Investigation of Smartphone Use Addiction in Generation Y

Abstract

In recent years, rapidly developing of communication technology, increasing of internet and social networking applications usage have led to an increase in the level of smartphones dependence. Transformation of smartphone use from habit to addiction and spread of this addiction especially among young adults emphasize seriousness of the matter. In this context, the main purpose of this research is the investigation of smartphone use and addiction in Generation Y that are a part of the digital world. An online survey was conducted with 887 respondents who own a smartphone from Turkey. Five dimensions of smartphone addiction were extracted from the factor analysis, namely tolerance, accompany/fellowship, withdrawal, social network dependence, and health problems. In order to classify smartphone addiction groups, K-means cluster analysis was used on the extracted factors. Four groups named “nonaddicts,” “heavy addicts,” “realistic addicts,” and “emotional addicts” were determined.