Investigation of Social Media Addiction with Interpersonal Problem Solving and Personality Traits

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationship between social media addiction and personality trait and interpersonal problem-solving style. Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Faculty of Health Sciences students constitute the universe of the study conducted with a cross-sectional method. Sampling selection method was not used in the study, and it was tried to reach the whole universe. The study was conducted with 244 questionnaire data. For the research, Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Ethics Committee was applied and ethics committee approval was obtained with the decision number 13 of the meeting dated 29/06/2020 and numbered 8. The surveys were distributed and applied on the web between 08.07.2020- 09.09.2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participation in the survey is on a voluntary basis. Before the questionnaire was applied, the voluntary basis in the informed consent form was notified to the participants in writing, and the work continued with the participants who consented to participate in the study. Socio-demographic form, Social Media Addiction Scale, Five Factor Personality Inventory Short Form and Interpersonal Problem-Solving Inventory were used to collect the data of the study. The data obtained from the research were analyzed and interpreted with the SPSS 22.0 program. For analysis, Independent Samples t-test, One- Way ANOVA test and Pearson Correlation test was used. Because of the analysis, it was seen that there was no significant relationship between extraversion and emotional balance, which are among personality traits, and social media addiction (p> 0.05). It was determined that the higher the compatibility, responsibility and openness to development personality trait score, the higher the social media addiction score. It was observed that social media addiction scores were higher as the scores of negative approaches to the problem, not taking responsibility and self-insecurity subscale of the Interpersonal Problem-Solving Inventory increased. Social media addiction scores were found to be lower in individuals who were constructive problem solvers and displayed a persistent-persistent approach. This study contributes to the literature by adding a new concept to the factors affecting social media addiction.