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Cited by 342Impact of Technology on AdolescentsPersonality Traits and PsychologySexuality, Behavior, and Technology

Instagram addiction and the Big Five of personality: The mediating role of self-liking

Open access
Kircaburun, Kagan, Griffiths, Mark D.·2018·Journal of Behavioral Addictions
DOI 10.1556/2006.7.2018.15PMC PMC6035031
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Abstract

Background and aims: Recent research has suggested that social networking site use can be addictive. Although extensive research has been carried out on potential addiction to social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Tinder, only one very small study has previously examined potential addiction to Instagram. Consequently, the objectives of this study were to examine the relationships between personality, self-liking, daily Internet use, and Instagram addiction, as well as exploring the mediating role of self-liking between personality and Instagram addiction using path analysis. Methods: A total of 752 university students completed a self-report survey, including the Instagram Addiction Scale (IAS), the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and the Self-Liking Scale. Results: Results indicated that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-liking were negatively associated with Instagram addiction, whereas daily Internet use was positively associated with Instagram addiction. The results also showed that self-liking partially mediated the relationship of Instagram addiction with agreeableness and fully mediated the relationship between Instagram addiction with conscientiousness. Discussion and conclusions: This study contributes to the small body of literature that has examined the relationship between personality and social networking site addiction and is one of only two studies to examine the addictive use of Instagram and the underlying factors related to it.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This cross-sectional study examined Big Five personality traits, self-liking, daily Internet use, and Instagram addiction among 752 university students using a newly developed Instagram Addiction Scale. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-liking were negatively associated with Instagram addiction, daily Internet use was positively associated, and self-liking mediated the links for agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Key findings

  • Among 752 participants, 33.5% were classified as risky Instagram users: 26.5% mildly addicted, 6.1% moderately addicted, and 0.9% severely addicted; 66.5% were non-addicted.
  • In path analysis, agreeableness (total effect β = −0.19), self-liking (β = −0.14), and daily Internet use (β = 0.20) were related to Instagram addiction; conscientiousness had a total effect of β = −0.10 and an indirect effect via self-liking of β = −0.03.
  • Self-liking partially mediated the relationship between agreeableness and Instagram addiction and fully mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and Instagram addiction; extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience were not supported as predictors.
  • The model predicted 21% of self-liking and 12% of Instagram addiction; the Instagram Addiction Scale had two factors (social effect and compulsion) with Cronbach’s α of .90 total, .86, and .85, respectively.

Methods

  • Cross-sectional self-report survey; 1,124 students participated overall, with 372 in Instagram Addiction Scale development and 752 in the main analysis (69% female; age range 18–24 years, mean = 20.30, SD = 1.46).
  • Measures included the short Big Five Inventory, the Self-Liking subscale, and the Instagram Addiction Scale, which was modified from Young’s Internet Addiction Test.
  • Analyses used EFA and CFA, descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations, and path analysis/SEM with maximum likelihood estimation and bootstrapping (2,000 bootstrap samples, 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals).

Limitations

  • The authors state that data were self-report and subject to biases such as memory recall and social desirability; the sample was cross-sectional, self-selecting, and non-representative, so causal relationships cannot be drawn.
  • The authors also note that the model explained only 12% of Instagram addiction variance, meaning other variables were not included, and that the mediation findings may alternatively reflect moderation.
  • Evident from the text: the sample was a convenience sample of university students, limiting generalizability, and only the self-liking dimension of self-esteem was measured rather than global self-esteem or self-competence.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1556/2006.7.2018.15

Cites

82 of 82 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 39 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Overall, 33.5% of participants were risky Instagram users.

    “According to cut-off points of the IAS, 66.5% of the participants were non-addicted, 26.5% were mildly addicted, 6.1% were moderately addicted, and 0.9% were severely addicted to Instagram. Overall, 33.5% of the participants were risky Instagram users (Table 2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The IAS cut-off points derived from cluster analysis accurately classify Instagram addiction severity.
  • Findingown data

    Self-liking is negatively associated with Instagram addiction.

    “Results indicated that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-liking were negatively associated with Instagram addiction, whereas daily Internet use was positively associated with Instagram addiction.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Instagram addiction was weakly correlated with agreeableness.

    “Bivariate correlation coefficients (Table 3) indicated that Instagram addiction was weakly correlated with daily Internet use, agreeableness, self-liking, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Self-liking partially mediates the relationship between agreeableness and Instagram addiction.

    “The results also showed that self-liking partially mediated the relationship of Instagram addiction with agreeableness and fully mediated the relationship between Instagram addiction with conscientiousness.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The cross-sectional associations among personality, self-liking, and Instagram addiction reflect directional influences from personality and self-liking to Instagram addiction.
  • Findingown data

    Self-liking was moderately correlated with neuroticism.

    “Self-liking was moderately correlated with extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and weakly with agreeableness, and openness to experience.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 36
  • May combine two claims. 26

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The IAS comprises two factors: social effect (eight items) and compulsion (seven items).

    “the scale was composed of two factors, which were named as social effect (eight items, e.g., “How often do you prefer the excitement of Instagram instead of being with your close friends?”) and compulsion (seven items, e.g., “How often do you try to cut down the amount of time you spend on Instagram and fail?”).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    The Pearson correlation between social effect and total scale was 0.89.

    “The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.61 between social effect and compulsion, 0.89 between social effect and total scale, and 0.90 between compulsion and total scale.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data

    The Pearson correlation between social effect and compulsion was 0.61.

    “The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.61 between social effect and compulsion, 0.89 between social effect and total scale, and 0.90 between compulsion and total scale.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    IAS cut-off points were non-addiction (15-37), mild addiction (38-58), moderate addiction (59-73), and severe addiction (over 73).

    “As a result, cut-off points were determined as follows: non-addiction (15–37), mild addiction (38–58), moderate addiction (59–73), and severe addiction (over 73).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The IAS cut-off points derived from cluster analysis accurately classify Instagram addiction severity.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Self-liking fully mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and Instagram addiction, and partially mediated the relationship between agreeableness and Instagram addiction.

    “Self-liking mediated the relationships of conscientiousness (fully) and agreeableness (partially) with Instagram addiction.”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
      “self-liking fully mediates the relationship of Instagram addiction with conscientiousness, and partially with agreeableness.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The hypothesized model predicted 21% of self-liking and 12% of Instagram addiction.

    “The hypothesized model predicted 21% of self-liking and 12% of Instagram addiction.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Introverted, less agreeable, and less conscientious students are more addicted to Twitter.

    “introverted, less agreeable, and less conscientious students are more addicted to Twitter (Kırcaburun, 2016a)”
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    • cites Kırcaburun, 2016a

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    Premisecitation

    All Big Five personality dimensions had a significant effect on Internet addiction.

    “all personality dimensions had a significant effect on Internet addiction”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kayiş et al., 2016 source

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    Premisecitation

    Being less open to experience, less emotional stable, and less conscientious is associated with Facebook addiction.

    “being less open to experience, less emotional stable, and less conscientious is associated with Facebook addiction (Błachnio, Przepiorka, Senol-Durak, Durak, & Sherstyuk, 2017)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Błachnio, Przepiorka, Senol-Durak, Durak, & Sherstyuk, 2017 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Individuals who were less open to experience, agreeable, extraverted, conscientious, and more neurotic reported higher levels of Internet addiction.

    “Individuals who were less open to experience, agreeable, extraverted, conscientious, and more neurotic reported higher levels of Internet addiction.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kayiş et al., 2016 source

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    Premisecitation

    Daily time spent on Internet is positively related to social media addiction.

    “Based on the study of Kırcaburun (2016a) and Karadağ et al. (2015) that demonstrated daily time spent on Internet is positively related to social media addiction”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Kırcaburun, 2016a

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    Premisecitation

    Emotional stability, extraversion, and conscientiousness have the strongest effects on self-esteem.

    “emotional stability, extraversion, and conscientiousness have the strongest effects on self-esteem (Robins, Tracy, Trzesniewski, Potter, & Gosling, 2001)”
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    • cites Robins, Tracy, Trzesniewski, Potter, & Gosling, 2001 source

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    Premisecitation

    Self-liking has a stronger association with self-esteem than self-competence.

    “Self-liking is claimed to have stronger association with self-esteem than compared with self-competence (Dogan, 2011; Tafarodi & Swann, 2001).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Dogan, 2011

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    • cites Tafarodi & Swann, 2001 source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Extraverts and neurotics are more addicted to social media.

    “Studies have reported that (a) extraverts and neurotics are more addicted to social media (Wang, Ho, Chan, & Tse, 2015)”
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    • cites Wang, Ho, Chan, & Tse, 2015 source

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    Premisecitation

    The Big Five personality dimensions accounted for 34% of the variance in self-esteem.

    “the Big Five personality dimensions accounted for 34% of the variance in self-esteem”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Robins, Tracy, Trzesniewski, Potter, & Gosling, 2001 source

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    Study design and conductnone given

    Bootstrapping was performed with 2,000 bootstrap samples and 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals.

    “Bootstrapping was performed with 2,000 bootstrap samples and 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Neurotic, introvert, and conscientious students are more likely to be problematic users of Facebook.

    “neurotic, introvert, and conscientious students are more likely to be problematic users of Facebook (Marino et al., 2016)”
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    • cites Marino et al., 2016 source

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    Premisecitation

    Online social networking addiction has the biggest overlap with Internet addiction more generally.

    “online social networking addiction has the biggest overlap with Internet addiction more generally (Montag et al., 2015)”
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    • cites Montag et al., 2015 source

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    Premisecitation

    Social networking applications are different from other Internet applications because these needs can also be fulfilled in offline contexts but engaging in social networking applications can only be carried out online.

    “social networking applications are different from other Internet applications, such as gambling, gaming, and shopping, because these needs can also be fulfilled in offline contexts but engaging in social networking applications, such as Instagram, can only be carried out online.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Griffiths, 2005 source

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    Interpretationown data

    EFA and CFA results suggest the IAS is valid and reliable in assessing Instagram addiction levels of university students.

    “EFA and CFA results suggest that the scale is valid and reliable in assessing Instagram addiction levels of university students.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Students with higher self-liking were more extraverted, conscientious, agreeable, open to experience, and less neurotic.

    “students with higher self-liking were more extraverted, conscientious, agreeable, open to experience, and less neurotic (Ramsdal, 2008)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ramsdal, 2008 source

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    Premisecitation

    Self-esteem is negatively associated with SNS use and social media addiction.

    “self-esteem is reported to be one of the important factors and it is negatively associated with SNS use and social media addiction (Andreassen et al., 2017; Blachino, Przepiorka, & Pantic, 2016; Kırcaburun, 2016b)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Andreassen et al., 2017 source

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    • cites Blachino, Przepiorka, & Pantic, 2016

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    • cites Kırcaburun, 2016b

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Individuals become addicted because they are experiencing different gratifications via these platforms that they cannot have in their real life, and problematic use may continue as long as they keep getting their needed gratifications repeatedly.

    “As Ryan et al. (2014) indicated, individuals become addicted, because they are experiencing different gratifications via these platforms that they cannot have in their real life, and problematic use may be expected to continue as long as they keep getting their needed gratifications repeatedly.”
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    • cites Ryan et al. (2014) source

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    Study design and conductreasoning

    The cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow the drawing of causal relationships among the variables examined.

    “In addition, cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow the drawing of causal relationships among the variables examined.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Individuals with low agreeableness are not expected to involve themselves in others' uploads or to try to compensate their loneliness or real life relations by constructing online relationships.

    “Based on these studies, it may be argued that individuals with low agreeableness are not expected to involve themselves in others’ uploads or to try to compensate their loneliness or real life relations by constructing online relationships.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The sample was cross-sectional and self-selecting and therefore non-representative.

    “The sample was also cross-sectional and self-selecting and therefore non-representative.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Conscientious individuals are systematic, punctual, and hard working, whereas individuals with lower conscientiousness have lower self-discipline, are emotionally driven, unambitious, and tend to behave irresponsibly and inconsistently.

    “Conscientious individuals are systematic, punctual, and hard working, whereas individuals with lower conscientiousness have lower self-discipline, are emotionally driven, unambitious about what they do, and they tend to behave irresponsibly and inconsistently (Costa & McCrae, 2000).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Costa & McCrae, 2000

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    Study design and conductreasoning

    The data were self-report, which suffers from biases such as memory recall and social desirability.

    “The data were self-report in relation to questions regarding Instagram addiction, personality, and self-liking. Self-report methods suffer from a number of well-established biases (such as memory recall and social desirability).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Individuals with lower self-liking may be expected to have higher levels of depression, which is positively associated with social media addiction, to be uncomfortable in social settings, and to experience attachment issues with peers and family.

    “individuals with lower self-liking may be expected to have higher levels of depression (Wilkinson, 2010), which is positively associated with social media addiction (Andreassen et al., 2016; Kırcaburun, 2016b), to be uncomfortable in social settings and to experience attachment issues with their peers and family (Wilkinson, 2010).”
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    • cites Wilkinson, 2010 source

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    • cites Andreassen et al., 2016 source

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    • cites Kırcaburun, 2016b

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    Premisenone given

    The previous study (Ershad & Aghajani, 2017) had major methodological flaws and only 100 participants.

    “However, this previous study had major methodological flaws and only 100 participants.”
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    • cites Ershad & Aghajani, 2017

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    Premisecitation

    The previous study (Ershad & Aghajani, 2017) found neuroticism was associated with Instagram addiction.

    “the previous study (i.e., Ershad & Aghajani, 2017) found neuroticism was associated with Instagram addiction.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ershad & Aghajani, 2017

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    Interpretationown data

    The hypothesized model predicted a relatively low proportion of Instagram addiction in terms of overall variance (12%), meaning many other variables affect addictive use of Instagram that were not included in this study.

    “Finally, the hypothesized model predicted a relatively low proportion of Instagram addiction in terms of overall variance (12%). This means that there are many other variables that affect addictive use of Instagram, which were not included in this study.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Instagram is arguably a safe and joyous medium for neurotics to escape from real life troubled social relationships.

    “Instagram is arguably a safe and joyous medium for them to escape from real life troubled social relationships.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The moderate correlation between self-liking and Big Five scores may not be a sufficient explanation for a mediation effect; a bivariate correlation or an assumed interaction could also be a sign of a moderation effect.

    “Some may argue that the moderate correlation is not a sufficient explanation for a mediation effect. A bivariate correlation or an assumed interaction could also be a sign of a moderation effect.”
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    • cites Robins et al. (2001) source

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    • cites Ramsdal (2008) source

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    Interpretationreasoning

    Individuals with lower agreeableness may be expected to experience rejection and negative remarks from their friends or surroundings, resulting in a decrease in self-liking.

    “Individuals with lower agreeableness may be expected to experience rejection and negative remarks from their friends or surroundings, resulting in a decrease in self-liking.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Public-based and appearance contingencies of self-worth were positively related to online photo sharing.

    “Stefanone, Lackaff, and Rosen (2011) reported that public-based and appearance contingencies of self-worth were positively related to online photo sharing.”
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    • cites Stefanone, Lackaff, and Rosen (2011) source

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    Premisecitation

    Individuals with higher self-liking are comfortable in social settings and in communicating with others.

    “Individuals with higher self-liking are comfortable in social settings and in communicating with others (Tafarodi & Swann, 1995).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Tafarodi & Swann, 1995 source

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    Interpretationown data

    Some individuals use Instagram problematically and different personality constructs are associated with this problematic use.

    “The findings of this study indicate that some individuals use Instagram problematically and different personality constructs are associated with this problematic use.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Neurotics are mostly unstable and impatient, tend to get angry quickly, and perceive life negatively.

    “Neurotics are mostly unstable and impatient, and they tend to get angry quickly and perceive life negatively (McCrae & John, 1992).”
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    • cites McCrae & John, 1992 source

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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Students with higher self-liking demonstrated lower avoidance and anxiety in friendship attachments and had a higher quality of attachment with their parents and peers.

    “Wilkinson (2010) noted that students with higher self-liking demonstrated lower avoidance and anxiety in friendship attachments and that they had a higher quality of attachment with their parents and peers.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Wilkinson (2010) source

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    Interpretationcitation

    The non-significant relationship between extraversion and Instagram addiction might be because Wang et al. (2015) reported an association between extraversion and addictive use of social media in general rather than being specific to Instagram addiction.

    “The non-significant relationship between extraversion and Instagram addiction might be because Wang et al. (2015) reported an association between extraversion and addictive use of social media in general rather than being specific to Instagram addiction.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Wang et al. (2015) source

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    Premisecitation

    A weaker sense of peer belonging among teenagers was positively related to deceptive like-seeking on Instagram.

    “Dumas, Maxwell-Smith, Davis, and Giulietti (2017) noted that a weaker sense of peer belonging among teenagers was positively related to deceptive like-seeking on Instagram.”
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    • cites Dumas, Maxwell-Smith, Davis, and Giulietti (2017) source

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Personality traits may have an effect on which form of online communication individuals prefer in the first place.

    “personality traits may have an effect on which form of online communication individuals prefer in the first place.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The findings support that addictions on the Internet are not the same as addictions to the Internet, and that among social media addictions there are differences in personality characteristics of potentially addicted Instagram users and other types of SNS addicts using different platforms.

    “The findings of this study support the assertions made almost two decades ago that addictions on the Internet are not the same as addictions to the Internet (Griffiths, 1998), and that even among social media addictions, there are differences in the personality characteristics of potentially addicted Instagram users and other types of SNS addicts using different platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter,”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Griffiths, 1998

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    Premisecitation

    Agreeableness was related positively to posting group selfies, involvement in others' responses, observing others' selfies, and commenting or posting "likes" on others' selfies.

    “Kim and Chock (2016) and Choi et al. (2017) reported that agreeableness was related positively to posting group selfies, involvement in others’ responses, observing others’ selfies, and commenting or posting “likes” on others’ selfies.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Kim and Chock (2016) source

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    Interpretationcitation

    Both introverted and extraverted students might have become similarly addicted to Instagram due to different usage aims and motivations.

    “Here, both introverted and extraverted students might have become similarly addicted to Instagram due to different usage aims and motivations.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Less agreeable individuals may become pathological users of SNSs because they have difficulties in constructing new relationships and pursuing existing ones.

    “Kırcaburun (2016a) who argued that less agreeable individuals may become pathological users of SNSs, such as Twitter, because they have difficulties in constructing new relationships and pursue existing ones.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kırcaburun (2016a)

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47 of 47

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The IAS cut-off points derived from cluster analysis accurately classify Instagram addiction severity.

    “To determine the cut-off points of the scale, two-step cluster analysis was utilized. As a result, cut-off points were determined as follows: non-addiction (15–37), mild addiction (38–58), moderate addiction (59–73), and severe addiction (over 73).”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The cross-sectional associations among personality, self-liking, and Instagram addiction reflect directional influences from personality and self-liking to Instagram addiction.

    “However, given that these studies are cross-sectional, the direction of effects is unknown. SNS interactions might have led to a change in self-esteem levels or low self-esteem might have been led to such interactions and uses in the first place.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The convenience sample of 752 university students is representative of university students for prevalence and relationships.

    “pencil and paper questionnaires were distributed to a convenience sample of university students by the research team.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Research has shown that the personality traits that make up dark triad play a crucial role in adding to the Internet and social networks.

    “Research has shown that the personality traits that make up dark triad play a crucial role in adding to the Internet and social networks [19,20,21].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction and the ‘Big Five personality traits and social networking site use’ section link personality traits to problematic Internet and social-network use. But the paper discusses the Big Five, not the Dark Triad; our copy does not support the claim about that specific group of traits. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Narcissism is associated with online self-promotion behaviors and trying to be more popular, which can cause problematic Internet use.

    “For its part, narcissism is associated with online self-promotion behaviors and trying to be more popular, which can cause problematic Internet use [20,32,38,39]; this coincides with our results.”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) reports self-promotion as an Instagram-use motive and self-presentation as a predictor of social-networking-site addiction. It does not link narcissism to those behaviors or establish that seeking popularity causes problematic Internet use; narcissism appears in the retrieved References, not in a passage making that claim. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Dimensions of the dark triad of personality explain online behaviors.

    “These associations reinforce the behavioral characteristics of these individuals and how they may behave on the Internet, allowing us to suggest that dimensions of the dark triad of personality explain online behaviors [4,9,10,16,20,32,34,35,38,39,63].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction and Discussion say that personality traits are associated with addictive use of online applications, including Instagram. The study examines the Big Five, however, not the dimensions of the dark triad; it therefore supports the general personality–online behavior link but not the claim about the dark triad specifically. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • According to U&GT, personality traits motivate and provide gratification for individuals and for PSMU.

    “Similarly, according to the U&GT approach, personality traits also motivate and provide gratification for individuals (Sheldon and Bryant 2016) and for PSMU (Kircaburun 2016a;Kircaburun and Griffiths 2018a).”

    From Uses and Gratifications of Problematic Social Media Use Among University Students: a Simultaneous Examination of the Big Five of Personality Traits, Social Media Platforms, and Social Media Use Motives (2020) · cites this paper as Kircaburun and Griffiths 2018a

  • Psychopathic individuals tend to engage in antisocial online behaviors such as cyberbullying, trolling, cyberstalking intimate partners, and playing violent games.

    “They also tend to engage in antisocial online behaviors such as cyberbullying, trolling, cyberstalking intimate partners, and playing violent games [9,20,32].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction and I-PACE theoretical-background passages discuss personality and problematic Internet use, but do not address psychopathic individuals engaging in the listed antisocial behaviors. Searches for psychopathy, cyberbullying, trolling, cyberstalking intimate partners, and violent games found no passage supporting that association. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Conflicting direct-effect estimates for agreeableness

    Minor

    The results text reports a standardized direct effect of −0.16 for agreeableness on Instagram addiction, while Table 4 reports −0.17 for the same direct effect.

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

4 of the 86 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Ershad, Z. S. , & Aghajani, T. (2017). Prediction of Instagram social network addiction based on the personality, alexithymia and attachment Styles. Sociological Studies of Youth,8(26), 21–34.
  2. Huang, H. (2012). Social media addiction among adolescents in urban China: An examination of sociopsychological traits, uses and gratifications, academic performance, and social capital. Doctoral thesis, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kircaburun, K., & Griffiths, M. D.
Affiliations
  • Faculty of Education, Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies, Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey
  • Nottingham Trent University (GB)
ORCID
Griffiths, Mark D.
Venue
Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Publisher
Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Published
2018-02-19
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
158-170
ISSN
  • 2062-5871 (ISSN-L)
  • 2063-5303
DOI
10.1556/2006.7.2018.15
PMC
PMC6035031
OpenAlex
W2788268593
Semantic Scholar
9b12d4efdf354657ae6d457c7ea907bba4b242be
Cited by
342
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 8
FWCI
66.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2026-05-20)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Behavioral Addictions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
  • Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) (acceptedVersion)
  • DSpace - Düzce (Duzce University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Keywords
Instagram addiction, Big Five personality traits, self-liking, agreeableness, conscientiousness, daily internet use, mediation, university students
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Personality, Personality Tests, Photography, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Self Concept, Prevalence, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Self Report, Social Media

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-08.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-08.

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