Empirical Analysis of Religiosity as Predictor of Social Media Addiction

Authors

  • Jamal J Almenayes Kuwait University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v4i10.826

Keywords:

Social Media, Religiosity, Addiction

Abstract

This study sought to examine the dimensions of social media addiction and its relationship to religiosity.  To investigate the matter, the present research utilized a well-known Internet addiction scale and modified it to fit social media (Young, 1996).  Factor analysis of items generated by a sample of 1326 participants, three addiction factors were apparent.  These factors were later regressed on a scale of religiosity.  This scale contained a single factor based on factor analysis.  Results indicated that social media addiction had three factors; "Social Consequences", "Time Displacement" and "Compulsive feelings.  Religiosity, on the other hand, contained a single factor.  Both of these results were arrived at using factor analysis of their respective scales. The relationship between religiosity and social media addiction was then examined using linear regression.  The results indicated that only two of the addiction factors were significantly related to religiosity.  Future research should address the operationalization of the concept of religiosity to account for multiple dimensions.

Author Biography

  • Jamal J Almenayes, Kuwait University
    Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communication

References

Al-Menayes, J. (2014). The relationship between mobile social media use and academic performance in university students, New Media and Mass Communication, vol. 25, pp. 23-29.

Armfield, G. G. & Holbert, R. L. (2003) The relationship between religiosity and Internet use, Journal of Media and Religion, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 129-144.

Blumler, J. G. (1979) 'The role of theory in uses and gratifications study', Communication Research, no. 6, pp. 9-36.

Brossard, D. Scheufele, D., Kim, E. & Lewenstein, B. V. (2009) 'Religiosity as a perceptual filter: Examining processes of opinion formation about nanotechnology', Public Understanding of Science, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 546-558.

Buddenbaum, J. M. (2002) 'Social science and the study of media and religion: going forward by looking backward', Journal of Media and Religion, vol.1, no. 1, pp. 13-24.

Buddenbaum, J. M. & Stout, D. A. (1996) Religion and mass media use: A review of the mass communication and sociology literature. In D. A. Stout & J.M. Baddenbaum ed, Religion and Mass Media: Audiences and Adaptations, pp. 12-34. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

DeVellis R.F. (2003) Scale development: theory and applications, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Dunn, M.S. (2005) 'The relationship between religiosity, employment, and political beliefs on substance use among high school seniors', Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 73-88.

Durkheim, E. (1912/1995) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Free Press, Glencoe, IL.

Fu-Yuan Hong and Chiu, D. H. (2012). A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students, Computers in Human Behavior:

-2159.

Hawi N.S. (2013). Arabic validation of the Internet Addiction Test. Computers in Human Behavior 2012, 28: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking; 16: 200-204.

Hirschman, E. C. (1983). Aesthetics, ideologies, and the limits of the marketing concept, Journal of Marketing, vol. 47, pp. 45-55.

Hood, R. W., Jr. Hill, P.C. & Spilka B. (2009). The Psychology of Religion, 4th ed., The Guilford Press, New York.

Koenig, H. G. McCulloch, M. E. & Larson, D. B. (2001). Handbook of Religion and Health, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Kuss, D. and M. Griffiths (2012). Internet gaming addiction: a systematic review of empirical research. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, vol. 10, pp. 278-296.

Lau, C. H. (2011). Internet addiction among university students in China. Dissertation: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Madden M, Lenhart A, Cortesi S, Gasser U, Duggan M, Smith A, Beaton M (2013). Teens, social media, and privacy. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TeensSocialMediaand- Privacy.pdf

Niemz, K., Griffiths, M. and Banyard, M. (2006). Prevalence of pathological Internet use among university students and correlations with self-esteem, Cyberpsychology and Behavior, vol. 11, pp. 480-483.

Poli, R. and E. Agrimi (2012). Internet addiction disorder: prevalence in Italian student population, Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 66, pp. 55-59.

Przybylski, A., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. and V. Gladwell (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out, Computers in Human Behavior; 29: 1841-1848.

Selfhout M. H, Barnje S.J., Delsing M, Bogt T. F. and Meeus W.H.J (2009). Different types of Internet use, depression, and social anxiety: The role of perceived friendship quality, Journal of Adolescence 2009; 32:819-833.

Sun, P., Unger, J. B., Palmer, P. H., Gallaher, P., Chou, C. P., & Baezconde-Garbanati (2005). Internet accessibility and usage among urban adolescents in southern California: implications for web-based health research. Cyberpsychology & Behavior; 8:441–453.

Swatos, W. H., Jr. & Christiano, K. J. (1999) 'Secularization theory: the course of a concept', Sociology of Religion, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 209-228.

Tavakol M, Dennick R. (2011). Making sense of Chronbach's alpha. International Journal of Medical Education; 53-55.

Wallace, P. (2014). Internet addiction disorder and youth, EMBO Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 12-16.

Wallace, J. M., Jr., Brown, T.N., Bachman, J. G. & Laveist, T.A. (2003) 'The influence of race and religion on abstinence from alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana among adolescents', Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, vol. 64, no. 6, pp.843-848.

Weaver, A. J., Flannelly, K. K.J. & Strock, A. L. (2005). 'A review of research on the effects of religion on adolescent tobacco use published between 1990 and 2003', Adolescence, vol. 40, no. 160, pp. 761-775.

Weber, M. (1958) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Scribner, New York.

Whang, L. S., Lee, S., & Chang, G. (2003). Internet over user's psychological profiles: A behavior sampling analysis on Internet addiction. Cyberpsychology & Behavior; 6: 143–150.

Yang, S., and Tung, C. (2007). Comparison of Internet addicts and non-addicts in Taiwanese high schools, Computers in Human Behavior; 23: 79-96.

Yen, C. F., Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Chang, Y. P., & Cheng, C. P. (2009) Multi-dimensional discriminative factors for Internet addiction among adolescents regarding gender and age. Psychiatry and Clinical Neuro-Sciences; 63: 357–364.

Young, K. S. (1996). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, vol. 1, 237-244.

Yu, L. and D. Shek, D. (2013). Internet addiction in Hong Kong adolescents: A three-year longitudinal study, Journal of Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology; 26: 10-17.

Downloads

Published

2015-10-26

Issue

Section

Article

Similar Articles

1-10 of 280

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.