Addictive social media usage during covid-19 pandemic: a case study of southern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of fear of missing out, belongingness, and peer pressure on social media addiction and to find out the gender difference in social media addiction. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was designed to collect data from 471 young adults through purposive sampling. The study was conducted from 28th January 2020 to 23rd May 2020 in southern Punjab (Multan, Bahawalpur, Vehari and Layyah) region of Pakistan. An online survey consisting of Fear of missing out scale, Belongingness scale, Peer pressure scale, and Addictive social media usage scale (ASMUS) was shared with participants along with the informed consent. RESULTS: Out of 471 young adults 273 (58%) were females and 198, (42%) were males. Mean age of participants was 19.91±2.23 years. Fear of missing out is positively correlated with belongingness (r =0.26; p<0.01). Peer pressure is positively correlated with social media addiction (r =0.11; p<0.05) whereas belongingness is negatively correlated with social media addiction (r=-0.15; p<0.01). Fear of missing out, and peer pressure have a significant impact on social media addiction (R2=0.04, p<0.05) and belongingness has a negative impact on social media addiction (R2 = 0.04, p<0.001). Males have greater social media addiction with regard to socialization (Mean ASMUS=16.04±4.98) and information (Mean ASMUS=10.75±2.83) as compared to females. CONCLUSION: Fear of missing out and peer pressure significantly predict social media addiction. Belongingness has a negative relationship with social media addiction. There exists a significant gender difference in social media addiction in terms of information and socialization.

Keywords

• fear of missing out
• peer pressure
• belongingness
• social media addiction
• gender differences
• fear of missing out scale
• belongingness scale
• peer pressure scale
• addictive social media usage scale
• sex characteristics