Relationship between the Big Five and Screen Addiction

Over the last decade, the use of smartphones and other internet-enabled devices has increased substantially. Many services are now available via the internet, smartphones, and other devices as a result of technological advancement. This has resulted in an increase in cases of screen addiction.
The purpose of this study is to investigate smartphone use in order to better understand the relationship between the Big 5 personality traits and screen addiction.
A correlation study was conducted using data acquired from students who willingly completed an online questionnaire that included the IPIP NEO, PANAMA, Life Satisfaction Scale, and Problematic Smartphone Use Scale.  While agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and conscientiousness have a relationship with screen addiction, the only extraversion had a positive relation. There was no relation between no relation between it and screen addiction.

Conclusion: There is a relationship between the Big 5 personality traits and screen addiction. While developing applications and programs used for therapy and dispensed through smartphones, the therapists and developers need to understand this relationship and design their products accordingly.

















Introduction

In the recent years, internet use is growing globally and wide spread in each age group. With over three billion internet users today and the technological advancement, people can access the internet and share content through computers, smart phones, and smart gadgets (Internet World Stats, 2017). In therapy, smartphones and smart devices using the internet have been synced to relay real-time data and to disseminate therapeutic programs. However, as people remain glued to their screen, working environment or home, a strong indication to screen addiction appear with the inability to limit their use, failed attempts to stop their use, and neglecting sleep to stay online, among other addictions the screens (Kayis et al. 2016). While the significance of Internet-enabled gadgets to therapy cannot be ignored, the addiction to smartphones and smart devices poses great concerns to the health and well-being of an individual. In treating one condition, there is a concern that using the smartphones can be enabling the creating of another: screen addition.

Welbel, Wissmath, and Groner (2010) explained that personality is one of the factors with a significant effect on other factors that relate to internet and screen addiction. That is personality traits significantly affect the user’s behavior. This revelation had led past researchers to concentrate on the effect of personality traits to screen addiction rather than focusing on the relationship between excessive screen use and the behaviors of the user (Ryan & Xenos, 2011). However, when it comes to the importance of smartphone and smart gadgets in therapy, understanding the influence of behavior and personality trait to excessive smart-gadgets can lead to better understanding of the problem, and possible solutions

The Big Five Personality Traits

The Big Five personality traits are “extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness (Cooper, 2015)”. Extraversion is defined as the amount and intensity of social interaction of an individual and the representation of how much he/she can act on with self-confidence and competition (Cooper, 2015). On that, Servidio (2014) found out that there is no relationship between extroversion and smartphone or internet addiction. Moreover, Buckner et al. (2012) showed that extroverted individual behaviors did not have any meaningful relationship with the unhealthy internet use.

Openness to new experience defines individual’s level of curiosity, originality, imagination, open-mindedness, and broad perspectives to enjoying differences (Cooper, 2015). A study by Servidio (2014) concluded that openness to new experiences had no direct relationship to screen addiction.

Individuals that are agreeable avoid competitions or getting into conflicts (Cooper, 2015). Studies on agreeableness and screen addition show that there is a negative relationship between agreeableness screen addictions (Randler et al. 2014). Moreover, a study by Servidio (2014) indicates that individuals with low agreeableness show a tendency to screen addition.

Conscientiousness is the tendency to be organized, decisive, disciplined, and wiliness to abide by the rules (Cooper, 2015). Research by Randler et al. (2014) and Servidio (2014) show that conscientiousness and screen or internet addiction is negatively related. That is, individuals with low levels of conscientiousness are more likely to be screen addicts that those with higher levels.

Lastly, neuroticism is a person’s loss of emotional balance (Cooper, 2015). When facing stressful situations, the individuals (neuroticism) seek to adjust to the situation through coping mechanisms such denial and delay (Kayis et al. 2016). Studies by Bulut-Serin (2011) and Servidio (2014) show that there is a positive relation between neuroticism and screen addition, in particular through the internet and smartphone use.

Present Investigation

Personality is one of the primary characteristic affecting an individual’s behavior. Addiction to screens such as smartphone, therefore, poses a threat to both the physical and mental health of an individual. Therefore, one of the most efficient ways to deal with the internet addiction is to develop a healthy personality. Thus, in understanding the relationship between smartphone addiction and the personality traits, is significant in developing efficient smartphone or internet applications on therapy and treatment. By the literature available, it was hypothesized that openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness are negatively associated with smartphone and screen addition, while Neuroticism is positively linked to internet addiction.

This study seeks to investigate the smartphone use to understand the relationship between personality traits and screen addiction. Consequently, the study will attempt to explore whether or not, the big five personality traits are important factors to understanding screen addiction.



Method

Participants

An email was sent to Deakin University students in the first week of the trimester and was open for three weeks. Students were voluntarily required to click on the URL attached to the emails and complete an IPIP NEO, PANAMA, Life Satisfaction Scale, and Problematic Smartphone Use Scale. The data from those that completed by the survey were collected and analyzed by the Unit Chairperson.

Measurements

In the collection of data, we used four measures in the collection of data. First, the study used IPIP NEO to measure the Big 5 factors. Secondly, subjective well-being was collected using a composite score from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the brief Life Satisfaction Scale. Lastly, using the Problematic Smartphone Use Scale, the smartphone use and addiction were measured.

The IPIP NEO contained a 300 item self-report inventory that provided a reasonably faithful measure of the Big 5 factors, and their 30 facets. The IPIP subscales were correlated with the NEO-PI-R factors and facet subscales. The respondents answered the items on a 5-point Likert Scale. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) consisted of a 20 item self-report that participants could rate their emotions and feelings over the previous week. The items were scored on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1=” Strongly disagree” to 6= “Strongly Agree.”

The Subjective Wellbeing Scale consisted of a 5 item self-report scale that assessed the overall sense of satisfaction of the respondents as well as their contentedness. It provided a global measure of the subjective well-being. The scale contained five items of a 7-point Likert scale that ranged from 1=” Strongly Agree” to 7=” Strongly Disagree.”

The report concentrates on the smartphone use and the Big 5 factors. Hence, the use of 54 item self-report scale incorporating subscales such as Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale, Self-regulation scale, Habitual Smartphone Behavior Scale, Process Usage Scale, and Social Usage Scale. All Items were answered on a 10-point Likert Scale.

The Cronbach’s alphas for the scales are IPIP: N=.96, E=.94, O= .89, A= .90, C=.94. The PANAS: PA=.88, NA=.87. Life Satisfaction =.86 and the problematic smartphone use scale was at .75

At the end of the data collection, a correlation analysis of the data was done to observe the relationship between the Big Five traits and smartphone addiction.



Results

The number of the participant that completed the survey were n=446. Among them 93 (20.9%) were male, 351 (78.7%) were females, and two did not disclose their gender. The mean average of the participants was M=25 while the standard deviation was calculated as SD=7.6. The sample contained mainly students of the Deakin University, and the data was collected from those that voluntarily completed the online survey.

A complete correlation table shows the Pearson correlation r=.351 and the p<.05. This indicates that there is a positive Person correlation that is significant since the p<.05. The Extraversion has an insignificant person correlation r=-.009 while p at .55 is greater than .05. This shows that the extroversion is not significant in the study. The openness measure indicates that there is a negative relation r=-.154 and p<.05. Thus, there is a significant negative relationship between openness and smartphone addiction. On agreeableness, the results Pearson shows a negative relation of r=-.202 that is significant since p<.05. This means that there is a negative relationship between agreeableness and smartphone problem use. Lastly, there the Pearson correlation shows a negative relation (r=-.411) between conscientiousness and smartphone use. The result is significant at p<.05.

Touching on the subject of smartphone and well-being, the results show that subject well-being is negatively related to smartphone use with p=-.215 and a significant score of .00 (Significant since p<.05)



Correlation Matrix



Neuroticism

Extraversion

Openness

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Smartphone problem use

SWB

Neuroticism

-













Extraversion

-.500**

-











Openness

-.142**

.316**

-









Agreeableness

-.160**

.094*

.196**

-







Conscientiousness

-.444**

.205**

.134**

.275**

-





Smartphone problem use

.351**

-.009

-.154**

-.202**

-.411**

-



SWB

-.643**

.533**

.137**

.206**

.362**

-.215**

-



Discussion

The results matched the hypothesis for the relationship between the Big Five and the smartphone or screen addiction. However, the person correlation showed that extraversion was not significant in the study, as there was no relation between it and screen addiction. According to the results, while agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and conscientiousness have a relationship with screen addiction, the only extraversion had a positive relation. The subjective well-being of the person affects how much they use the screens (Capon, Hall, Fry & Carter, 2016). The higher the level of well-being, the lesser the need for screens. With this understanding, a designed program channeled through the smartphones or smart devices must understand the needs of the patients and protect them from getting addicted to the screens; since they are more vulnerable to addiction when they are on a lower level of subjective well-being.

The results show that the less agreeable the person is to his peers, the more likely they will excessively use or get addicted to smartphone use. Regarding conscientiousness, the more organized and obedient to the rules a person is, the less likely are addicted to the internet. The results concur with Servidio (2014) results as well as Ryan and Xenos (2011). A person with a low degree of conscientiousness is therefore likely to be addicted to the internet maybe due to the lack of rules or regulations enforced how they use their phones.

A person who is open to new experiences is not likely to be addicted to their smartphones. Despite the assumption that an open person may prefer the internet as mentioned in Tsai (2009), the results show that a higher degree of openness discourages the use and addiction to smartphones; a discovery similar to Hormes, Kearns, and Timko (2014). On the contrary, those respondents with a higher level of neuroticism are anxious, moody, worried about things, and are touchy or show self –pity. Thus, they may be prone to addiction to the screens, and their smartphone is closest to them at all times (Lian, & You 2017). The smartphone connects them to people and provides the perfect space for less stable participants to release the negative emotions to the world.

The adoption of smartphone and other screens in the development of therapy programs can benefit by understanding this relationship. While treating their patients, the therapist can assess their big five traits, and look for programs to suits their personality. That is, a person with a higher level of neuroticism could benefit from a program designed to keep them away from their programs more as compared to those with low levels of neuroticism. By doing so, the therapist will be tapping on the subjective well-being of the individuals and help them to overcome their problem – be it substance abuse, depression, or so forth – while ensuring that they do not get a new addiction: Screen addiction. Thus, therapists and developers need to understand this relationship and design their products accordingly.





























Appendix

Search terms entered for Boolean search mode

Concept 1

AND

Concept 2

AND

Concept 3

“Internet addiction”

“Big 5 personality”

Relationship

“Wellness”

“Personality*”

OR “screen addiction”

“Big Five”

OR “Study”

“Subjective Wellness”

OR “Well-being*”

OR ”Phone Addiction”

“Personality”

OR “Investigation”

“Wellbeing”

OR “Relationship*”

OR ”Computer Addiction”

“Big Five Personality

OR “Research”

“Subjective Wellbeing”

OR “health*”

OR “Addiction*”

“Big Five Personality*”

OR “Study*”

“Well-being”

OR “ satisfaction*”

Date of search: 23/8/2017

Database searched: PubMed, PMC, ACM, Research Gate, Google Scholar

Search limiters: Year 2010-2017, Personality

Number of articles in results: 28





























References

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Capon, H., Hall, W., Fry, C., & Carter, A. (2016). Realizing the technological promise of smartphones in addiction research and treatment: an ethical review. International Journal of Drug Policy, 36, 47-57.

Cooper, C. (2015). Individual differences and personality. Routledge

December 2017.

Hormes, J. M., Kearns, B., & Timko, C. A. (2014). Craving Facebook? Behavioral addiction to online social networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits. Addiction, 109(12), 2079-2088.

InternetWorld Stats. 2017. Retrived from http://www.internetworldstats.com on 22/8/2017

Kayiş, A. R., Satici, S. A., Yilmaz, M. F., Şimşek, D., Ceyhan, E., & Bakioğlu, F. (2016). Big five-personality trait and internet addiction: A meta-analytic review. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 35-40.

Lian, L., & You, X. (2017). Specific Virtues as Predictors of Smartphone Addiction among Chinese Undergraduates. Current Psychology, 1-9.

Randler, C., Horzum, M. B., & Vollmer, C. (2014). Internet addiction and its relationship to chronotype and personality in a Turkish university student sample. Social Science Computer Review, 32(4), 484-485.

Ryan, T., & Xenos, S. (2011). Who uses Facebook? An investigation into the relationship between the big five, shyness, narcissism, loneliness, and Facebook usage. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1658-1664.

Servidio, R. (2014). Exploring the effects of demographic factors, Internet usage and personality traits on Internet addiction in a sample of Italian university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 85-92

Tsai, H. F., Cheng, S. H., Yeh, T. L., Shih, C. C., Chen, K. C., Yang, Y. C., et al. (2009). The risk factors of Internet addiction a survey of university freshmen. Psychiatry Research, 167(3), 294-299.

Weibel, D., Wissmath, B., & Groner, R. (2010). Motives for creating a private website and personality of personal homepage owners in terms of extraversion and heuristic orientation. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4(1).