Human responses to year-round lighting using Google Trends to investigate seasonality in activity patterns and libido

Abstract

Seasonal rhythms in humans are fascinating but studying them is inherently challenging due to the need for data that covers multiple years. Due to the experimental obstacles, it remains debated whether humans exhibit seasonal fluctuations in aspects such as activity levels and libido. To approach these topics through indirect digital measures, this thesis used multi-year data from Google Trends to investigate seasonal variations in daily search activity patterns and pornography interest. We demonstrate a new method for modelling aggregate search data and calculating daily search activity durations. Our analyses detected seasonal differences in daily search activity duration in areas in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, and Victoria (Australia)). There was an approximately 20- minute average difference in search activity duration between spring and winter in the Northern Hemisphere and between summer and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. We also detected a clear inverse relationship between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ seasonal fluctuations in search activity length. Similarly, we detected seasonal differences in search interest for pornography. Both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres showed a larger pornography search interest during the summer. However, significant surges in searches during the Christmas season and smaller spikes around Easter indicate that leisure time during holidays plays a crucial role in driving search interest for pornography. In brief, this study indicates seasonality in two important aspects of human lives: activity levels and libido but does not attempt to identify the underlying cause of the observed patterns.