Facebook can stress you out, Scottish psychologists discover

Published on Wednesday 16 February 2011 15:51

THERE are many reasons to be worried or stressed - rising inflation, job insecurity, public spending cuts.

But psychologists have now identified a new reason to lose sleep - Facebook anxiety.

Research by psychologists at Edinburgh Napier University found interacting with people on the social network site is a major source of stress.

Despite being intended as a tool to help people stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues, the psychologists concluded that, for a significant number of the site's more than 500 million users worldwide, the negative effects of Facebook outweighed the benefits.

It found those who used the site the most were those most likely to suffer from Facebook-related anxiety.

Dr Kathy Charles, who led the study into people's experiences of the website, said that, despite its popularity, there was considerable ambivalence among interviewees about its benefits.

"Our data also suggests that there is a significant minority of users who experience considerable Facebook-related anxiety, with only very modest or tenuous rewards," she said.

"And we found it was actually those with the most contacts, those who had invested the most time in the site, who were the ones most likely to be stressed."

A small percentage admitted disliking receiving friend requests, while almost two-thirds (63 per cent) said they delayed replying to friend requests, and just under a third (32 per cent) said rejecting such requests led to feelings of guilt and discomfort.

But the sense of anxiety is not restricted to those in their teens and twenties - the study questioned 200 people aged between 18 and 62.

Dr Charles added that, while the majority said the best thing about Facebook was "keeping in touch", many admitted they felt anxious about leaving the site, fearing they were missing some important social information and were left "in a neurotic limbo", similar to that of gambling, "hanging on in case they miss out on something good".

• Case study: Who wants their mum to see boozy photos?

She said that, while peer pressure was often the reason people joined, internal factors were at play in keeping them logged in. "They start to make it a source of affirmation," she said.

"They'll post something on Facebook because they want some nice responses, some positive feedback and if they start to use it that way, it's not just about the external aspect of peer pressure, there's an internal pressure that's built up as well by the user."

Dr Charles also suggested that, rather than encouraging a sense of belonging and participation, it could engender a sense of exclusion, paranoia and envy of others' lifestyles, as well as a pressure to be entertaining.

She added that rather than encouraging neurotic behaviour in normally balanced people, it acted as a focus for a neurotic individual's neuroses.

Social media expert Olly Mann said the global 24-hour nature of Facebook was a double-edged sword.

"The advantage that Facebook creates is the sense that you're at a party with all your friends all the time, and while that can be incredibly comforting when you're by yourself and you feel like you're part of an online community, the danger is that the community never sleeps, there's always somebody online doing something or saying something.

"I saw research this week from airlines that are testing wi-fi on board flights, and by far the most-used website is Facebook. People disconnected for five hours feel distraught that they are not up-to-date on the latest Facebook news. It does trigger an addiction to communicate, even when it means ignoring people sitting in the room around you."

A Facebook spokeswoman said they would not be commenting on the findings.