Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
- Volume 21 Issue 3
- /
- Pages.97-117
- /
- 2014
- /
- 1598-6284(pISSN)
- /
- 2508-1209(eISSN)
DOI QR Code
Relationship between Self-discrepancy and Subjective Well-being
- Seo, DongBack (Dept. of Management Information Systems, Chungbuk National University) ;
- Sijtsema, Andre (School of Economics and Business, University of Groningen)
- Received : 2014.07.08
- Accepted : 2014.09.09
- Published : 2014.09.30
Abstract
People can differently act online than in real-life. Their virtual identities may allow them to express themselves more freely. In this perspective, there is a self-discrepancy between virtual- and real-life. Due to the anonymity, people can feel free to express who actually they are online without considering social pressure. Especially, for those people who live in a repressed society, virtual-selves can play a significant role to achieve their well-being. For this reason, a self-discrepancy between actual- and virtual-self related to well-being was studied. With 183 survey responses, political freedom, extraversion and neuroticism are identified as significant influencers of subjective well-being (SWB). In addition, an increase in self-discrepancy between virtual- and real-life for 'unhappy' people leads to an increased online well-being, which is contradictory to Higgins' self-discrepancy theory.