Psychological characteristics of young men with Internet addiction: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

Today’s youth actively use the Internet, which increases the risk of developing addiction, and thus raises the issue of investigating its factors to prevent the problem promptly and provide effective psychocorrection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological predictors of Internet addiction among young people. The study was based on a comparative analysis of Ukrainian and Chinese samples. The Internet Addiction Test by K. Young was used to identify the formation of Internet addiction; the Big Five Personality Inventory NEO-FFI and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to diagnose psychological characteristics; respondents were also offered a questionnaire that included questions about demographic data and current situation. It was found that in the Ukrainian sample, 36.3% of respondents have a moderate or severe degree of Internet addiction, while in the Chinese sample, this share is 31.3%. Differences in personal predictors of Internet addiction have been found: the level of Internet addiction among Ukrainian youth is positively correlated with depression, neuroticism, and the impact of war, while it is inversely related to extraversion and conscientiousness. In the group of Chinese youth, only the neuroticism scale correlates with Internet addiction. The comparison showed that the level of depression among young people with Internet addiction in both countries is significantly higher than among young people without signs of addiction. There are significant differences between respondents in Ukraine and China on the scales of neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, and most notably, openness. It was found that Ukrainian youth are characterised by higher levels of neuroticism and openness and lower levels of extraversion and conscientiousness compared to Chinese youth; no differences were found in terms of Internet addiction and depression. The study established that the common factor of Internet addiction among young people in both countries is depression; cultural differences and environmental factors lead to the fact that the predictors of addiction are different personality traits of young people. The practical significance of the study is that its results provide a better insight into the goals of influence in planning the prevention and psychocorrection of youth Internet addiction.