Anxious? Just Google it: Social ecological factors of internet search records on anxiety

Records of Internet search are increasingly used in social science research. Three studies reported here tested (a) whether population-level anxiety is reflected in Internet search data and (b) the socio-ecological and cultural factors of anxiety. Using data from Japan, we found that the Google search rates of anxiety are associated with self-report anxiety (Study 1), and that the search rates increased following a major disaster (Study 2). These findings suggest that anxiety is searched more often on the Internet when and where people are feeling anxious. However, while search rates of anxiety increased since 2010, there was no sign of worsening anxiety among Japanese in two large national data on self-report anxiety (Study 1). Study 3 used search data to examine an anxiety-related cultural phenomenon. Consistent with a lay belief that is rarely empirically examined, we found that anxiety among Japanese increases in spring when millions in the country make school and career transitions. This pattern was somewhat more pronounced in large cities and was not evident in other negative emotions examined. Together, these findings add to psychologists’ understanding of anxiety particularly its vulnerability to environmental threat and social disconnection. These findings also demonstrate the potential of Internet search data in advancing psychological research, particularly in examining mental processes’ socio-ecological, cultural, and temporal factors.