BEER-SHEVA, Israel (Press Release) – Ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) who decide to leave the community and disaffiliate are at a stressful crossroads in their life. Many leave close-knit communities for an initially lonely path in a world they may not be very familiar with. One of the new aspects of that life may be social media. Studies show that less than 20% of ultra-Orthodox individuals in Israel are exposed to social media. As many do, they may seek support, solace, and connection online. Now, a Ben-Gurion University of the Negev communications researcher and colleagues have looked at ex-ultra-Orthodox Jews’ use of social media for coping for the first time.
Dr. Yossi David of the Department of Communication Studies and head of the Communication and Social BIAS (Beliefs, Ideologies, Affect, and Stereotypes) Research Lab collaborated with Yehudis Keller, MA, a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Case Western Reserve University, and Estherina Trachtenberg, a Ph.D. candidate at Sagol School of Neuroscience Tel Aviv University. They surveyed 1,146 ex ultra-Orthodox individuals in summer 2022 about how they use social media to cope with stress: to avoid or escape their stress, or to solve the problems they face. The survey includes participants aged 18 to 76, and the average respondent was 31. Slightly more than half were male, and most participants lived in Israel, but a minority were from the United States and other countries. Participants disaffiliated an average of 8 years prior to participating in the survey, though people left as recently as one year or as many as 52 years prior. More participants were single (60%) than in a relationship.
Their findings were just published in the journal New Media & Society. Participants provided the estimated number of hours per day spent on the following social media platform categories: TikTok, YouTube, or other video platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other social media; and texting, WhatsApp, or other instant messaging.
Dr. David and his colleagues found that time spent on social media was not associated with wellbeing, while methods of coping through social media – particularly the negative methods of coping (avoidance and escapism) – were negatively associated with wellbeing. These findings reinforce prior research which suggests that time itself is not an adequate measure for understanding how social media impacts psychological wellbeing.
People who left ultra-Orthodoxy used social media primarily to cope through escapist methods, followed by problem-focused methods, while avoidant coping was the least common type. Problem-solving coping has been shown to be associated with positive mental health but had no relationship with the levels of resilience that one had at the time. Meanwhile, the more that one engaged with escapist and avoidant forms of coping through social media, the lower their levels of positive mental health and resilience.
“To our knowledge, there is currently no research on the role of social support and social media use among those who disaffiliate from high-cost religions. The process of disaffiliating from ultra-Orthodox Judaism is accompanied by the loss of social support and the social norms and communication technologies, which often results in a vulnerable psychological state. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish disaffiliates come from an environment where social media use is prohibited, moderated, or discouraged,” the researchers wrote.
“Our results point to the need for better education for healthier use of new media technologies in general and social media in particular, which is particularly important for vulnerable individuals such as those going through major life changes and using social media for the first time,” they wrote.
In addition to the findings about coping through social media, the researchers also found that giving and receiving both emotional and practical support to and from others were associated with positive mental health, which reflects findings among general populations. However, levels of resilience were only related to receiving emotional support from people in their lives and giving practical support to others. These results differ from associations in prior research, indicating that perhaps among those who leave a high-cost religion, there are different functions for how resilience can be bolstered by social support or lack thereof, or having more resilience to begin with allows one to give back to others in a practical way.
Despite the potentially stressful nature of their transition out of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, the researchers found that average resilience levels were comparable to that of the general population. They theorized that this finding might be explained by the already demanding levels of resilience needed to disaffiliate from a high-cost religion.
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Preceding provided by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev