Personality traits, internet addiction, and phubbing among teens: a mediation analysis

ABSTRACT

Although research results so far indicate that personality traits are associated with phubbing, the results of different studies are not always consistent. Therefore, in the current study, we decided to broaden the knowledge and to explore which personality traits are related and explain phubbing in adolescents and whether Internet addiction is a significant mediator of this relationship. The study participants were 430 adolescents aged 13–17, who completed a self-report measurement of personality traits, phubbing/phone obsession and communication disturbance, and Internet addiction. Among the obtained results: (a) phubbing in adolescents was significantly associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness (b) neuroticism was the most significant predictor of phubbing in adolescents, i.e. the higher the neuroticism, the higher the phubbing, (c) significant, mediation of the relationship between personality traits and phubbing through Internet addiction was observed, i.e. the higher the conscientiousness, the lower the Internet addiction and the lower both the phone obsession and communication disturbance. These results emphasise the important role of mediators in the relationship between personality traits and phubbing in adolescents.

KEYWORDS:

• Phubbing
• phone obsession
• communication disturbance
• personality traits
• Internet addiction

Acknowledgment

We would like to express our gratitude to Fundacja Wychowanie w Dialogu for their support during the research process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

Institutional permission, and informed consent from parents and children were obtained for the study.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.