see it, should be
a place where inormation technology is used to improve lie satisaction
and support our individual and collective goals, not to erode or undermine
them. Serving that purpose is what makes IT a true public proession.
INTRODUCTION
Elizabeth Sparrow, President, BCS, The Chartered Institute or IT
1
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Academics, policy makers and social scientists want to identiy what
makes people happy and apply those insights to social and economic
policy. Our research has ound a relationship between inormation
and IT and happiness that has not traditionally been well investigated.Tracing these connections is dicult or lots o reasons, as our long
and complex journey shows. However, the Institute believes that this
eort is incredibly important given the increasing number o ways in
which our lives are touched by inormation technology. We have ound
a relationship between IT and well-being, and hope that our research
is just the rst step towards new and improved thinking, strategies and
solutions that use IT to benet everyone.
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OverviewConventional wisdom particularly as portrayed in the media assumes
that the positive impact o IT on productivity and earnings comes at a
cost to our lie satisaction. The research presented in this report has
tested that assumption, and ound the reverse. Our analysis o global
and UK data sets shows that IT has a direct positive impact on lie
satisaction, even when controlling or income and other actors known to
be important in determining well-being.
The analysis suggests an even greater indirect eect on lie satisaction
by giving a sense o reedom and control, which is known to improve
lie satisaction. The research reveals a number o important eects
o IT, including some dierences across gender and incomes in how IT
empowers people and improves their lives.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2
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This analysis made use o international and UK data-sets to establish
a global model or how IT impacts on well-being, ollowed up by more
detailed qualitative and quantitative primary research within the UK.
The objective o the research presented in this report was to assess
any impact IT access and usage has on lie satisaction or well-being.
The research took place in the context o an increasing ocus on
well-being, rather than narrower economic measures o perormance,
among academics and policy makers. It also took place in a context
where media coverage oten assumes that ITs impact on society is
negative, despite the act that relatively little in-depth research has
been undertaken on the topic.
Our analysis o global and UK data sets shows that IT has a direct
positive impact on lie satisactioneven when controlling or income
and other actors known to be important in determining well-being.
The analysis also suggests that IT has an indirect, enabling and
empowering role leading to a greater sense o reedom and control
which in turn leads to greater lie satisaction. Thus, the impact o IT is,
in act, even greater than the direct correlations alone.
IT empowers the disempowered Much o the improvement in lie satisaction that arises rom
inormation technology ows to those on lower incomes or with ewer
educational qualications what we might call the disempowered
groups in society.
The international analysis revealed that some o the biggest increases
in IT-related lie satisaction occurred among those who had low
incomes (relative to others in their own country) and those who had
ew or no educational qualications.
A similar pattern emerged in our more detailed analysis in the UK.
However, here the major increases in IT-related lie satisaction
came to low to mid income groups (those with a household income o
14,000 to 28,000). The lowest income group (under 14,000) which
includes a large number o retired people, beneted less in terms o
lie satisaction rom their access to IT.
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The digital gender divide Women gain more than men rom access to and usage o technology.
This is particularly true or women in developing nations. One reason
or this might be that in many parts o Arica, Asia, and the Middle East
women have socially controlled roles which may lead to a lower sense
o reedom and autonomy and hence well-being.
Women in Britain also gain greater increased lie satisaction than
men rom the use o IT. The social contact acilitated by IT seems
particularly important to women in the UK.
Men and women seem to have a dierent relationship to IT and the
internet. For men there is a link between requency o use and liesatisaction, with those who use IT most getting the biggest boost to
lie satisaction. There is no such correlation or women.
In the UK we were able to look at the impact o IT on dierent aspects
o lie satisaction, as well as its impact on overall satisaction.
Internet access provides an uplit in satisaction with health and this is
more so or women than men.
Biggest uplit in well-being is achieved among new users A big improvement in lie satisaction (rom one year to the next) is
associated with being newly connected to the internet. Getting online
brings an improvement in lie satisaction whatever the gender o the
new internet user.
New users o the internet (less than two years experience) are most
interested in and derive most benet rom social uses o the internet
such as social networking and instant messaging. More experienced
users attach greater importance to email and online shopping. It may
also be the case that these more experienced users, who rst went
online well beore the advent o social networking sites, have been
slower to adopt social networking.
Though the biggest positive impact is elt among new users, this is
not to say that IT has a negative impact on more experienced users.
Indeed, ndings rom the primary research in the UK, suggest that any
restriction o IT access or usage would have a strong negative impact
on the well-being o experienced users.
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The important social role o IT This research has demonstrated that the social role o IT is
undamental to the lie satisaction uplit experienced by both women
and new users o the internet - two groups that derive large increases
in lie satisaction rom IT.
This is an important and new nding, as it challenges both the loner
stereotype o IT users and the assertion that IT use is somehow linked
to social isolation. Rather, this research reveals that many people
benet rom the additional social contact with amily and riends that
is acilitated by IT, and that this is the biggest positive contribution that
IT makes to their lives.
The international Inormation Well-being league table Our international Inormation Well-being Index (IWB), when adjusted
or GDP, suggests that Zambia outperorms 38 other nations in
delivering the benets o IT to its citizens. Other developing countries,
such as Malawi, do well in the league table.
China is at the bottom o the IWB league table. This makes intuitive
sense given the relatively restricted access to the internet available
in China.
The UK is in 11th place in the IWB league table. This is a reasonable
result given that the UK outperorms the US and comparable
European neighbours like France and Germany. However, it
does suggest there is room or improvement i the UK wishes to
perorm like other European pace-setters such as Sweden and the
Netherlands. The ndings rom this research suggest that the most
substantial gains in IT-related lie satisaction in the UK would come
through providing access or those on low incomes and with ewest
educational qualications.
Finally, perhaps the most signicant nding o this research is the
identication o a statistically signicant link between IT access and
usage and increased lie satisaction - both internationally and in the
UK. These ndings demonstrate that IT does have a positive impact on
society and that the benets o IT extend beyond the purely economic
which have been established by previous research.
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This report seeks to establish any impact that IT access and usage has on
lie satisaction or well-being. More specically, i a link between IT and
increased lie satisaction is identied, we want to explore:
Which types o people benet most rom their use o IT?
How and why IT might inuence lie satisaction?
What the implications o this might be or the IT proession and
public policy?
BACKGROUND
3
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Our research involved a number o dierent elements that are brought
together or the rst time in this report. The rst phase o research
involved the analysis o large global social research data sets toestablish whether there was a link between IT access and usage and
lie satisaction.
This global analysis was ollowed up by in-depth research into how IT
access and usage inuences lie satisaction in the UK. Our research in
the UK included a unique analysis o data rom the British Household
Panel Survey plus original primary qualitative and quantitative
research programmes.
Well-being has become a hot topic in recent years and has received
much attention rom academics and politicians alike. (See, or example,
the work o Richard Layard, and recent publications like the Social
Market Foundations Well-being: How to lead the good lie and what
government should do to help (July 2009), amongst a plethora o works.
Indeed there is now a Journal o Happiness Studies.)
Generally speaking, the question which emerges rom this work is: why
is peoples sense o well-being not increasing in line with the greaterwealth and opportunities a modern society can generate?
Given modern societys reliance on IT, a natural progression to this
question is: does inormation technology add to, or detract rom, peoples
well-being? Surprisingly little research has been done on the role o IT
in inuencing peoples satisaction with lie (though a recent publication,
Technology and Psychological Well-being, does address the topic).
In act, where IT is mentioned in relation to well-being it is oten
negative, with a stream o media reports suggesting it causes isolation,
atomisation or even contributes to the problems o childhood obesity.
A general concern is that technology gives greater weight to the values
o eciency, productivity, systemisation and speed over less easily
measurable, but increasingly valuable issues o quality o lie (see,
or example, the writings o Langdon Winner). Almost by implication,
technology must surely reduce the quality o lie. But is this really true?
This research programme sets out to assess this and ask whether there
is an Inormation Dividend.
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IT is linked to increased lie satisaction4.1Our research supports the hypothesis that IT plays a part in improving
well-being. Increased IT access and usage does improve lie satisaction.
It does so in two ways: one directly, the other indirectly.
To investigate the link between IT and lie satisaction we conducted a
number o regression analyses o over 35,000 responses to the World
Values Survey (WVS) rom 39 countries around the world. The detailed
results o the regression analyses are reported in the technical appendix
at the end o this report. They show that Inormation Technology has,
on average, a positive contribution across the globe to lie satisaction
even when taking account o income (that has previously been shown to
be an important actor in improving well-being). This nding was also
conrmed by a similar analysis o 10,000 survey responses to the British
Household Panel Study in the UK (BHPS) (or detailed ndings see the
technical appendix).
THE FINDINGS
4
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Further, both WVS and BHPS reveal an indirect link between IT access
and usage and increased lie satisaction. Previous research on well-
being by Inglehart et al has shown that having a sense o reedom and
being in control o ones lie has a crucial and particularly importanteect on well-being (certainly as much as and maybe more so than
income). Our research suggests that IT is a major actor in explaining a
greater sense o reedom and control.
To investigate the link between IT, sense o reedom and control and
lie satisaction we conducted regressions using sense o reedom and
control in place o lie satisaction, and ound a strong eect. Indeed,
the eect o IT access on sense o reedom seems to be greater than its
eect upon lie satisaction directly. As the coecients in table 2 in thetechnical appendix show, IT access is associated with a larger increase
in a sense o reedom and control (+0.15) than that observed earlier or
its eect on the scale o lie satisaction (+0.10).
These results are consistent with a theory that IT access and usage helps
to empower people and thus gives them a sense o reedom and being
in control. From this increased sense o reedom and autonomy, peoples
well-being is increased.
A plausible model, thereore, is that access to and usage o IT helps to
promote and enable empowerment and autonomy which then increases
well-being in a manner that could be represented by the ollowing model:
IT INCREASES thesense o reedom/control whichIMPROVES well-being
Intuitively, the rst part o this model makes sense. It is pretty
uncontroversial to argue that access to inormation, knowledge and
other cultures is a positive development, as many developing countries
have experienced. The second part o the model is well established as in
the work by Inglehart et al.
But, in addition, even when taking account o degree o reedom and
sense o control, IT has a role independent o degree o reedom and
sense o control, and makes a direct statistically signicant, positive
impact on lie satisaction. Put simply, people with IT access are more
satised with lie even when taking account o income and a sense oreedom and being in control.
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The positive impact that IT has on lie satisaction was also reected
in the ndings o our primary research in the UK. Participants in our
qualitative research were, generally, very positive about the overall
impact that IT has on their lives.
Despite this, most initial comments were about the anxiety they elt
around IT. Most had been earul o technology at some point in the past.
Some had been almost technophobic. They still displayed some
anxiety that they did not know enough about IT despite the act that most
were very competent, even sophisticated, users o IT. The perceived pace
o change:
I think aaargh. Its advancing so much, as soon as youlearn one thing, thats going to be obsolete. Perhapsbecause I am in my ties I am stuck in my ways. I knowits the way orward and I check my emails and I can usea basic PC. Ater that I nd it mind boggling.(emale, London)
You have to be brainy I think, and I am not.I think its wonderul but not or me.(emale, Midlands)
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Nonetheless, discussions turned very quickly to a wide variety o
positive and important ways in which IT impacted on their lives. For
many respondents it was clear that, in a relatively short space o time,
their relationship with IT had changed rom one o ear to one ojoy. For some it is not an exaggeration to claim that the use o IT had
transormed their lives, oten very much or the better.
It helps me to be very independent; I dont have to relyon anyone.(emale, London)
It means Im connected - especially or us not in our owncountry we eel homesick and it makes us connected.Thats an amazing thing... Although its through acomputer it sounds odd, but it gives you a nice eeling.(male, London, born in Iran)
Couldnt imagine living without the internet as whole. Itsbecome part o my lie in the last couple o years.(emale, London)
Our quantitative research also ound positive attitudes about the impact
o IT on well-being. Two thirds o respondents agreed that Having access
to IT increases the quality o my lie (66%) and that Having access to
IT increases the quality o peoples lives generally (67%). The positive
responses to these questions outnumber the negative ones by two to one.
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IT empowering the disempowered4.2Our analysis o both the WVS and BHPS allowed us to explore which
groups o people in society derive most benet, in terms o increased lie
satisaction, rom their use o IT. In act, much o the improvement in lie
satisaction that arises rom inormation technology ows to those who
are less well-placed in society. Those on lower incomes or with ewer
educational qualications appear to benet more rom access to IT than
those on higher incomes or with higher educational backgrounds. So, IT
appears to empower the disempowered.
The WVS suggests that this is the case across the globe and the BHPS
conrms this picture in the UK. However, the regression analysis can
only identiy the relationship between IT use and increased well-being;
it cannot identiy the mechanism by which this happens. This was the
ocus or our primary research in the UK.
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Our qualitative research was conducted exclusively with those on low
incomes and with ew educational qualications. It ound that IT was o
benet to people in many dierent ways. Respondents commented on
the general empowering role o IT in their lives allowing them accessto the same inormation as everyone else and, in the online arena, to
have access to the same experiences as everyone else.
In addition, a number o very specic benets o IT access and usage
were reported rom positive emotional impacts on amily and social
contact to the practicalities o arranging medical appointments. However,
two benets o IT emerged as particularly important. The rst was the
way in which IT was acilitating a second chance at education or our
respondents who had let school with no or ew qualications.
I let school with no qualications as my little boy isstarting school I am thinking about getting GCSEs inEnglish and Maths. I want to be able to condently helpmy son so I am looking through that side to do it on theinternet as I havent got time to go to College.(emale, Midlands)
(IT) allowed me to progress in my job with the AIMStraining online. Without it I might not have my job.(male, Midlands)
The second specic benet o IT access and usage was access to
cheaper deals when shopping online. All our respondents had low
disposable incomes and the savings that they made by shopping online
made a huge dierence to their amily budgets. For our respondents, the
savings that could be made by shopping on comparison websites were
signicant, particularly in the current economic climate. For example,
they might mean that a amily could aord to take a holiday that they
would otherwise not have been able to aord.
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I wouldnt like to lose the purchasingpower o the internet. Something likeights, Im not sure how you would buythem without it.
(emale, London)
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Bought my computer andcamcorder online, ound it muchcheaper online. The comparison
websites are also marvellous.
(emale, London)
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40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Under
14,000
14,000
- 25,000
25,000
- 41,000
41,000
- 62,000
62,000 +
Some respondents went urther and highlighted the unairness they
elt that, prior to gaining internet access, they had to pay more or some
products and services.
Our quantitative research allowed us to compare attitudes and
behaviours o disempowered groups with the rest o society. In many
ways it reinorced the messages rom the WVS and BHPS analysis. The
chart below shows that those on low to mid household incomes (14,000
to 28,000) eel as positive as anyone about the impact o IT on the
quality o their lives. (Nearly 50% o the under 14,000 income group are
retired people, who use IT much less than other groups. This helps to
explain why this group is somewhat less positive about the impact o IT
on their lives).
Those on low to mid incomes eel the positive eects o ITEect o income on % who agree that access to IT
Base: All who work and have internet access (520)
Increases the overall quality o my lie
Increases the quality o peoples lives generally
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The quantitative research also asked about satisaction with various aspects
o lie. It revealed that in some areas it was those on low to mid incomes
who seemed to be getting most benet rom their use o IT. For example,
the chart below illustrates how those with relatively low household incomesseem to get most uplit in job satisaction rom more requent use o IT.
(Again the results or the group with under 14,000 income are skewed by
the presence o a large number o retired people who, obviously, do not work
and are not generally requent users o the internet).
Job satisactionEect o income and requency o internet use on average job
satisaction (on scale o 1 7)
Base: All adults who stated their income (676)
A similar picture o the positive, equalising eects o IT access can be
seen when looking at educational attainment. For example, the chart
opposite shows that those with no educational qualications are as likely
to report the positive impacts o IT on their social lives as any other group.
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Under
14,000
14,000
- 28,000
28,000
- 41,000
41,000
- 62,000
62,000 +
Use less oten / do not use
Use pretty much every day
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Total No formal
education
Secondary/
High School(NVQ 1-3)
University
Degree(NVQ4)
Higher
UniversityDegree (NVQ5)
Low educational attainment does not reduce the positive impacto IT on social lieBy increasing contact with my riends, having access to IT means I
get more out o my social lie
Source: BCS, The Chartered Institute or IT / Trajectory Partnership
Base: 795
Proportion who agree, by education
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IT benefts women more than men
4.3Alongside income and education, our regression analysis o both the
WVS and BHPS ound that gender is a critical actor (see tables 3 and
4 in the technical appendix). Both the WVS and BHPS analysis suggest
women gain greater satisaction than men rom the use o IT.
The WVS analysis ound that whereas the impact o income and
education is globally consistent, the gender eect is especially strong inthe developing world. The act that it occurs mainly in developing nations
points to a possible explanation as well. The socially curtailed roles
that women play in many parts o Arica, Asia, and the Middle East may
lead to a lower sense o reedom and autonomy and thereore having
access to IT allows women in such developing nations to overcome these
socially imposed constraints.
It is also likely that this nding reects the social networking role o
women around the world. For example, in most cultures around theworld the emale/maternal connections are crucial in both amily
and social networks. The general view being that women are more
communal and indeed research has shown, or example, that many o
the intergenerational contacts within amilies are managed and driven
by women. As such, this may explain the importance o IT or women as
a social and amily network support tool.
In the UK, the BHPS ound that satisaction with lie is higher, on average,
among women who are able to connect to, and use, the internet than
among women who have no internet connection. In act, most o the
improvement in lie satisaction that arises rom inormation technology
is the result o women, rather than men, beneting rom access to and
usage o technology.
In the UK, mens lie satisaction was primarily improved by the indirect
link to IT, through an increased sense o reedom and control. The direct
impact o IT on mens lie satisaction was not so strong.
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Our primary research in the UK shed additional light on why women, and
women rom poorer backgrounds in particular, might see the greatest
increase in lie satisaction rom IT access and usage. Our qualitative
research produced the ollowing quotes rom a woman with two youngchildren, the youngest o whom was 10 weeks old.
(The main benet o IT is) being in touch with people. Iam on my own quite a lot with two young children, its (anApple iPhone) either in my jeans pocket or by the side o
my bed. Its an important part o my lie.(emale, Midlands)
I go on (to Facebook) every day to see what everyone elseis up to. Its just to see there is lie outsidemy curtains because with the two little ones I am abit housebound.(emale, Midlands)
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This womens husband worked as a long-distance driver, which meant
she spent a lot o time alone with the children when he was away. The
household income was below average so she did not have a great dealo disposable income or out o home leisure activities. For her, internet
access, via an iPhone, was a lieline to the social lie she had enjoyed
beore the birth o her second child. As women in the UK are still
predominantly the main carers or young children, it is easy to see how
IT, in these circumstances, can be a positive, lie-enhancing link to the
outside world.
The quantitative research also highlighted a subtle dierence in the
relationships that men and women have with IT. The chart belowillustrates how mens overall lie satisaction increases in close relation
to their requency o IT use (the more they use IT, the happier they seem
to be). This was also true or mens satisaction with their jobs and social
lives. No such direct relationship between requency o use and lie
satisaction exists or women.
Lie satisactionEect o gender and requency o internet use on average overall lie
satisaction (on scale o 1 7)
Base: All with home broadband internet access (789)
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
Men Women
Use once a week or less
Use 2-5 times a week
Use pretty much every day
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Which areas o lie beneft most rom IT
access and usage?4.4As well as asking people to assess how satised they are with their lives
in general, the BHPS also asks questions about a number o specic
aspects o lie satisaction including the ollowing:
Satisaction with health
Satisaction with social lie Satisaction with house/at
Satisaction with job
As with overall lie satisaction, responses to questions about
these individual elements, show signicant dierences between
men and women.
Satisaction with healthSatisaction with health is very strongly related to age. The older we arethe less satised we become with our health. Despite this, IT does
have some impact upon the satisaction that people have with their
health with those with internet access recording somewhat higher levels
o satisaction.
Womens satisaction with health varies somewhat dierently to that o
men. An internet connection plays a stronger part in explaining variation
in health satisaction among women, while age plays a weaker role.
With womens health satisaction depending to a degree upon their level
o social contact, it may be that the internet provides a boost to womens
health satisaction by enabling broader social contact as well as through
providing things like inormation to help women maintain their health.
Satisaction with social lieThe idea that, or women, an internet connection plays a signicant
social role in increasing satisaction is reinorced by our nding that
satisaction with social lie increases with connection to the internet.
For men, an internet connection is not a signicant predictor o levels osocial lie satisaction.
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Satisaction with homeThe direct link between satisaction with ones home (whether house
or at) and IT is not very strong. However, the indirect link between, IT,
reedom and control and the satisaction that people have with theirhome is strong. For all adults, satisaction with ones house is quite
eectively predicted by a model that includes variables or internet
connection, control o lie and level o contact with riends.
Satisaction with jobTechnology in the orm o access to the internet or IT does not play a
signicant (positive or negative) role in the satisaction that people have
with their jobs. However, job satisaction is associated with a greater
eeling o control that people have over their lives. And this greater
eeling o control is correlated with connection to the internet.
Our quantitative research sheds additional light on the impact o
requency o use o IT on the dierent elements o lie satisaction. Overall
satisaction, job satisaction and satisaction with social lie all increase
with higher requency o IT use. Satisaction with the use o leisure time
and satisaction with amily lie do not increase with higher requency o
IT use. In the latter case this is partly explained by the general levels o
satisaction being so high (amily lie received the highest score o any o
our lie satisaction measures, with a mean o 6.1 out o 7) that there islittle room or IT or anything else to have an additional positive impact.
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4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
Social lifeJob Family lifeLeisure time Life overall
Internet use and satisactionAverage satisaction (on scale o 1 7) with various aspects o lie, by
requency o home internet use satisaction (on scale o 1 7)
Base: All who have broadband internet access at home (785)
Use once a week or less
Use 2-5 times a week
Use pretty much every day
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New IT connections create the biggest
uplit in lie satisaction4.5As well as indicating how satised people are with their lives, the BHPS also
provides inormation about whether peoples lie satisaction has improved
or worsened (or remained unchanged) since the previous year. The survey
also provides data to determine whether, among those with an internet
connection, that connection was obtained within the past year or longer ago.
The data reveal that there is a strong positive association between a newconnection to the internet and a positive change in overall satisaction
(compared to the previous year), or both men and women.
This suggests that the greatest positive impact o IT upon lie satisaction
occurs during the period when an internet connection remains a novelty
peoples satisaction with lie becomes less aected by IT as they
become more experienced users o the internet. This makes intuitive
sense. As we become accustomed to having IT around, its positive impact
on lie satisaction is reduced somewhat.
Our primary research suggests that despite potentially lower returns
rom IT in terms o lie satisaction over time, the impact o IT never
becomes negative. Rather, it seems that the relationship between IT
and lie satisaction is asymmetrical, in the sense that i IT access and
usage were to be withdrawn, lie satisaction would decrease. This was
certainly the view o respondents in our qualitative research when they
were asked to contemplate what lie would be like without IT access.
It would be like a depression or a recession. It would be astep backwards. We would lose a lot and I dont think wecould cope now, because slowly we have lost the skills todo without.(male, London)
Couldnt imagine living without the internet as whole. Its
become part o my lie in the last couple o years.(emale, London)
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These sentiments are reinorced by our quantitative research which
ound that those with more experience o using the internet were,
generally, more likely to display positive attitudes about the benets o
IT access. This suggests they would be loath to lose the benets thatthey attribute to having access to IT even i some o the initial magic o
internet access has worn o over the years.
Eect o internet experience% o experienced and less experienced internet users who agree that
Base: All who have internet access (811)
However, the ndings around the impact o initial internet access suggest
that the most signicant role that IT might play in increasing well-being
is to enable those who are not currently connected to the internet to
experience the uplit in lie satisaction that is associated with becoming
connected to the internet or the rst time - both directly, through access
to the lie enriching and nancially benecial content o the internet, and,indirectly, through an increased sense o reedom and control in ones lie.
10%
30%
50%
70%
90%
Internet makesit easier tomaintain
relationships
with my friendsand family
Internet makesme moreproductive
at work
Internetproviding infoabout eventsmeans I get
more out of mysocial life
People whodont have
internet accessmiss out on
social contact
Internet givesme access to
online shoppingdeals that save me
a significantamount of money
Less than 2 years
2 years +
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Social use o the net the way to attract
new users to the benefts o IT?4.6Our research conrms the ndings o a number o previous studies in
showing that experienced users o IT are more likely to have more varied
uses o technology.
The chart below is taken rom our quantitative research and shows that
more experienced internet users are more likely to use the internet
or most types o usage (email, shopping etc). The exception is instantmessaging, which those new to the internet are just as likely to use as
those with more experience. This may oer us an important clue as to
what attracts new users to IT in the rst instance.
What do you use the internet or?By number o years since rst used the internet
Base: All who have internet access (811)
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
E-mail Socialnetworking
Chatting / instantmessaging
Onlineshopping
Playing games
Less than 2 years
2 years +
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Our research shows that more experienced users value email and online
shopping most highly. These are the things that they would miss most i
they could not do them (see chart below). This contrasts sharply to the
views (and usage) o new users o the internet. Not only is their usage othe internet not so dominated by email and shopping, they place less value
on it. Less experienced users place greater value on social networking,
instant messaging and internet gaming than experienced users.
Which would you miss most, i you could not do it?By number o years since rst used the internet
Base: All who have internet access (811)
The greater value that newer users place on social internet applications
makes sense given that less experienced users tend to be:
Somewhat less satised with their social lives
More likely to think that people who dont have the internet miss
out on social contact
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
E-mail Socialnetworking
Chatting / instantmessaging
Onlineshopping
Playing games
Less than 2 years
2 years +
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This suggests that emphasising the social benets o IT access and
usage could be the best way o attracting current non-users to the
internet. We believe this is a potentially important nding rom the
research. It suggests that programmes that are designed to encouragenew users to try the internet or the rst time would be well advised to
emphasise these social applications o the internet above all others.
Further, this is particularly important given our earlier qualitative
research ndings which showed that or many o the disempowered
groups these IT-acilitated social contacts are crucial lielines to the
outside world (or example or new mums and or new arrivals to the
country). The contacts acilitated by social networks and the like are
undamental to these peoples sense o well-being and are not therivolous distraction depicted in so much media coverage o Facebook
and other social networks. This challenges both the stereotype o IT
users as loners and the assertion that IT is linked to or a cause o social
isolation. Indeed, on our evidence, it seems likely that it is the social
applications o IT that deliver most benet to society as a whole.
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Country dierences in the lie
satisaction benefts o IT (The InformationWell-being Index)4.7
Finally, our analysis o the WVS allowed us to assess and compare
the dierential lie satisaction benets achieved in the 39 dierent
countries that participated in the survey. To do this we created theInormation Well-being Index (IWB Index). Here Inormation Well-being is
dened as the extent to which citizens and consumers are able to use
IT to communicate, maintain social ties, and keep inormed o events.
The IWB Index is constructed o 11 dierent indicators. Given the
importance o a sense o reedom and control in well-being, the index
incorporates not only IT access and usage but also two measures o
reedom and control. The indicators are as ollows:
1. Population covered by mobile telephony (%) Source, WorldDevelopment Indicators (WDI)
2. Mobile phone subscriptions per capita - Source, InternationalTelecommunication Union
3. Broadband subscribers (% o total internet subscribers) Source, WDI
4. International internet bandwidth (bits per person) Source, WDI
5. Secure internet servers (per million people, 2008) Source, WDI
6. Proportion o respondents saying technology making my lieeasier Source, World Values Surveys (WVS)
7. Proportion o respondents avouring more emphasis ontechnology Source, WVS
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8. Average sense o reedom and control in lie Source, WVS
9. Proportion who see sel as autonomous Source, WVS
10. Proportion who have checked news online in last week Source, WVS
11. Proportion who have used a computer in the last week Source, WVS
The indicators are standardised, aggregated, and then rescaled rom 0-1.
We can thus produce a table ranking the best to the worst perormers on
the index (see table 8 in the technical appendix).
On the basis o this index, Sweden perorms best in terms o IWB, closelyollowed by the Netherlands and then the United States and the UK.
Countries at the bottom o the index include Ethiopia, Vietnam and Mali.
However, this simple index correlates strongly with GDP per capita (not
surprisingly given the inrastructure related components o the index).
See the chart below.
IWB and GDP per capita
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
$25,000
$30,000
$35,000
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Germany Canada
United States
Netherlands
Finland
Italy
Korea, Rep
Agentina
Uruguay
Chile
Brazil
Australia
UK
Sweden
Japan
France
Slovenia
Ethiopia Romania
Zambia
Vietnam
Mali
India
China
Ghana
Ukraine
Indonesia
Burkina Faso
Russian Federation
Trinidad & Tobago
Malaysia
Mexico
Columbia
Bulgaria
Poland
IWB Index
GD
P
percapita($)
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Given the obvious impact o GDP on the IWB Index, a more inormative
presentation o the data would be to take account o the impact o GDP.
This shows which countries are able to use IT to best eect independent
o their afuence as measured by GDP.
This approach to the analysis, removing GDP eects, results in a
strikingly dierent league table o IWB. Zambia comes top o the list,
because it beats expectations or IWB based on its GDP by the most.
China is bottom o the league in that it underperorms most in terms o
actual IWB relative to that expected or a country with its level o GDP.
Some countries remain relatively unchanged in the rankings. Sweden
and The Netherlands remain ourth and th respectively in the adjusted
table (compared to rst and second in the unadjusted table). The UKalls rom ourth place in the unadjusted table to eleventh place in the
adjusted table. The United States alls even urther, rom third place in
the unadjusted table to thirteenth in the adjusted table.
The biggest loser on this basis is Japan which drops 17 places in the
rankings, closely ollowed by France and Germany which both drop
16 places. Mali shows the greatest climb in the rankings (+30) on the
adjusted basis, just beating Zambia (+29) into second place.
The ollowing table summarises the changes in rankings between the
two approaches to calculating the index, and illustrates the biggest
losers and gainers when the IWB Index is adjusted or GDP.
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Final Ranking
(Adjusted
or GDP)
Country Initial
Ranking
Change in
ranking
(+/-)1 Zambia 30 +29
2 Moldova 24 +22
3 Brazil 12 +9
4 Sweden 1 -3
5 Netherlands 2 -3
6 Burkina Faso 34 +28
7 Mali 37 +30
8 Uruguay 16 +8
9 Korea, Rep 7 -2
10 Chile 14 +4
11 United Kingdom 4 -7
12 Australia 5 -7
13 United States 3 -10
14 Finland 6 -8
15 Colombia 23 +8
16 Italy 8 -8
17 Ghana 33 +16
18 Argentina 18 0
19 Bulgaria 25 +6
20 Canada 9 -11
21 Slovenia 13 -8
22 Mexico 21 -1
23 Malaysia 20 -3
24 Indonesia 31 +7
25 Trinidad and Tobago 19 -6
26 France 10 -16
27 Germany 11 -16
28 Romania 27 -1
29 Ethiopia 39 +1030 Poland 22 -8
31 Vietnam 38 +7
32 Japan 15 -17
33 India 36 +3
34 Russian Federation 28 -6
35 Ukraine 32 +3
36 China 35 -1
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Those countries that rise up the rankings on this measure are
interesting cases because they must be doing something independent
o their afuence to deliver the important lie satisaction benets o IT,
highlighted earlier in this report, to their citizens. This may be due tothe importance placed on IT within public policy in those countries or
other actors.
Countries that all down the rankings on this measure are
underperorming in terms o IWB or a country with their level o
afuence. Whilst the relative impact o IT across dierent countries and
cultures is complex (it is highly possible, or example, that issues like
geography and population density will have an impact), policy makers in
these countries may want to examine these ndings in more depth. Thismight help them to understand why they are, apparently, not delivering
greater benets rom IT to their people.
Table 9 in the technical appendix shows the ull IWB Index adjusted or GDP.
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR IT?
5Evidence rom a range o research sources presented in this report all
suggest a positive link between IT access and usage and lie satisaction.
Neither we, nor the participants in our research, are saying that thebenets o IT access are all positive. Rather, we are saying that, on
balance, IT makes a positive contribution to lie satisaction. As one o
our qualitative research respondents put it:
For all the rightening stuf that could happen (with IT),the empowerment actually does happen.(emale, London)
We have also seen that both internationally and in the UK - IT has the
power to enrich the lives o disempowered groups (those on low incomes
and with ewest educational qualications) the most. Given this, the
challenge is to promote the roll-out and correct usage o technology so
that it continues to improve lie or as many people as possible. In this,
we agree with Yair Amichai-Hamburger who argued in a recent article in
New Scientist magazine that what was needed was:
that autonomy, competence, relatedness and critical thinking are
the best ways to establish a balanced approach to technology, and so
enhance our well-being.
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This suggests (at least) six issues or debate on the uture o IT and
well-being:
Enabling greater access to IT and the internet and acceleratingaccess to broadband clearly has a positive impact on those who
are most disadvantaged in society. This research establishes more
emphatically than ever beore that these benets are not just
economic but also social.
Empowering benecial use o inormation and communications
technology through education.
Design and innovation ocused on improving well-being andlie satisaction.
Technophobia remains a barrier to trial and usage. This research
shows that once these barriers are overcome, internet access and
IT usage result in a signicant and almost immediate uplit in lie
satisaction which produces an equality eect. The appropriate
portrayal o IT use - particularly social networking and other social
aspects o IT use - that are so oten the subject o scorn in the media
and public policy arenas should be addressed. This may be a lessonor social marketers and others such as charities dealing with the
issue o digital access and equality.
The proession and policy makers may want to address the sense
ound among our qualitative research participants that IT is complex
(and thereore dicult to understand and to derive benets rom)
and that the pace o change is so rapid as to readily render obsolete
whatever skills they acquire.
Women are the key beneciaries o access to IT in the UK and in
developing countries. Focusing on enabling them to overcome the
social, educational, and personal ear o IT may be a step towards
accelerating solutions to the digital exclusion problem. This may
require a re-thinking o attitudes to involving women in technology
education as well as targeting them rom a social policy point o view.
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Analytic methodThe research programme started with an analysis o data rom across
the globe using the World Values Survey (WVS), a recognised source
o behavioural, social values, cultural and well-being measures that
has been used in the past or many international comparative studies.
Subsequently we have conducted a more detailed analysis o the United
Kingdom using alternative data sources.
The WVS analysis involved looking at individual responses to the survey
- in total, this meant around 35,000 respondents across the globe were
included. We were interested in the relationship between IT usage and
other actors including well-being. This allows or a detailed analysis o a
range o actors (such as the importance o gender, age and education).
World Values Survey1
TECHNICAL APPENDIX
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The main statistical technique used was multiple regression, allowing
the relative, independent importance o each actor to be assessed in
contributing, i at all, to well-being. Thus, income/wealth (oten measured
at a national level by GDP per capita) is known to be correlated tomeasures o well-being. But can other actors, in addition to this, also
increase lie satisaction? Research shows that they can. For example,
Inglehart et al have shown that:
Cross-sectional analysis o recent data confrms that economic
development [measured by GDP] is indeed strongly linked with high levels
o SWB [sel-reported well-being], but it also indicates that economic
actors are only part o the story. Pooled time-series regression analysis
suggests that religion, tolerance o outgroups, and a societys level o
democracy are strong predictors o subsequent levels o SWB, controlling
or economic development and a societys initial level o SWB.
So, by using multiple regression, we can assert that GDP is not the only
actor determining well-being, these other actors are important too.
Indeed, Ingleharts work shows that in developed economies at least
income/wealth is no longer the most important actor in improving
satisaction with lie:
Here, our fndings support Easterlins (2005) contention that research
on happiness should not just ocus on economic growth, but also on
noneconomic aspects o well-being. Economic growth makes a positive
contribution to SWB, but it is the weakest o the three main actors.
Our research, as presented in this report, indicates that access and
usage o IT can be added to this list o actors that help to shape SWB.
Further, it shows that IT not only has a direct impact on SWB, it also has
the potential to positively interact with other actors (such as a sense o
reedom and control) to have an even greater impact on SWB.
Finally, we looked at the two standard measures o well-being rom the
World Values Survey: sel-reported lie satisaction and sel-reported
happiness. Oten these two are combined to produce a sel-reported
well-being score. We looked at the combined score and both measures
independently and each produced very similar results. For simplicitys
sake we have thereore ocused on just the one measure lie satisaction and in the report use that term interchangeably with well-being.
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The analysisAt the individual level, we ound an eect upon lie satisaction o access
to inormation and communication technologies.
The regressions (see table 1) control or a wide range o variables
to estimate the eect o inormation access on quality o lie. The
coecients suggest that being connected to IT increases lie satisaction
by up to 0.1 points on a ten-point scale.
The models in table 1 show the eect o having accessed internet in the
past week to check the news upon reported lie satisaction on a scale
rom 1-10. Four models were run with a dierent variable being added
each time.
The rst model includes controls or income, age, the square o age
(whether people are very old), education, gender, and the size o your
town. Country-xed eects are also controlled or, so these models
automatically take account or nation-level attributes such as a
countrys income per capita, degree o democratic governance, or
national psychology.
In order to check whether this inormation dividend is a consequenceo IT, rather than news in general, model 2 also includes a variable or
whether the respondent has watched TV news in the last week. Having
watched TV news is also signicantly and positively associated with lie
satisaction, but the eect appears to be additive to that o IT accesses,
whose eect remains the same.
In model 3 we control or various occupational attributes, in case
accessing IT requently is a consequence o having a regular job, or
being a student. While unemployment, part-time work, and also being a
housewie are all ound to be related to lie satisaction, the eect o IT
access remains the same.
In model 4, and in response to a cross-national analysis suggesting its
importance, we add the question o sense o reedom and control which
is immediately highly signicant and reduces the impact o IT and media,
although they still remain signicant.
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What this showed is that IT access and usage is a actor in improving
well-being even when taking account o a range o other variables
that have previously been shown to have a positive eect on lie
satisaction. Second, it raised the question o whether IT itsel assistsin the promotion o a sense o reedom and being in control which, on
the ace o it, seems a plausible proposition. This would imply an even
greater importance or IT in lie satisaction through the indirect route o
enhancing empowerment and autonomy.
Thus, in table 2 we show the results o looking at the role o IT in
promoting a sense o reedom and control. It shows that there is an
important and statistically signicant eect o IT on this actor. Watching
TV and some other actors are also statistically signicant.
Finally, we observed that some eects were only apparent in developing
nations so to test this we added some interactive terms (table 3). O the
terms included, age did not come out as a signicant interactive term
when combined with IT. So, or example, age is important in determining
well-being but not when combined with internet access (in other words,
older people do not benet in lie satisaction terms - any more rom IT
access than other age groups).
Gender, on the other hand was signicant, that is to say women benet
rom IT access disproportionately to men. Also, o the variables tested,
education and income were important those on lower incomes and with
lower educational achievements benet most rom IT.
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The modelsTable 1Eect o IT on Lie Satisaction, Individual Level
Model
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Sense o reedom and
control
- - - 0.291*** (0.004)
Accessed internet 0.1*** (0.027) 0.096*** (0.027) 0.094** (0.028) 0.056* (0.026)
Watched TV - 0.185*** (0.038) 0.178*** (0.039) 0.099** (0.037)
Gender 0.061** (0.022) 0.061** (0.022) 0.029 (0.023) 0.004 (0.021)
Age -0.029*** (0.003) -0.029*** (0.004) -0.035*** (0.004) -0.030*** (0.003)
Age2 0.297*** (0.037) 0.301*** (0.037) 0.348*** (0.044) 0.311*** (0.046)
Education (years) 0.004* (0.002) 0.004* (0.002) 0.004* (0.002) 0.001 (0.002)
Income 0.233*** (0.005) 0.232*** (0.005) 0.225*** (0.005) 0.188*** (0.005)
Size o town -0.007 (0.005) -0.007 (0.005) -0.007 (0.005) -0.008 (0.005)
Work part-time - - -0.097* (0.045) -0.076* (0.040)
Sel-employed - - -0.045 (0.038) -0.035 (0.032)
Retired - - -0.059 (0.048) -0.041 (0.046)
Housewie - - 0.168*** (0.044) 0.135*** (0.042)
Student - - -0.079 (0.048) -0.068 (0.044)
Unemployed - - -0.396*** (0.042) -0.321*** (0.038)
Other - - -0.259*** (0.071) -0.188*** (0.067)
Constant 5.598*** (0.394) 4.874*** (0.129) 5.801*** (0.397) 4.401*** (0.241)
n 33675 33632 33159 31359
r2 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.32
Note: The asterisks represent statistical signicance and are used in the
conventional way
* p< 0.1, ** p< 0.05, *** p< 0.01 where p is the probability o getting this
result by statistical accident.
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Table 2Eect o IT on Sense o Freedom and Control, Individual Level
Model
(1) (2) (3)
Accessed internet 0.158*** (0.029) 0.153*** (0.029) 0.148*** (0.029)
Watched TV - 0.252*** (0.041) 0.238*** (0.041)
Gender -0.06** (0.023) -0.058* (0.023) -0.029 (0.024)
Age -0.007 (0.004) -0.008* (0.004) -0.015*** (0.004)
Age2 0.061 (0.04) 0.068 (0.04) 0.133** (0.048)
Education (years) 0.011*** (0.002) 0.011*** (0.002) 0.01*** (0.002)
Income 0.127*** (0.006) 0.126*** (0.006) 0.119*** (0.006)
Size o town 0.003 (0.006) 0.003 (0.006) 0.002 (0.006)
Work part-time - - -0.065 (0.048)
Sel-employed - - 0.063 (0.041)
Retired - - -0.049 (0.051)
Housewie - - -0.104* (0.047)
Student - - -0.173** (0.051)
Unemployed - - -0.287*** (0.045)
Other - - -0.161* (0.076)
Constant 5.329*** (0.135) 5.631*** (0.427) 5.93*** (0.43)
n 33446 33406 32938
r2 0.09 0.1 0.1
Note: The asterisks represent statistical signicance and are used in the
conventional way
* p< 0.1, ** p< 0.05, *** p< 0.01 where p is the probability o getting this result by
statistical accident.
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Table 3Eect o IT on Lie Satisaction with various variable/IT interaction terms
Model
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Accessed internet -0.128 (0.075) 0.052 (0.069) 0.335*** (0.081) 0.583*** (0.064)
Watched TV 0.177*** (0.039) 0.178*** (0.039) 0.175*** (0.039) 0.172*** (0.038)
Gender -0.02 (0.027) 0.029 (0.023) 0.03 (0.023) 0.029 (0.023)
Gender* Accessed internet 0.15** (0.047) - - -
Age* Accessed internet - 0.001 (0.002) - -
Education* Accessed internet - - -0.012** (0.004) -
Income* Accessed internet - - - -0.09*** (0.011)
Age -0.035*** (0.004) -0.035*** (0.004) -0.034*** (0.004) -0.034*** (0.004)
Age2 0.348*** (0.044) 0.353*** (0.045) 0.347*** (0.044) 0.347*** (0.044)
Education (years) 0.004* (0.002) 0.004* (0.002) 0.008*** (0.002) 0.004* (0.002)
Income 0.225*** (0.005) 0.224*** (0.005) 0.224*** (0.005) 0.255*** (0.006)
Size o town -0.007 (0.005) -0.007 (0.005) -0.008 (0.005) -0.008 (0.005)
Work part-time -0.102* (0.045) -0.097* (0.045) -0.095* (0.045) -0.103* (0.045)
Sel-employed -0.047 (0.038) -0.045 (0.038) -0.041 (0.038) -0.045 (0.038)
Retired -0.057 (0.048) -0.058 (0.048) -0.059 (0.048) -0.059 (0.048)
Housewie 0.18*** (0.044) 0.167*** (0.044) 0.172*** (0.044) 0.167*** (0.044)
Student -0.079 (0.048) -0.077 (0.048) -0.077 (0.048) -0.085 (0.048)
Unemployed -0.395*** (0.042) -0.397*** (0.042) -0.395*** (0.042) -0.396*** (0.042)
Other -0.261*** (0.071) -0.259*** (0.071) -0.254*** (0.071) -0.259*** (0.071)
Constant 5.881*** (0.398) 5.826*** (0.399) 5.698*** (0.398) 5.638*** (0.397)
n 33159 33159 33159 33159
r2 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.19
Note:The asterisks represent statistical signicance and are used in the conventional way
* p< 0.1, ** p< 0.05, *** p< 0.01 where p is the probability o getting this result by
statistical accident.
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Analytic methodThe British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) is a longitudinal panel
survey run annually by the Institute o Social and Economic Research
(ISER) at the University o Essex. Widely regarded as one o the best
longitudinal studies in the world, the BHPS has tracked the attitudes and
behaviour o a representative sample o 5,000 households in the UK,
involving 10,000 individuals, on an annual basis since 1992.
The BHPS provides inormation on many aspects o peoples daily lives
(including their income, health, living standards, household tenure,
accommodation, durable ownership, lie satisaction, time use and
leisure behaviour) as well as recording peoples attitudes to their
circumstances and a wide range o social issues.
Because the BHPS is an on-going panel study, we were able to use
BHPS data to track the degree to which individuals circumstances andattitudes change over time and how they change in response to dierent
events in peoples lives.
The BHPS is household-based, interviewing every adult member o
the sampled households. This means that we can also explore the
interactions between events in individuals lives and wider changes
in the household. The large size o the panel means that we are able
to conduct meaningul analysis o certain sub-groups in the general
population, such as the group that is the subject o this research project.
And again, because the BHPS is an on-going panel study, we are also
able to track the degree to which individuals circumstances and
attitudes change over time, and how they change in response to dierent
events in peoples lives.
British Household Panel Survey
2
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This report uses the questions that the Survey asks about the
satisaction that respondents have with their lives in general, how this
satisaction has changed in the past year, and their satisaction with
elements o their lie including their job, health, house or at, partner,social lie and leisure time many actors inuence lie satisaction. To
investigate how satisaction varies rom one person to another, this
report considered BHPS questions covering income, age, employment
status, computer and internet use, the extent o control that the
respondent eels they have over their lie, and the requency with which
the respondent meets riends and amily.
The analysisThis data was analysed using the same regression modelling approach
that was applied to the World Values Survey data (described above). As
well as asking people to assess how satised they are with their lives in
general, the British Household Panel Survey also probes the satisaction
that people eel with regard to various elements that contribute to ones
overall satisaction with lie. These elements include:
Satisaction with health Satisaction with social lie
Satisaction with house/at
Satisaction with job
Satisaction with leisure (both amount o leisure
time and how it is used)
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Table 4
Overall lie
satisaction
All adults Women
(1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3)
Frequency o
meeting people
- - 0.008
(
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Table 5
Change in satisaction
with lie overall
Model
All adults (1) (2) (3)
(1) (2) (3)
Connected to internet 0.04 (0.024) 0.03 (0.084) -
Newly connected to internet - 0.12 (0.003) 0.13 (0.001)
Age -0.01 0.068 (0.04) 0.133** (0.048)
(
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Table 6
Satisaction with health All adults Women
only
(1) (2) (1) (2) (3)
Frequency o meeting people - - - - 0.005 (0.048)
Has control o lie - 0.30 (
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Table 7
Satisaction with social lie Women only
(1) (2)
Has control o lie - 0.43 (
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Inormation Well-being Index3
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The IWB Index is constructed o 11 dierent indicators as ollows:
1. Population covered by mobile telephony (%) Source, World
Development Indicators (WDI)
2. Mobile phone subscriptions per capita - Source, InternationalTelecommunication Union
3. Broadband subscribers (% o total Internet subscribers) Source, WDI
4. International Internet bandwidth (bits per person) Source, WDI
5. Secure Internet servers (per million people, 2008) Source, WDI
6. Proportion o respondents saying technology making my lie easierSource, World Values Surveys (WVS)
7. Proportion o respondents avouring more emphasis on technologySource, WVS
8. Average sense o reedom and control in lie Source, WVS
9. Proportion who see sel as autonomous Source, WVS
10. Proportion who have checked news online in last week Source, WVS
11. Proportion who have used a computer in the last week Source, WVS
The indicators are standardised, aggregated, and then rescaled rom 0-1.
We can thus produce a table ranking the best to the worst perormers on
the index.
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Table 8Simple IWB Index: Simple (unadjusted) country rankings
IWB Index
1 Sweden 0.98
2 Netherlands 0.97
3 United States 0.92
4 United Kingdom 0.89
5 Australia 0.88
6 Finland 0.86
7 Korea, Rep 0.84
8 Italy 0.83
9 Canada 0.83
10 France 0.80
11 Germany 0.79
12 Brazil 0.78
13 Slovenia 0.75
14 Chile 0.74
15 Japan 0.74
16 Uruguay 0.73
17 Taiwan 0.72
18 Argentina 0.70
19 Trinidad and Tobago 0.64
20 Malaysia 0.63
21 Mexico 0.62
22 Poland 0.61
23 Colombia 0.60
24 Moldova 0.59
25 Bulgaria 0.59
26 Rwanda 0.37
27 Romania 0.55
28 Russian Federation 0.52
29 Serbia 0.52
30 Zambia 0.50
31 Indonesia 0.44
32 Ukraine 0.41
33 Ghana 0.39
34 Burkina Faso 0.38
35 China 0.37
36 India 0.34
37 Mali 0.3338 Vietnam 0.32
39 Ethiopia 0.16
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The rst column in table 9 shows the simple IWB Index as in table 8 on
the previous page. The second column, labelled IWB predicted shows
the level o the IWB that we would have expected on the basis o just
GDP. This is done using a regression analysis that relates IWB to GDP percapita only. The third column, IWB (actual minus predicted) shows the
dierence between actual IWB and that predicted on the basis o
GDP alone.
For countries with a positive number that means that the actual IWB is
higher than we would have expected on the basis o just GDP, while a
negative numbers means that it is less than would be expected.
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Table 9IWB Index adjusted or GDP
IWB
(calculated)
IWB
(predicted)
IWB (Actual minus
predicted)
Sweden 0.98 0.47 Zambia 0.83
Netherlands 0.97 0.40 Moldova 0.80
United States 0.92 0.12 Brazil 0.52
United Kingdom 0.89 0.17 Sweden 0.47
Australia 0.88 0.16 Netherlands 0.40
Finland 0.86 0.08 Burkina Faso 0.35
Korea, Rep 0.84 0.26 Mali 0.32
Italy 0.83 0.03 Uruguay 0.30
Canada 0.83 -0.03 Korea, Rep 0.26
France 0.80 -0.09 Chile 0.25
Germany 0.79 -0.10 United Kingdom 0.17
Brazil 0.78 0.52 Australia 0.16
Slovenia 0.75 -0.05 United States 0.12
Chile 0.74 0.25 Finland 0.08
Japan 0.74 -0.29 Colombia 0.04
Uruguay 0.73 0.30 Italy 0.03
Taiwan 0.72 Ghana 0.02
Argentina 0.70 0.01 Argentina 0.01
Trinidad and Tobago 0.64 -0.08 Bulgaria -0.02
Malaysia 0.63 -0.06 Canada -0.03
Mexico 0.62 -0.05 Slovenia -0.05
Poland 0.61 -0.22 Mexico -0.05
Colombia 0.60 0.04 Malaysia -0.06
Moldova 0.59 0.80 -0.07
Bulgaria 0.59 -0.02 Trinidad and Tobago -0.08
Rwanda 0.37 France -0.09
Romania 0.55 -0,15 Germany -0.10
Russian Federation 0.52 -0,33 Romania -0.15
Serbia 0.52 Ethiopia -0.21
Zambia 0.50 0.83 Poland -0.22
Indonesia 0.44 -0.07 Vietnam -0.26
Ukraine 0.41 -0.39 Japan -0.29
Ghana 0.39 0.02 India -0.30
Burkina Faso 0.38 0.35 Russian Federation -0.33
China 0.37 -0.49 Ukraine -0.39
India 0.34 -0.30 China* -0.49
Mali 0.33 0.32Vietnam 0.32 -0.26
Ethiopia 0.16 -0.21
*There is no adjusted data or Taiwan, Rwanda or Serbia
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The qualitative research took place ater the WVS and BHPS analysis
had been completed. It ocused on the groups that were ound, in both
the WVS and BHPS analysis, to have the biggest uplit in lie satisaction
rom IT that is, women, those on low incomes and those with relatively
ew educational qualications. The purpose o the qualitative research
was twoold:
To shed light on the WVS and BHPS ndings; to help us to
understand why and how IT impacted on respondents lives
To inorm the design o the quantitative research which ollowed
(see section 5 p67)
The qualitative research consisted o 10 in-depth interviews. We
conducted 6 individual interviews and two paired depth interviews.Paired depth interviews were conducted either with the poorest
respondents or those with no educational qualications.
Interviews took place in London and Redditch, West Midlands (5
respondents in each) on August 10 and 11 2010. Each interview lasted
60 minutes.
The sample was structured as ollows:
7 women and 3 men
London respondents had a maximum household income o 26,000
per annum
Redditch respondents had a maximum household income o
20,000 per annum
Some participants had incomes well below the maximum gure or
each location
No respondent had more than 5 GCSE/O Level A-C passes.
Some had no ormal educational qualications at all
Ages o the respondents ranged rom early 20s to early 60s All respondents were rom social grades C2, D, and E
Qualitative Research Specifcation
4
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The nal phase o research was primary quantitative research in the UK.
The quantitative research was designed to:
Fill knowledge gaps rom the previous stages o research
Help to explain how the relationships between IT and lie
satisaction work
The research consisted o telephone interviews with a nationally
representative sample o 1,000 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain. The
interviews were conducted by ICM Research. Fieldwork took place 20 to
23 August.
Questions covered:
Detailed IT access and usage
Lie satisaction
Attitudes to the role IT plays in their lives
Attitudes to the role IT plays in other peoples lives
Quantitative Research Specifcation
5
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
FURTHER READING
Mentioned in the reportDelle Fave, A. (Ed), Journal o Happiness Studies, ISSN: 1389-4978,
(www.springer.com/sociology/well-being/journal/10902, last accessedSept. 2010), Springer Netherlands
Layard, R., Happiness: Lessons rom a New Science, Penguin, 2006
Griths S. and Reeves R. (Eds), Well-being: How to Lead the Good Lie and
What Government Should Do to Help, Social Market Foundation, July 2009
Winner, L.,Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-o-control as a Theme or
Political Thought, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978
Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (Ed), Technology and Psychological Well-being,
Cambridge University Press, 2009
Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Free Yoursel rom Oppression by Technology, in
New Scientist, 27 December 2009
Research sourcesBritish Household Panel Survey: www.iser.essex.ac.uk/survey/bhps
World Values Survey: www.worldvaluessurvey.org
Other writers on the potential negative aspects otechnology includeGalbraith, J. K., The New Industrial State, New York: The New American
Library, 1967
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Gleick, J., Faster: The Acceleration o Just About Everything, London:
Abacus, 2000
Neil Postman has written or years on technology and society. SeeAmusing Ourselves to Death, Methuen Publishing Ltd, new edition (Feb
1987). See also his last book, Building a Bridge to the 18th Century,
Vintage Books, 1999
On IT and technologyWillmott, M. and Nelson, W., Complicated Lives: the Malaise o Modernity,
London: John Wiley and Sons, 2005
On a sense o reedom and controlEasterlin, R. A., Feeding the illusion o growth and happiness: A reply
to Hagerty and Veenhove, Social Indicators Research, Vol. 74 No. 3,
429 443, 2005
Foa, R., Inglehart R. et al., Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness:
A Global Perspective 1981-2007, Perspectives on Psychological Science,
Vol. 3, No. 4, 264-285, 2008
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