Attachment Weaponisation: The Bond Was Never an Accident I never noticed the closeness being built. I just assumed it was love, and assumed what I owed because of it, without either of us ever saying it out loud. Short version: Trauma bonding is usually described as something that happens to you, almost by accident, through unpredictable reward. A 2025 Cambridge study, interviewing eighteen women with sustained attachment to abusive partners, found something sharper underneath that: the closeness itself is often deliberately constructed early on, specifically so it can be exploited later. Researchers call this attachment weaponisation. The unsettling part is that it isn't always obvious while it's happening. It can feel completely organic, right up until you realise how much invisible obligation got built into it along the way. What is attachment weaponisation? A 2025 study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, published in the journal Violence Aga...
You already know it's making you unhappy. Researchers just proved you'd pay real money to admit it, and open it again five minutes later.
Short version: Research cited in the 2026 World Happiness Report found people would genuinely pay to have social media disappear. Participants said they'd pay $28 to have their whole community deactivate TikTok for a month, and $10 for Instagram. Almost two-thirds of active TikTok users said they'd actually be better off if the platform didn't exist at all. This isn't a warning from outside researchers. It's people's own honest verdict on an app they can't stop opening.
Would people really pay to delete social media?
Yes, according to research discussed in the 2026 World Happiness Report. Participants said they would pay $28 to have everyone in their community, themselves included, deactivate TikTok for a month, and $10 to do the same for Instagram. Nearly two-thirds of active TikTok users reported they would genuinely be better off if the platform didn't exist, and close to half of Instagram users said the same about that platform.
$28 and $10
The amount people said they'd pay to have their whole community collectively deactivate TikTok and Instagram for a month.
Why is this finding different from typical "social media is bad for you" research?
Most social media research warns people about effects they may not have noticed themselves. This finding is different: it isn't outsiders telling users something is wrong. It's users themselves, honestly reporting that they already know, already wish it were gone, and are still opening the app anyway. That gap, between what people know and what people do, is the actual story.
Nobody had to convince these users social media was hurting them. They already knew. They were just willing to pay money for someone else to make the decision they couldn't make for themselves.
Why can't people act on what they already know?
This gap between knowledge and action is a well-documented pattern in behavioural science, not a personal failing. Habits driven by unpredictable reward, the exact structure behind social media feeds, are known to override conscious intention repeatedly, because the reward system operates faster and more automatically than deliberate decision-making does. Knowing a habit is harmful and having the environmental cue removed are two very different things, and only one of them reliably changes behaviour.
Does money actually buy happiness?
Not as directly as commonly assumed. A separate study, published in PNAS and led by McGill University, surveyed close to 3,000 people across 19 small, non-industrialised communities worldwide, many with very limited cash income. It found happiness levels comparable to those reported in wealthy, high-income countries. Financial wealth was not the deciding factor in how satisfied people felt with their lives.
What this actually means
If you already suspect an app is making you less happy, the research suggests you're very likely right, and far from alone in that assessment.
Knowing something is bad for you rarely creates lasting change on its own. Removing the cue or the access tends to work better than willpower alone.
Wealth and possessions are not reliably what's driving genuine life satisfaction, according to real, recent, global research.
Frequently asked questions
Would people actually pay to delete TikTok or Instagram?+
Research cited in the 2026 World Happiness Report found participants would pay $28 to have their community deactivate TikTok for a month, and $10 for Instagram, with a majority of active TikTok users reporting they would be better off without the platform.
Does having low income mean lower happiness?+
Not necessarily. A study published in PNAS, led by McGill University, found people in small, non-industrialised communities with very limited cash income reported happiness levels comparable to people in wealthy countries.
Why do people keep using apps they know make them unhappy?+
This reflects a well-documented gap between knowledge and behaviour, driven by reward-based habit systems that operate automatically and often override conscious intention, making awareness alone insufficient to change the behaviour.
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