THE DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY PARADOX AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING: MECHANISMS, MODERATORS, AND A GOLDILOCKS READING OF AN EMERGING DIGITAL ECONOMY

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital connectivity has transformed communication, access to information, and everyday social interaction, yet its implications for subjective well-being remain equivocal. It seems prudent to be cautious about assuming that more intensive use of the internet, smartphones, and social media necessarily leads to higher life satisfaction or better psychological functioning. Against this background, the present study investigates the relationship between the intensity and type of digital use and subjective well-being among adult internet users in the Republic of Moldova and tests the Goldilocks hypothesis within an emerging digital economy. The empirical research is based on a quantitative questionnaire administered to 250 adult internet users and combines the Satisfaction with Life Scale, WHO-5, I-PANAS-SF, the Passive and Active Use Measure, the FOMO Scale, and measures of social comparison, information overload, digital skills, and offline social capital. The analytical strategy includes descriptive statistics, reliability testing, correlations, polynomial regression to assess possible non-linear effects, and mediation and moderation analyses aimed at identifying the mechanisms and contextual conditions through which digital connectivity may support or undermine well-being. Rather than presuming uniformly positive or negative effects, the study examines whether moderate and more active forms of use are associated with more favorable outcomes, whereas passive, comparison-driven, or overload-inducing patterns may be linked to lower well-being. The study is designed to contribute original evidence for critical digital education, digital hygiene, well-being-sensitive digital strategies, and the reduction of digital inequalities. To do this, it looks at how human-centred digitalisation can be used in the Moldovan context. The paper is developed in the context of the realization ‘Strengthening socio-economic and legal mechanisms to ensure the well-being and security of the citizens’ (CONSEJ 01.05.02).