Elsevier

Telematics and Informatics

Volume 31, Issue 4, November 2014, Pages 597-606
Telematics and Informatics

Analysis of the psychological traits, Facebook usage, and Facebook addiction model of Taiwanese university students

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2014.01.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Self-inferiority can significantly predict Facebook usage.

  • Having a depressive character could significantly predict Facebook addiction.

  • Facebook usage could significantly predict Facebook addiction.

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to (1) identify the role of the psychological traits of university students in Facebook addiction and Facebook usage; and (2) explore the correlation between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction. This study treated 241 university students in Taiwan as the research subjects, and adopted the Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale, Lai’s personality test, a Facebook usage scale, and a Facebook addiction scale (FAS). The structured equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results showed that: (1) self-inferiority can significantly predict Facebook usage; and (2) having a depressive character and Facebook usage can significantly predict Facebook addiction. Finally, discussion was conducted on the findings, and relevant suggestions were proposed for schools, students, and future studies.

Introduction

By October 2013, on average, there were 728 million people on Facebook each day (Facebook, 2013). Facebook users not only frequently sign onto Facebook, but also spend a lot of time on Facebook. A study found that 80.24% of university students believe that using Facebook is an important element in university social culture (Thompson and Lougheed, 2012). Facebook not only has changed the nature of social relationships, but also provided opportunities for individuals to show themselves, share articles, and establish or maintain relationships with others (Boyd and Ellison, 2007, Ellison et al., 2007). Conversely, Facebook usage can also lead to problems of attention distraction poor time management, spending less time studying, and lower academic performance (Krischner and Karpinski, 2010). Since the Internet takes time away from social activity, it thus displaces social ties, in turn hindering well-being (Kraut et al., 1998). Some researchers also think that Facebook usage may have a negative connection between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction (Echeburua and de Corral, 2010, Kuss and Griffiths, 2011b). However, the research shows that the number of Facebook friends, not the time spent on Facebook, predicted college adjustment (Kalpidou et al., 2011). Thus, it is necessary to empirically analyze further the relationship between the time spent on Facebook and Facebook addiction.

Character traits play an important role in addiction formation (Griffiths, 2009). Many studies have shown that character traits such as low self-esteem, shyness, introversion, neuroticism, attack, poor self-control, a high degree of loneliness and a high degree of sadness are all correlated with Internet addiction (Cao and Su, 2006, Griffiths and Dancaster, 1995, Huang et al., 2010, Kim et al., 2006, Kim et al., 2008, Lavin et al., 2004, Whang et al., 2003, Young, 1998). It is known that excessive usage of new technology, such as social networking sites (SNSs) may be especially addictive for adolescents (Echeburua and de Corral, 2010). Although Facebook is popular among many university students; few studies have explored the correlation between Facebook addiction and the character traits of university students (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011b), as well as the correlation between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction. Therefore, this study attempts to analyze the predictors of university student Facebook addiction, as well as the correlation between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction, in order to enhance the understanding of the developmental mechanisms of university student Facebook addiction.

Section snippets

Facebook addiction

People spend a lot of time online, and this can cause them to become potential addicts. However, they are not addicted to the media itself, as some users may develop addictions for specific Internet activities (Griffiths, 2000). The main purposes and motivations for using SNSs are to establish and maintain online and offline relationships; therefore, the addiction to SNSs can be classified as an Internet relationship addiction (Young, 1999). In some extreme cases, researchers have

Participants

This study treated university students as the pre-test subjects, and used schools as the units for questionnaire administration. After acquiring consents from the students, the researchers asked the students to fill out the questionnaires. A total of 250 pre-test questionnaires were released and there were 215 valid responses. Of the respondents, 117 are male (54.4%) and 98 are female (45.6%). The subjects of the formal survey were university students from two universities in northern Taiwan by

Descriptive statistics

This study found that the Facebook function that university students spent the most time on was browsing news feeds, with an average of 124.95 min each day, followed by chat rooms, with an average of 90.59 min each day, and apps, with an average of 58.22 min each day. Furthermore, self-esteem had a higher mean, followed by social extraversion, self-inferiority, neuroticism, and depression. In terms of the means of the four measurement indicators of Facebook addiction, tolerance was highest,

Discussion

This study analyzed the role of psychological traits in university student Facebook addiction and Facebook usage, and explored the correlation between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction. It also constructed an analytical model for psychological traits, Facebook usage, and Facebook addiction, in order to explore predictors that may affect Facebook usage forms of Taiwanese university students, and to understand the correlation between Facebook usage and Facebook addiction. The results showed

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