Disconnectie in de ‘Always-on’-Samenleving. Theoretische en Empirische Benaderingen om de Samenhang tussen Digitale Disconnectie en Psychologisch Welbevinden te Begrijpen

In recent years, the increasing presence of smartphones and social media has intensified public debate about the impact of constant digital connectivity on well-being. Although connectivity offers several conveniences, many users experience habitual use, information overload, or diminished well-being. As a result, a growing number of users intentionally attempt to voluntarily disconnect, that is; to deliberately and selectively restrict certain devices, platforms, features, or interactions in order to improve, for instance, well-being, productivity, or social experiences. When this Ph.D. research began, the first identified gap was that academic knowledge about this phenomenon was scattered across disciplines, relied on inconsistent terminology and ad hoc measurements, and produced mixed evidence on the effectiveness of disconnection. Regarding the effectiveness of digital disconnection, two gaps appeared particularly important. First, most empirical work focused on complete, abstinence-based detox interventions (e.g., "one week without Facebook"), approaches that do not reflect how people typically manage their digital lives. Second, existing disconnection studies largely imposed restrictions in their designs, overlooking the role of user agency and motivation in everyday disconnection. These gaps underscored the need for conceptual consolidation, validated measurement tools, and theory-driven research that examines nuanced, ecologically valid forms of disconnection while systematically incorporating agency and motivation into their design. To address these limitations, this dissertation employed a mixed-method design, combining a systematic review, cross-sectional survey studies, scale development, and a seven-day experimental intervention. The first objective of this dissertation was to bring conceptual clarity to the study of voluntary digital disconnection by creating a coherent conceptual foundation, systematically mapping existing research, and addressing the lack of standardized tools within the field through scale development. Chapter 1 offers a systematic review of 112 studies, provides a definition for digital disconnection, and organizes the fragmented literature across eight themes, including motivations, strategies, and consequences. In doing so, the chapter clarifies how voluntary disconnection differs from enforced non-use, and identifies theoretical and empirical gaps that later chapters address. The dissertation further advances objective 1 through the development and validation of the Motivations for Social Media Disconnection (MSMD) scale in chapter 5. This scale responds to the reliance on ad hoc measures in prior work. The second objective of this dissertation was to move beyond abstinence-based "digital detox" approaches by examining more nuanced strategies for disconnection. Instead of focusing on this complete withdrawal from devices or platforms, this objective aimed to identify, conceptualize, and empirically test everyday practices that users adopt to regulate certain aspects of the phone without obstructing connections that they want to maintain; defined as nuanced disconnection strategies. Chapter 2 explores a simple yet understudied form of nuanced disconnection, namely ringer mode preferences. It shows that such adjustments can relate to digital stress and use patterns, particularly when they are applied with intrinsic motivation. Chapter 3 broadens this perspective by mapping the adoption of a wide range of tools, including device settings (e.g., iOS Screen Time), in-app well-being functions (e.g., Instagrams Time Spent feature), and external detox apps (e.g., Forest app). It investigates not only how often these tools are used, but also whether, consistent with the IM³UNE framework, they hold potential to mitigate ill-being. The results highlight that such tools are widely adopted, but also that not all tools appear equally effective, with indications that more effortful, personalized tools could be more effective in reducing ill-being due to excessive smartphone use. Chapter 4 extends this work to adolescents, a critically understudied age group in voluntary disconnection research. It identifies distinct user profiles based on app use and tool adoption, and shows that nuanced disconnection practices also vary by sociopsychological (flourishing and depressive symptoms) and sociodemographic (age and gender) factors. Finally, chapter 6 experimentally examines two types of nuanced strategies, session limits and total time limits, in the context of a week-long TikTok disconnection intervention. The study provides initial evidence that these strategies can reduce app use, though with only modest and short-term effects on well-being. Together, these chapters demonstrate that nuanced disconnection practices are diverse, widely used, and potentially beneficial, but that their effectiveness seems conditional on tool type and user-specific factors. The third objective of this dissertation was to deepen our understanding of user agency and motivation as key mechanisms underlying voluntary digital disconnection. Drawing on self-determination theory and the IM³UNE framework, this objective aimed to clarify how the type of user motivation shapes the disconnection practices and their consequences for well-being. Chapter 2 examines motivations behind everyday ringer mode preferences, distinguishing intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for using these phone settings. By linking the motivations to actual smartphone use and digital stress, the chapter shows that the motivational quality behind even small disconnection choices plays an important role in shaping outcomes. Chapter 5 advances objective 3 by developing and validating the MSMD scale. This scale enables future research to systematically examine the motivational drivers of disconnection. Chapter 6 offers a direct experimental test of agency by manipulating whether users chose their TikTok limit themselves or received a predetermined limit. The findings indicate that agency produces little effects, underscoring that agency alone might be insufficient and that the fit between user motivation and the chosen strategy likely plays a central role. Overall, this dissertation advances the study of voluntary digital disconnection by offering a consolidated conceptual foundation. It demonstrates that nuanced, targeted tools are widely used, yet likely vary in effectiveness, and indicates that well-being outcomes may depend less on disconnecting per se and more on the alignment between user motivations, their sense of agency, and the specific disconnection strategies they employ. Together, these contributions can help explain why prior findings in the field have been mixed and underscore that voluntary disconnection is a hyper-personal, context-dependent process shaped by individual goals and the digital environments users navigate.