A new report by researchers at Masaryk University presents the first representative data on the digital well-being of the Czech adult population. The results show that technology is indispensable for most people, providing them with inspiration, meaning, and entertainment – but at the same time, it causes stress, distractions, and disrupts sense of control in some people.
Today, everyday life for adults often requires owning various digital technologies, such as smartphones or computers, and connecting to the internet with them. A new report by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (IRTIS) at Masaryk University shows how adults aged 18-59 fare in terms of their digital well-being. "In the context of frequent use of technology, digital well-being is becoming increasingly important. Digital well-being is a fluctuating individual experience consisting of the advantages and disadvantages that the use of technology brings us. Digital well-being is one of the components of overall well-being, and people achieve it when they are able to make full use of technology in their lives and limit its negative impacts. This is a topic that has not yet been extensively researched worldwide. Our report therefore provides some of the first comprehensive data on adults," explains Michaela Šaradín Lebedíková, the report's lead author.
Czech adults most commonly use computers and phones: computers play a major role at work, where 49% of adults use them for 5 to 8 hours a day. Smartphones dominate leisure time: up to 45% of adults use them for 2 to 5 hours a day.
Research shows that most people (71%) today perceive technology as an essential part of their life. For most adults (62%), technology also provides inspiration and meaning, and for nearly three-quarters of adults, technology helps them organize their daily practical tasks. Similarly, most people appreciate its entertainment function—72% of adults perceive digital technology as a source of entertainment, and 62% use it to relieve boredom. Only 7% of adults do not enjoy using technology.
On the other hand, almost one-fifth of adults (17%) feel stressed by the need to be constantly online, and one in five (22%) admit that technology reduces their performance at home and at work. A significant proportion of people also say that technology distracts them more than they would like (41%) and that it makes them feel less present in the moment (36%). However, for 76% of adults, using technology does not lead to conflicts with family, friends, or colleagues at work. More than half of adults (65%) do not think technology is a waste of time.
According to David Šmahel, co-author of the study, it is important to note that both positive and negative experiences with technology are common – technology is sometimes good for people and sometimes it can be detrimental. Young adults most often report conflicting experiences. "Young people perceive technology as more fun and meaningful than older generations, but at the same time, they more often experience feelings of wasting time with technology. This is probably related to the fact that they spend more time on it," says Šmahel, explaining the intergenerational differences. The researchers did not find any significant differences in the perception of technology between men and women.
Another important finding is that most people try to deliberately regulate their use of digital technology at least sometimes. Approximately 90% of adults have used one of the so-called digital disconnection strategies. The most common are simple and ordinary strategies – half of adults regularly set their phones to silent mode, place them screen-down, or simply ignore them during important activities. Strategies that require certain settings in advance are not as popular. Up to two-thirds of adults have never used an app that restricts access to other apps, nor have they communicated their unavailability via the "do not disturb" function. "The data show that people more often choose more natural strategies than pre-set rules that require active behavioral change," concludes Šaradín Lebedíková.
The target population of the research were working people aged 18 to 59 who use information technology for their work. The final sample consisted of 2,000 participants and was selected according to quotas (gender, age, education, size of place of residence, region, and net household income), which were verified before entering the study. The participants were part of the Czech National Panel.
From the original press release translated with DeepL.com (free version).
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