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According to researchers, regular use of WhatsApp is actually good for your health. The study conducted titled ‘Psychosocial Outcomes Associated with Engagement with Online Chat Systems‘, found that the when people spend more time on WhatsApp each day, they are less lonely and their self-esteem goes higher because of close connection with their friends and family through chat and video calls.
Reported by NDTV, the study was initially published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and has gone viral all over the internet. The news gives solace to the time-consumption guilt of many WhatsApp users who spent a lot of hours on the messaging app texting friends and family. The good news is, you are not languishing your time on the app, in fact, it has a positive effect on your mental health.
“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,” says Linda Kaye, Professor at Edge Hill University.
“As well as this, the more closely bonded these friendships were and the more people felt affiliated with their WhatsApp groups, the more this was related positively to their self-esteem and social competence,” Kaye.
For the research and to conclude the study, the research team selected 200 users, 158 were women and 42 men. The average age of the participants was 24. The study concluded that average daily use was around 55 minutes and people prefer texting and using the group chat function.
Group chat affiliation means the participants felt less lonely because of many users interacting.
