People visit social networking sites like Facebook for reasons including the positive emotional experience they enjoy and want to repeat, a new study has claimed.

Measurements of physical and psychological responses such as breathing rate, brain activation, and pupil dilation, designed to assess a person’s psychophysiological state were collected by researchers from IULM University, Catholic University of Sacro Cuore, in Milan, Italy, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

The responses were collected in a group of individuals participating in either a relaxing or stressful task or being online on their own personal Facebook account.

The results of the study revealed a significantly different experience for stress or relaxation exposure compared to the response to Facebook.

The study has been published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.