The Influence of Self-Esteem, Loneliness, and Suicidality on Social Media Addiction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between self-esteem, loneliness, suicidality with social media addiction. University students (N = 198) were sampled by utilizing an online survey, using convenience sampling method. Five instruments were used, including the Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS), Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale-3, and Yatt Suicide Attitude Scale (YSAS). In the multiple linear regression analysis, the regression model accounted for a significant 12.3% of the variance in social media addiction. Only self-esteem was a significant predictor of social media addiction. Lastly, loneliness and suicidality were not significantly associated with social media addiction. Treatment of social media addiction should take into consideration the evaluation and intervention of self-esteem issues among university students.

Self-esteem and Social Media Dependency: A Comparative Analysis of Welsh- and English-Medium Pupils’ Perceptions

“…Having identified that the Welsh language enjoys a significant social media presence, above, the ensuing passages develop Honeycutt and Cunliffe's (2010) above observation regarding the proportion of Welsh-speakers actively using Welsh on social media, since this aspect retains specific relevance regarding Welsh-speakers' potential levels of selfesteem (Baker, 2003;Csata, Hlatky, & Liu, 2022;McDermott & Craith, 2022) and, relatedly, SMD (e.g., Sam et al, 2022;Kocak & Younis, 2021;Khan, Khan, & Moin, 2021).…”

“…Pantic's (2014) meta-analysis, however, concluded that the overall impact of social media usage upon self-esteem is complex. Acknowledging some of the negative connotations associated with SMD such as elevated depression, loneliness, social anxiety, and decreased academic performance (Kandee et al, 2022;Bakry et al, 2022;Lyvers et al, 2022;Kobimdi, 2022), it is hardly surprising that one of the more pressing contemporary concerns relates to the growing pool of empirically-backed evidence suggesting a negative association between SMD and self-esteem, (e.g., Sam et al, 2022;Kocak & Younis, 2021;Khan, Khan, & Moin, 2021), and this association is discussed from the cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives within the present chapter, below.…”

“…Low self-esteem people, the authors reasoned, might feel a need to devote increasing amounts of time to social media as they consider the activity advantageous, which might develop into an addiction. Acknowledging studies examining the association between SMD and self-esteem have generally established a negative association between the variables (e.g., Sam et al, 2022;Kocak & Younis, 2021;Khan, Khan, & Moin, 2021) there is, nonetheless, data suggesting how usage of social media might actually help users with low levels of self-esteem; for instance, Gentile et al (2012) found that users spending time thinking and editing their Facebook pages reported elevated levels of selfesteem. By way of explanation, the latter authors suggested the users employed selectively positive self-presentations in their profiles that tended to reinforce within their minds the good things they achieved, and this elevated their level of self-esteem.…”

“…A FLW perceiving fewer opportunities to use Welsh on social media would, in all probability, use social media less and not more. However, there exists an alternative and contradictory proposition, and is the one adopted by the thesis: the adopted proposition is derived from the basis that perceived or actual marginalization and discrimination of one's language initiates a lower level of self-esteem (Wei, Wang, & Ku, 2012;Wright & Bougie, 2007;Ekwere, 2022), with lower levels of self-esteem empirically associated with elevated SMD (e.g., Sam et al, 2022;Kocak & Younis, 2021;Khan, Khan, & Moin, 2021). Taking the lead from Chebanne and Kewagamang (2020) who showed that exclusion of a minority language encouraged the perception of being marginalized, an FLW perceiving restricted opportunities to use Welsh on social media might also consider him or herself marginalized; however, it is acknowledged that further work would be required to definitively establish such an association.…”

“…Acknowledging the pivotal roles played by self-esteem and social media dependency 1 [SMD] with respect to the thesis, there is a growing pool of studies suggesting a negative association between self-esteem and SMD (e.g., De Cock et al, 2014;Hawi & Samaha, 2016;Sam et al, 2022;Kocak, Ilme, & Younis, 2021;Khan, Khan, & Moin, 2021).…”