Predictors of Problematic Social Media Use: Personality and Life-Position Indicators
Sheldon P, Antony MG, Sykes B
Psychological reports · 25 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2020-06-24 · Psychol Rep · vol. 124 · issue 3 · pp. 1110–1133
- Publisher
- SAGE Publishing
- Cited
- 53 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 10.4× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 46 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Social Media and Politics · Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Keywords
- social media addiction, Instagram addiction, Facebook addiction, fear of missing out, Big Five personality traits, life satisfaction, social activity, interpersonal interaction, university students, media dependence
- MeSH
- humans, behavior, addictive, personality, students, universities, female, male, young adult, social media, internet addiction disorder
3 authors
From US
- Pavica Sheldon · correspondingUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
- Mary Grace AntonyUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
- Britney SykesUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
Abstract
Given the preponderance of social media in our increasingly saturated media environments, there is a need for greater understanding of how personality traits and states can influence problematic social media use. This study examines whether contextual age indicators (life satisfaction, interpersonal interaction, social activity), the fear of missing out, and the Big Five personality traits are significant predictors of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat addictions. A survey of 337 college students reveals that greater social activity is a positive predictor of addiction to Snapchat. Another significant finding is a positive relationship between social media addiction and the fear of missing out, which explained the most variance in addiction scores for Snapchat (16%). An inductive analysis of open-ended responses indicated strong similarities between those who claimed that they were addicted to these social media apps and those said that they were not addicted. Both groups described largely similar usage patterns and media dependency, yet several users did not self-identify as addicted to social media. These patterns indicate that more research is needed to determine how social media users differentiate between normative, heavy, and addicted usage.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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