University Students’ Subjective Well-Being in Japan Between 2021 and 2023: Its Relationship with Social Media Use

Shaoyu Ye () and Kevin K. W. Ho
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Shaoyu Ye: Institute of Library, Information and Media Science, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8850, Japan
Kevin K. W. Ho: Institute of Business Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tokyo 112-0012, Japan

Future Internet, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: This study investigated whether young adults’ social media use and subjective well-being (SWB) changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examined the possible relationships between social media use, SWB, and personality traits. It included generalized trust, self-consciousness, friendship, and desire for self-presentation and admiration, in relation to different patterns of social media use and genders. Data were collected from university students in Japan from 2021 to 2023 and were analyzed based on different social media use patterns. The conceptual model was based on the cognitive bias and social network mediation models. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and regression analyses. The findings revealed that, over time, young adults’ anxiety toward COVID-19 decreased, while their SWB improved and their social support increased. Depression tendencies showed a negative association, whereas social support was positively related to improvement of SWB for all three patterns of social media use. Furthermore, online communication skills had a positive relationship with improvements in students’ SWB in Patterns 1 (LINE + Twitter + Instagram) and 2 (LINE + Twitter + Instagram + TikTok). The self-indeterminate factor had a positive relationship with students’ SWB for all patterns in 2022 and 2023, and the praise acquisition factor had a positive relationship with improvements in students’ SWB in Patterns 1 and 2. These results suggest that young adults maintained their mental health through different social media usage patterns, considering their personality traits and social situations associated with COVID-19. Particularly, receiving social support, decreasing people’s depression tendencies, and displaying different aspects of the “self” online can improve SWB. This study elucidates the mental health situations of university students in Japan and will help public health authorities develop new support programs that help digital natives improve their mental health in the context of social environmental changes.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; personality traits; social media use patterns; subjective well-being (SWB); university students in Japan; comparative changes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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