Impacts the SMARTPHONE Use on Adolescents’ Subjective Happiness in Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the difference of happiness by the experience that adolescents use a smartphone. While many studies that digital media use had some negative effect on happiness have released, some studies have showed that the use of digital media worked positively. Also, contradictory theories such as displacement” and stimulation” have been suggested in the ways digital media can affect lives. This study is to analyze the impact smartphone use on adolescents’ subjective happiness in Korea. Method: Data from the 11th Korean Children and Youth Well-Being Index Survey conducted in 2018 were used to analyze the relationship between Korean adolescents smartphone use experience and their subjective happiness. The dependent variable was subjective happiness, and smartphone using experience was subdivided into daily usage time, degree of problematic use, main usage(social relationship, joy, and study/information). Result: The main purpose and hours of use of a smartphone were related to subjective happiness for male students, but problematic use was related for female students. And the longer male students used the smartphone daily and the worse female students’ problematic use was, the lower their subjective happiness was. However, when main usage is for social relationships for male students, subjective happiness is higher than for the rest of them. Conclusion: The relationship between smartphone use and subjective happiness varied by gender and the ways they used it. These results show that smartphone use may not only work in a particular direction, but also vary depending on the ways people use it. After all, it is important to identify the various factors that make this difference rather than to take the specific view of digital media even if that is positive or negative.