Disconnect to recharge: Well-being benefits of digital disconnection in daily life

Many aim to recalibrate and reduce their digital media use to improve well-being. We test theassociations of digital disconnection with a set of positive, negative, and social indicators ofwell-being in a two-week experience sampling study. N = 237 participants reported on T =12,407 situations in daily life. Results show that in situations in which participantsdisconnected more than usual, they reported higher affective well-being, energy, and socialconnectedness (within-person effects). In contrast, those who generally disconnected morethan others reported no differences in well-being (between-person effects). Intrinsicmotivation for disconnection positively moderated associations with affective well-being,energy, and social connectedness between persons. Disconnection was not related to stress,neither within nor between persons. The study further explores whether well-being effectsdiffer depending on the aspects of digital media participants disconnected from. Overall,findings demonstrate how digital disconnection can achieve momentary – but not necessarilylasting – improvements in well-being.