The Emotional Intelligence and Social Media Addiction in Communication Undergraduate Students in Turkey: The Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Demographic Variables and Social Media Use Habits on Social Media Addiction

Abstract

This study’s aim is to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and social media addiction (SMA) in Communication undergraduate students in Turkey. In addition to EI, the impact of demographic variables and social media use habits on SMA were investigated. For the study, quantitative method was chosen, and an online questionnaire was conducted on 317 Communication undergraduate students in Turkey with 301 participants being the final sample from different cities in Turkey. As a result of the study, analyses indicated that EI and SMA were related at medium and low levels. The EI partly predicted SMA. It was determined with Path analysis that intrapersonal skills, dealing with stress and adaptability could be statistically significant predictors of SMA sub-dimensions virtual tolerance and virtual communication at a negative level, and time spent on social media, number of posts on social media could have a significant impact on students’ SMA at a positive level. This research differs from other research conducted in Turkey in terms of SMA being examined with the focus of EI.