Similar satisfaction through Facebook as with sex

The self-disclosure on Facebook activates the same brain areas as after a good meal or sex

05/08/2012

Harvard University researchers have studied the user behavior of people who regularly use virtual networks like Facebook. It turned out that entries on the platform trigger the same effects in brain areas as after a good meal or sex. Users appear to be satisfied with sharing personal experiences or opinions with other people.

Emotional effect through self-disclosure
For many people, the daily view of the Facebook network page is part of the daily ritual. Sometimes people give very personal things to their virtual ones „circle of friends“ For example, when describing a personal point of view on a topic, this has a similar effect, such as sexual intercourse or tasteful eating, as the scientists led by study leader Diana Tamir from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States „Proceedings“ the US Academy of Sciences („PNAS“) found out.

Social networks today allow a multitude of people to express their opinions, always and everywhere. „People dedicate 30 to 40 percent of their speaking time exclusively to reporting information about their own subjective experiences“, the researchers write in their study report. But what is driving these „Inclination to revelation“ on? It seems to be the inner urge to tell something about yourself, the researchers say. The self-revelation is perceived as a reward at the moment of the event. It will be „neuronal and cognitive mechanisms associated with reward“.

Activation of special brain regions
For the metastudy, a total of five previous studies were used to support the hypothesis. In the course of a study, it was shown that the self-disclosure was accompanied by the activation of special brain regions, which led to a dopamine release. Dopamine is also released during sex or tasty food and is colloquially a so-called happiness hormone. In another study, the subjects were offered money for the disclosure of their self-image. Most of the study participants refused money but also told their thoughts and experiences so freely. From these and other findings, US researchers now deduce that there is a human tendency to share personal experiences with others.

Level of the effect not measured
Although the same brain regions are activated in self-disclosure, such as sex or good food, but how high the subsequent degree of satisfaction, the researchers could not determine. Accordingly, have „We have not proven that self-disclosure affects these neural regions at the same rate as other rewarding effects“, the study author writes in the report.

Presumably, these effects are much stronger when self-assessment is confirmed. So it seems that many people are delighted when they look at their Facebook profile and others have already commented positively on their posts or the „I like it“ Button pressed. Are there then over 50? „Likes“, This is an indicator of their own attractiveness for some participants. Therefore, according to another US study, social networks have a great addictive potential, which is probably more pronounced than with cigarettes or alcohol. (Sb)

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Picture: Alexander Klaus