Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator

Poh Chua Siah; Jie Yeng Hue; Bernie Zi Ru Wong; Sin Jie Goh

doi:10.30935/cedtech/11104

Poh Chua Siah ¹ ^* , Jie Yeng Hue ¹, Bernie Zi Ru Wong ¹, Sin Jie Goh ¹

More Detail

CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 4, Article No: ep320

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Submitted: 13 December 2020, Published Online: 19 July 2021

OPEN ACCESS 3646 Views 1682 Downloads

Download Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

The excessive use of social media is prevalent among undergraduates. Dark triad personality is one of the significant predictors of social media addiction, but inconsistent findings were reported. This study adopted the personality-coping-outcome theory as a framework to examine whether coping strategies mediate the effects of dark triad personality on social media addiction. The purposive sampling method was used to recruit 219 undergraduates for a survey. The results showed that only narcissism is associated with social media addiction, and only avoidance coping strategy mediated the effects of pathology on social media addiction. It is suggested a complete theory is required to explain the relationships between dark triad personality and social media addiction, and a coping scale to be developed to cover the coping strategies that fit dark triad personality.

Keywords: social media addiction, Dark Triad, coping strategies, Machiavellianism, narcissism, pathology

References

Afacan, O., & Ozbek, N. (2019). Investigation of social media addiction of high school students. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 5(2), 235-245. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.5.2.235
Al Mamun, M. A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). The association between Facebook addiction and depression: A pilot survey study among Bangladeshi students. Psychiatry Research, 271, 628-633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.039
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S., & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 501-517. https://doi.org/10.2466/02.09.18.PR0.110.2.501-517
Ang, C. C., & Choi, J. N. (2005). Rethinking procrastination: Positive effects of” active” procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 245-264. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.145.3.245-264
Bányai, F., Zsila, Á., Király, O., Maraz, A., Elekes, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Andreassen, C. S., & Demetrovics, Z. (2017). Problematic social media use: Results from a large-scale nationally representative adolescent sample. PLoS One, 12(1), e0169839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169839
Baughman, H. M., Dearing, S., Giammarco, E., & Vernon, P. A. (2012). Relationships between bullying behaviours and the Dark Triad: A study with adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(5), 571-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.020
Baumstarck, K., Alessandrini, M., Hamidou, Z., Auquier, P., Leroy, T., & Boyer, L. (2017). Assessment of coping: A new French four-factor structure of the brief COPE inventory. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-016-0581-9
Benson, P. R. (2010). Coping, distress, and well-being in mothers of children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4(2), 217-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2009.09.008
Book, A., Visser, B. A., & Volk, A. A. (2015). Unpacking “evil”: Claiming the core of the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 29-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.09.016
Carr, C. T., & Hayes, R. A. (2015). Social media: Defining, developing, and divining. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(1), 46-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2015.972282
Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’ too long: Consider the brief cope. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 92-100. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6
Chou, W.-P., Ko, C.-H., Kaufman, E. A., Crowell, S. E., Hsiao, R. C., Wang, P.-W., Lin, J.-J., & Yen, C.-F. (2015). Association of stress coping strategies with Internet addiction in college students: The moderating effect of depression. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 62, 27-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2015.06.004
Chung, K. L., Morshidi, I., Yoong, L. C., & Thian, K. N. (2019). The role of the dark tetrad and impulsivity in social media addiction: Findings from Malaysia. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 62-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.016
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Demircioğlu, Z. I., & Köse, A. G. (2018). Effects of attachment styles, dark triad, rejection sensitivity, and relationship satisfaction on social media addiction: A mediated model. Current Psychology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9956-x
Folkman, S. (2013). Stress: Appraisal and coping. In M. D. Gellman & J. R. Turner (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine (pp. 1913-1915). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_215
Fox, A. K., Bacile, T. J., Nakhata, C., & Weible, A. (2018). Selfie-marketing: Exploring narcissism and self-concept in visual user-generated content on social media. Journal of Consumer Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-03-2016-1752
Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 199-216. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12018
Gallagher, D. J. (1996). Personality, coping, and objective outcomes: Extraversion, neuroticism, coping styles, and academic performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 21(3), 421-429. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(96)00085-2
Hadi, N. U., Abdullah, N., & Sentosa, I. (2016). Making sense of mediating analysis: A marketing perspective. Review of Integrative Business & Economics Research, 5(2), 62-76.
Hair Jr, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.15358/9783800653614
Hare, R. D. (1998). Psychopathy, affect and behavior. In Psychopathy: Theory, research and implications for society (pp. 105-137). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3965-6_6
Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2017). Relationships among smartphone addiction, anxiety, and family relations. Behaviour & Information Technology, 36(10), 1046-1052. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2017.1336254
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., & Wang, Q. (2019). Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-1-4
Hyatt, C. S., Sleep, C. E., Lamkin, J., Maples-Keller, J. L., Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Narcissism and self-esteem: A nomological network analysis. PloS One, 13(8), e0201088. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201088
Ináncsi, T., Láng, A., & Bereczkei, T. (2016). A darker shade of love: Machiavellianism and positive assortative mating based on romantic ideals. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 137. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i1.1007
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2012). A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad personalities and social influence tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(4), 521-526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.023
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the short dark triad (SD3) a brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28-41. https://doi.org/Paulhus
Kircaburun, K., Jonason, P. K., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018). The Dark Tetrad traits and problematic social media use: The mediating role of cyberbullying and cyberstalking. Personality and Individual Differences, 135, 264-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.07.034
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1987). Transactional theory and research on emotions and coping. European Journal of Personality, 1(3), 141-169. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2410010304
Mahamid, F. A., & Berte, D. Z. (2019). Social media addiction in geopolitically at-risk youth. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17(1), 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9870-8
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. (2018). Internet Users Survey 2018. https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/Internet-Users-Survey-2018.pdf
Malesza, M., & Ostaszewski, P. (2016). Dark side of impulsivity—Associations between the Dark Triad, self-report and behavioral measures of impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 88, 197-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.016
Parker, J. D., & Endler, N. S. (1992). Coping with coping assessment: A critical review. European Journal of Personality, 6(5), 321-344. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2410060502
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556-563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
PrakashYadav, G., & Rai, J. (2017). The Generation Z and their social media usage: A review and a research outline. Global Journal of Enterprise Information System, 9(2), 110-116. https://doi.org/10.18311/gjeis/2017/15748
Reinecke, L., Meier, A., Aufenanger, S., Beutel, M. E., Dreier, M., Quiring, O., Stark, B., Wölfling, K., & Müller, K. W. (2018). Permanently online and permanently procrastinating? The mediating role of Internet use for the effects of trait procrastination on psychological health and well-being. New Media & Society, 20(3), 862-880. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461444816675437
Schou Andreassen, C., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Social network site addiction-an overview. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20(25), 4053-4061. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990616
Shaughnessy, J., Zechmeister, E., & Zechmeister, J. (2015). Research methods in psychology (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.216
Sriwilai, K., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2016). Face it, don’t Facebook it: Impacts of social media addiction on mindfulness, coping strategies and the consequence on emotional exhaustion. Stress and Health, 32(4), 427-434. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2637
Suls, J., & Fletcher, B. (1985). The relative efficacy of avoidant and nonavoidant coping strategies: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 4(3), 249-288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.249
Thatcher, A., Wretschko, G., & Fridjhon, P. (2008). Online flow experiences, problematic Internet use and Internet procrastination. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 2236-2254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2007.10.008
Zhao, X., Lynch Jr, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197-206. https://doi.org/10.1086/651257

Citation

Siah, P. C., Hue, J. Y., Wong, B. Z. R., & Goh, S. J. (2021). Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(4), ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Siah, P. C., Hue, J. Y., Wong, B. Z. R., and Goh, S. J. (2021). Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(4), ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Siah PC, Hue JY, Wong BZR, Goh SJ. Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(4), ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Siah, Poh Chua, Jie Yeng Hue, Bernie Zi Ru Wong, and Sin Jie Goh. "Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator". Contemporary Educational Technology 2021 13 no. 4 (2021): ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Siah, Poh Chua et al. "Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 13, no. 4, 2021, ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104

Siah PC, Hue JY, Wong BZR, Goh SJ. Dark Triad and Social Media Addiction among Undergraduates: Coping Strategy as a Mediator. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2021;13(4):ep320. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104