The relationships between digitalization, people’s social capital and subjective well-being

Abstract

Although it is becoming increasingly clear that the Internet is altering human life, the specifics of this transformation are not yet clear, especially in Vietnam. A prominent argument in contemporary literature concerns the Internet's ability to improve wellbeing in old age. On the other hand, social capital, a common factor used to measure subjective well-being, will also be taken into consideration. The current study seeks to analyze the links that Internet use and people's social capital have on Vietnamese wellbeing in this regard. Our research team decided to use the most recent dataset from the World Values Survey (WVS). This information was gathered from 1200 Vietnamese respondents between 2019 and 2020. A wide range of instruments linked to Internet use, social capital, and well-being was utilized as measurements. The study's primary conclusions were that the connections between Internet use, social capital, and wellbeing are complicated and that the Internet affects individuals' subjective well-being negatively. The findings of the study also showed that social capital is a double-edged sword that could be both negative and positive. One final note in this regard is that a citizen's pride in their nationality has a major impact on their happiness and life satisfaction.