Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Congress of Psychology, Moscow, Rusya, 2 - 05 Haziran 2019
Problematic internet use is common
and even may be on rise almost all over the world. To illustrate, recently the
ratio of internet addiction among university students is reported to be 3.2% in
UK, 3.9% in Italy and 4.2% in European countries and 1.2% in Turkey (e.g.,
Kuss, Griffiths, & Binder, 2013; Kaess et al., 2014; Kır & Sulak,
2014). Although detrimental effects of Social Media Addiction (SMA) had been
focus of a number studies (e.g., Andreassen, Torsheim, Brunborg, & Pallesen, 2012);
predictors of SMA haven’t been fully understood yet. The aim of the present
research was to reveal effects of motivational tendencies and self-esteem on
SMA. Motivational tendencies involved in the study were need for affiliation,
need for approval and need for power. Need for approval and need power as well
as self-esteem were proposed to be positively; need for affiliation was
proposed to be negatively associated with SMA. In addition, moderating role of
relationship status in the proposed relationships was investigated. Data was
collected from 470 university students from Turkey [161 males, 309 females]. 242
of the participants had been in a romantic relationship at least for one month
and 228 of them have not been in romantic relationship on the data collection
date. The proposed regression model was tested using Structural Equation
Modeling (SEM) and the data provided good fit to the data. The results revealed
that the direct paths from need for approval and need for power to SMA were
positive and significant; whereas, the direct path from self-esteem to SMA was
negative and significant. The path from need for affiliation to SMA was not
significant. However, moderated multiple regression analyses showed that interaction
effect of relationship status and need for affiliation on SMA was significant
in such a way that participants who were high on need for affiliation and who
were not currently in a romantic relationship had higher SMA scores than those
who were high on need for affiliation and who were currently in a romantic
relationship. The results will be discussed regarding the theoretical and
practical implications along with suggestions for future studies.
Keywords: Social
media addiction; need for affiliation; need for approval; need for power;
self-esteem.