Working Paper: NBER ID: w18690
Authors: John F. Helliwell; Haifang Huang
Abstract: A recent large Canadian survey permits us to compare real-time and on-line social networks as sources of subjective well-being. The sample of 5,000 is drawn randomly from an on-line pool of respondents, a group well placed to have and value on-line friendships. We find three key results. First, the number of real-life friends is positively correlated with subjective well-being (SWB) even after controlling for income, demographic variables and personality differences. Doubling the number of friends in real life has an equivalent effect on well-being as a 50% increase in income. Second, the size of online networks is largely uncorrelated with subjective well-being. Third, we find that real-life friends are much more important for people who are single, divorced, separated or widowed than they are for people who are married or living with a partner. Findings from large international surveys (the European Social Surveys 2002-2008) are used to confirm the importance of real-life social networks to SWB; they also indicate a significantly smaller value of social networks to married or partnered couples.
Keywords: subjective wellbeing; social networks; real-life friends; online friends; happiness
JEL Codes: I31; J1; P51
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| number of real-life friends (C92) | subjective wellbeing (SWB) (I31) |
| size of online networks (D85) | subjective wellbeing (SWB) (I31) |
| real-life friends (Y80) | subjective wellbeing (SWB) (I31) |