Well-Being and Instagram Use Among University Students

Abstract

Well-being is vital for university students regarding their short-term aims and long-term benefits in their academic, social, and professional lives. It is also evident that Instagram usage may relate to their well-being regarding relationships, connectedness, loneliness, interactions, socialization, social comparison, and emotional contagion. However, research results do not show a consensus on the relationship between Instagram use and well-being. Moreover, studies mainly focus on adolescents rather than university students. Thus, this study aims to examine the relationships between well-being and Instagram use and behaviors among university students. A questionnaire to interrogate the active and passive behaviors on Instagram and the PERMA Profiler was administered to 651 university students. The descriptive and correlational data were obtained to see the levels of Instagram use and habits and well-being. The results showed that university students had a normal functional level of well-being and exhibited passive behaviors rather than active behaviors on Instagram.