– The research said time spent on the app prevents people from being lonely and having low self-esteem
– The academic work also added that the messaging platform improves communications in relationships
WhatsApp is not just an amazing app to connect with friends and loved ones, recent academic research has revealed that the app could also be beneficial to the health.
According to Express UK, academics have found that the time spent on WhatsApp is actually beneficial to one’s health.
The UK’s Edge Hill University academics said that if people were not spending much time on the app, their self-esteem could be affected from having to spend time alone.
The researcher, Dr Linda Kaye, said that many would be surprised at how the app is linked with good health, especially their psychological well-being.
She said: “There’s lots of debate about whether spending time on social media is bad for our well-being but we’ve found it might not be as bad as we think. The more time people spent on WhatsApp, the more this related to them feeling close to their friends and family and they perceived these relationships to be good quality.”
The researcher added that belonging to a group on the app also makes users less lonely, adding that staying close to our loved ones is a favourable aspect of our well-being.
The research was based on a sample of 200 WhatsApp users, where 158 were women and 41 men. The average age of those under test was 24, where an average daily use is around 55 minutes.
“This research contributes to the ongoing debates in this area and provides specific evidence of the role of social factors, along with social support motivations for using communication technology.
“Specifically, the findings show how including factors relating to social bonding capital is highly pertinent within this field as a way of understanding how technology usage relates to psychosocial well-being,” she added.
