The Relation between Personality Traits, Types of Loneliness and Internet Addiction

Author: Maja Koporčić, Silvija Ručević

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The current study examined the relationship between personality traits analyzed along several dimensions (i.e. extraversion, agreeabelenss, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience), types of loneliness (emotional loneliness in love, emotional loneliness in family relations and social loneliness) and internet addiction. In addition, it examined the moderating role of gender in the relatioship among personality traits, types of loneliness and internet addiction. The sample consisted of 240 students (57.5 % women and 42.5 % men) from the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek, aged 19 - 55. It was found that time spent on the internet, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and emotional loneliness were significant predictors of internet addiction. Although gender did not significantly predict internet addiction, gender moderated the relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and problematic use of the internet. Specifically, higher levels of the two personality traits were associated with more severe internet addiction in males, whereas the opposite relationship was observed in females.

Key words: internet addiction, loneliness, personality traits
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