Personality traits, psychological well-being, Facebook addiction, health and performance: testing their relationships

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to test the indirect effect of Facebook addiction on performance through physical and social health. Furthermore, the moderating effect of psychological well-being on the relationships between personality traits and Facebook addiction was investigated. Data were collected from 301 Malaysians via an online survey. The data were analysed using the partial least squares technique. The results showed that the Big Five personality dimensions of conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, and neuroticism are significantly related to Facebook addiction. Our results confirmed the significant effects of Facebook addiction on performance and on physical and social health and also the mediating role of physical health in the relationship between Facebook addiction and performance. Furthermore, our results revealed that psychological well-being moderates the effects of certain personality dimensions on Facebook addiction. The implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Facebook addiction
• personality traits
• psychological well-being
• health
• Malaysia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.