Perceived social media addiction explained through perceived organizational support, burnout subscales, and the number of years on the job

Abstract

The study assessed the relationship between perceived organizational support, burnout subscales, sex, the number of years on the job, and perceived social media addiction among nurses using an SEM model with cross-sectional data. Both perceived organizational support and burnout are important since they impact the workplace environment. At the same time, excessive social media use poses a significant challenge in many workplaces, as it often leads to missed deadlines and decreased productivity. This is the first study to examine perceived social media addiction within the workplace context. Emotional exhaustion was found to be positively related to the perception of addiction and was found to predict depersonalization and personal accomplishment assessment, supporting the fact that emotional exhaustion is the core dimension of burnout. The number of years on the job was significantly related to perceived social media addiction. The more nurses felt emotionally exhausted, the more likely they were to feel addicted to social media. The less valued the nurses felt, the more likely they were to feel emotionally exhausted, which then predicted perceived social media addiction. Lastly, sex was found to predict perceived social media addiction. The results of the current study can help guide hospitals in planning and strategizing to decrease burnout levels and increase perceived organizational support, thus supporting better patient care.