The relationship between personality traits of education students and the degree of their Internet addiction

Abstract

Introduction. The article deals with the problem of identifying predictors of the formation of digital addiction in future teachers. The purpose of the article is to examine the factors underlying the formation of Internet addiction, as well as to substantiate and identify the relationship between personality traits and the degree of digital dependence among students of a pedagogical university. Materials and Methods. The study is based on the scientific works by leading experts representing various aspects of digital addiction (S. Chen, S. D. Neverkovich, K. Kawabe, O. Zahiruddin, A. K. Gudboy, etc.). The ‘Internet Addiction Scale’ developed by S. Chen was used in order to identify signs of addictive behavior in the Internet space: the desire to be constantly online, a state of frustration when unable to use the Internet, an increase in the amount of time spent online, physiological signs of deterioration of health after a long time on the Internet, difficulties with time management. In order to study the ‘light’ personal characteristics, the ‘Light Triad Scale’ by S. B. Kaufman was used, which allowed to identify positive personality qualities including Kantianism, humanism and faith in humanity. The ‘Short Questionnaire of the Dark Triad’ by D. Polhus and K. Williams was used as a diagnostic tool for studying ‘dark’ personality characteristics (narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy). The study involved 47 undergraduates majoring in Education aged between 19 and 20 years. Results. The results of the study showed that the majority of students demonstrated the symptoms of pronounced Internet addiction and a tendency to excessive use of digital devices. According to the results of the empirical study, the authors revealed a correlation between the high level of digital addiction and some parameters of personal characteristics (manipulation of people, cynicism, deceitfulness, a reduced level of empathy, low social anxiety, a tendency to impulsive behavior). At the same time, a low level of digital addiction correlates to a pronounced respectful attitude towards people as individuals. Conclusions. The article concludes that the formation of Internet addiction among Education students is determined by peculiarities of virtual space and emotional and communicative factors. The study revealed a statistically significant relationship between the indicators of digital dependence and some parameters of personality traits.