Predictors of problematic social media use: personality and life-position indicators
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.
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The link between social media use and well-being may be moderated by an individual's personality characteristics.
“the link between social media use and well-being may be moderated by an individual's personality characteristics (Sheldon et al., 2021; Tobin et al., 2020)”
From Social media use and systemic inflammation: The moderating role of self-esteem (2021) · cites this paper as Sheldon et al., 2021
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- Authors
- Sheldon, P., Antony, M. G., & Sykes, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Alabama in Huntsville (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sheldon, Pavica
- ORCID
- Sheldon, Pavica
- Venue
- Psychological Reports
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-06-24
- Volume
- 124
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1110-1133
- ISSN
- 0033-2941 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-691X
- OpenAlex
- W3037489000
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 10.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Reports (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Media and Digital Communication
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Digital Media and Philosophy
- 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 terms
- Internet Addiction Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Personality, Students, Universities, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Social Media
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