Intensity of Facebook use: a personality-based perspective on dependency formation. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: van der Schyff, Karl; Flowerday, Stephen; Kruger, Hennie; Patel, Nikitha
• Is Part Of: Behaviour & information technology. Volume 41:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 198
• Page End: 214
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Personality traits -- Facebook dependency -- Facebook addiction -- path modelling -- interaction analysis -- PLS-MGA; Electronic data processing -- Periodicals; Human engineering -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Periodicals; 303.4833
• DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2020.1800095
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-929X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Despite recent privacy scandals, the intensity with which individuals use Facebook has not declined. This indicates that individuals still place significant value on the psychosocial development afforded by using Facebook. As such, the objective of this study was to develop a research model to evaluate the influence of specific individual differences (gender and personality traits) on the intensity of Facebook use. Data was collected from 576 United States Facebook users and subsequently analysed using partial least squares (PLS) path modelling including multi-group analysis. Results indicate the existence of a significant positive relationship between the intensity of Facebook use and extraversion as well as agreeableness . The results further indicate that males high in extraversion use Facebook more intensively than females making them particularly vulnerable to the development of a Facebook dependency.