Facebook use and its relationship with personality traits, self-esteem, and internet self-efficacy among college students
Authors
O'Hanlon, Laura
Issue Date
2014
Degree
BA (Hons) in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Social networking sites like Facebook are used by thousands of people every day. This study explores Facebook intensity and its relationship with personality traits, self-esteem, and internet self-efficacy. Data was used from a sample of 80 undergraduate students (38 male, 42 female) between the ages of eighteen and twenty six. A negative significant relationship was established between Facebook intensity and self-esteem. Results also indicated that Facebook intensity had a positive significant relationship with personality traits. In addition, when the five personality traits were tested in a separate test, without self-esteem and self-efficacy, no correlation was found. Lastly, no relationship was found between internet self-efficacy and Facebook intensity. These results highlight the role self-esteem, personality traits, and internet self-efficacy has on Facebook usage. This research extends previous research by indicating that there was no relationship between internet self-efficacy and Facebook intensity as prior research fails to demonstrate this. Suggestions for limitations and further directions were discussed.