Aggressiveness mediates the relationship between self-esteem and problematic smartphone use

Abstract

This study investigated the association between self-esteem and problematic smartphone use, and examined the mediating role of aggressiveness. The sample comprised 167 college students. The results indicated that explicit, but not implicit, self-esteem was negatively correlated with problematic smartphone use. Further, aggressiveness mediated the link between explicit selfesteem and problematic smartphone use. These findings may help scholars to develop interventions to reduce problematic smartphone use among individuals with low explicit self-esteem.