New study finds short-term mood benefits from intentional digital disconnection – while showing that external pressure to unplug can backfire

What effect does it have on our well-being when we put our smartphones aside for a while or otherwise disconnect from digital media? Alicia Gilbert, a research associate at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), together with two colleagues from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), examined this question. The results of their study were published in the academic journal Communication Research. "Participants who were offline more often than usual reported more positive effects, felt more energetic and more connected to others. However, these changes were relatively small and tended to dissipate after two to three hours. At the same time, we found no association between digital disconnection and perceived stress," Gilbert said.

Observational approach instead of interventional study design

According to Gilbert, several studies on well-being effects of digital disconnection already exist. Many of them, however, were designed as intervention studies in which researchers explicitly specified how and to what extent participants should refrain from using digital media. "There is currently considerable debate about whether interventional study designs affect the results, as participants may feel restricted in their daily lives by these requirements," Gilbert explains. This assumption is supported by the inconsistent findings of previous research, which range from improvements in well-being to no measurable effects and even increased stress associated with digital disconnection.

For this reason, the JGU and FAU researchers adopted a different approach. Instead of giving specific instructions to study participants, they observed how and to what extent digital disconnection was already part of their everyday lives and how this related to their well-being. Over a two-week period, participants were surveyed several times a day about their current digital media use and non-use as well as their subjective well-being. A total of 237 individuals aged 18 to 35 years took part in the study, reporting on 12,407 situations. The strategies assessed by the researchers included not only complete abstinence from social media, but also more nuanced approaches such as muting notifications or temporarily switching on airplane mode. "It turned out that in many situations in which participants reported disconnecting from one digital medium, they continued to use others – for instance, putting their smartphone aside while working on a laptop. Digital disconnection and media use therefore often occurred simultaneously," said Gilbert.

Forced disconnection is counterproductive

Even so, participants' mood did improve – although this effect was minimal and lasted only two to three hours. Moreover, the strength of the positive association with mood depended on the reason for disconnecting. "When digital disconnection is based on one's own decision, or is perceived as such, the benefit for well-being is greater," Gilbert concluded. "If, by contrast, individuals are instructed or explicitly expected to stay away from their phones, this can even have a negative effect on how they feel. It is thus essential that people are able to freely decide how they use digital media."