World Happiness Report 2026. Chapter 5: Adolescent Life Satisfaction and Social Media Use: Gender Differences in an International Dataset.
This chapter of the World Happiness Report 2026, authored by Jean M. Twenge, Alexis Diomino, and Alana Rio, analyzes the relationship between adolescent life satisfaction and social media use using international data. The authors focus on gender differences, examining how patterns of use and wellbeing vary between boys and girls across countries.
The chapter seeks to determine whether the negative associations between social media and life satisfaction are consistent globally and whether they affect adolescents differently depending on gender.
Social Media Use and Life Satisfaction
The findings show a clear association between higher levels of social media use and lower life satisfaction among adolescents. This relationship is not linear: moderate use tends to have smaller or negligible effects, while heavy use is more strongly linked to reduced wellbeing.
Across countries, adolescents who spend more time on social media consistently report lower levels of life satisfaction compared to those with lower usage. This pattern appears in multiple datasets, suggesting a robust relationship rather than isolated national trends.
Gender Differences
A central contribution of the chapter is its analysis of gender differences. The negative association between social media use and life satisfaction is significantly stronger for girls than for boys.
Girls are more likely to engage in forms of social media use that emphasize social comparison, appearance, and peer feedback, which can increase vulnerability to negative self-evaluation. As a result, heavy use among girls is more consistently linked to lower life satisfaction.
Boys also show some negative associations, but these are generally weaker and less consistent across countries.
Cross-National Consistency
The chapter highlights that these gendered patterns are observed across a wide range of countries. Although the strength of the relationship varies, the general trend (stronger negative effects for girls) remains consistent internationally.
This suggests that the observed differences are not solely driven by specific cultural contexts but may reflect broader patterns in how adolescents engage with social media platforms.
Interpreting the Findings
The authors emphasize that while the association between social media use and life satisfaction is consistent, it does not necessarily imply causation. Other factors, such as pre-existing mental health conditions or social environments, may also influence both usage and wellbeing.
Nevertheless, the consistency of the findings across countries and datasets indicates that social media use is an important factor to consider when analyzing adolescent wellbeing, particularly for girls.
Reference
Twenge, J. M., Diomino, A., & Rio, A. (2026). Adolescent life satisfaction and social media use: Gender differences in an international dataset. En World Happiness Report 2026. University of Oxford: Wellbeing Research Centre. https://doi.org/10.18724/whr-ewft-vq17