The Relationship between Personality Traits and Facebook Addiction among Adolescents in an Urban, Rural and Semi-Rural Secondary School

Mokoena Patronella Maepa*, Alicia Wheeler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Facebook is and was intended to provide a place for friends to connect within the bustling academic environment and to encourage openness for ideas and interests. When used sparingly, it can provide an individual with a sense of group belonging and connection, sharing and offering hope and advice. The misuse of Facebook can have detrimental effects on one’s quality of life that often lead to addiction. In this correlation design study, secondary-school-aged adolescents’ Facebook addiction was compared to personality attributes. Through a convenience sample, 240 teenagers in total (106 men and 134 females) were chosen. The respondents answered questions about their demographics, Facebook Addiction, and Junior Eysenck Personality. The findings showed a substantial inverse correlation between Facebook addiction and neuroticism (r = −0.260, p < 0.01) and psychoticism (r = −0.189, p < 0.01). There was no discernible statistical link between Facebook Addiction and Extraversion. The study comes to the conclusion that although social networking sites such as Facebook have good effects on adolescents’ lives, their use needs to be regulated, the risks were highlighted, and at-risk individuals can receive intervention approaches, such as social skills training.

Original languageEnglish
Article number13365
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume19
Issue number20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • Facebook
  • Facebook addiction
  • personality traits
  • social networking sites

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Relationship between Personality Traits and Facebook Addiction among Adolescents in an Urban, Rural and Semi-Rural Secondary School'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this