An exploratory analysis of the relationship of problematic Facebook use with loneliness and self-esteem: the mediating roles of extraversion and self-presentation

Abstract

Studies indicate that loneliness and self-esteem are predictive factors of problematic social media use. Further, it is proposed that self-presentation and extraversion may explain individual differences in online activity and problematic social media use. The present study confirms the relationship of loneliness and self-esteem with problematic Facebook use and investigates the hypothesis that these psychological factors may be linked to problematic Facebook use through their association with self-presentation and extraversion. The sample of university students consisted of 477 Facebook users, 64% females, aged 18–64. Social media usage intensity was assessed by collecting passive data on the total time spent and the number of sessions on Facebook per day for the last 6 months. The psychological factors, personality, motives and problematic Facebook use were assessed via self-report measures. Results showed that the relationship of loneliness and self-esteem with problematic Facebook use was significantly positive and negative respectively. The relationship between self-esteem and problematic Facebook use was found to be inconsistently mediated by both self-presentation and extraversion, while loneliness was partially mediated by self-presentation only. The total effect of loneliness and self-esteem remained positive and negative respectively, although extraversion and self-presentation had a suppressing effect on the relationship between self-esteem and problematic Facebook use. Further, the prevalence of ‘at-risk’ Facebook users was found to be 6.0%. It was also determined that the usage intensity of ‘at-risk’ users was significantly different from other Facebook users. These results highlight the existence of different patterns of associations linking psychological factors, usage intensity and problematic Facebook use. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03505-0.

From “online brains” to “online lives”: understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions

“…Along with age and gender, other studies have begun to observe that individual characteristics and situational factors can affect vulnerability to adverse outcomes of Internet use, typically finding that the same risk factors which increase marginalization and disadvantage "offline" (such as family dysfunction, mental health problems, disability, subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation) also increase the vulnerability to online harms in young people [21][22][23][24] .…”

Affinity to mnemonic features of social media: Antecedent and consequences

“…Also, sharing photographs, profile information, and other activities grant them self‐representational goals (Zhao, Grasmuck, and Martin, 2008). While the use of social media helps to fulfill psychological needs in response to everyday stressors, it may evolve into addictive use over a period of time, irrespective of actual utility (Baltaci, 2019; Marino et al, 2018a,b; Smith, 2022; Smith & Short, 2022; Youssef et al, 2020). Such problematic social media use (PSMU) has been found to be driven by psychological factors like extraversion, low self‐esteem, and loneliness as these users seek social reward, social interactions, and appreciation from others (Andreassen et al, 2016; Baltaci, 2019; Iranmanesh et al, 2021; Skues et al, 2012; Veissière & Stendel, 2018; Youssef et al, 2020).…”

The relationship between loneliness and problematic social media usage in Chinese university students: A longitudinal study

“…Three main perspectives have emerged. The rst perspective posits that loneliness positively predicts problematic social media use [11,15,19,24]. The second perspective suggests that problematic social media use positively predicts loneliness [14,18].…”

“…Among various factors, the literature documents a signi cant positive correlation between loneliness and problematic social media use. Individuals with a stronger sense of loneliness often exhibit more severe problematic social media use [11,12].…”

“…First, there is a lack of longitudinal studies that explore the causal relationship between loneliness and problematic social media use. Existing research on the predictive direction of the relationship between loneliness and problematic social media use has yielded inconsistent ndings [11,[14][15][16][17][18][19]. It remains unclear whether loneliness precedes or follows problematic social media use.…”