Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Jun 2023)

Self-Control and Digital Media Addiction: The Mediating Role of Media Multitasking and Time Style

  • Błachnio A,
  • Przepiorka A,
  • Cudo A,
  • Angeluci A,
  • Ben-Ezra M,
  • Durak M,
  • Kaniasty K,
  • Mazzoni E,
  • Senol-Durak E,
  • Hou WK,
  • Benvenuti M

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 2283 – 2296

Abstract

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Agata Błachnio,1 Aneta Przepiorka,1 Andrzej Cudo,1 Alan Angeluci,2 Menachem Ben-Ezra,3 Mithat Durak,4 Krzysztof Kaniasty,5,6 Elvis Mazzoni,7 Emre Senol-Durak,4 Wai Kai Hou,8 Martina Benvenuti7 1The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; 2University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil; 3Ariel University, Ariel, Israel; 4Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey; 5Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USA; 6Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland; 7University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 8The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Agata Błachnio, Institute of Psychology, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, Lublin, 20-950, Poland, Tel +48 81 445 35 10, Email [email protected]: As being an initiating actions and resisting short-term temptations, self-control is negatively related to digital media addiction. However, many studies indicate that there are variables that may mediate this relationship. The present study investigated the mediating role of media multitasking and time style in the relationship between self-control and digital media addiction.Methods: The study included N= 2193 participants with a mean age of M = 23.26 (SD = 6.98) from seven countries: Brazil, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Poland, Turkey, and the United States. The authors used the Brief Self-Control Scale, the Media Multitasking Scale, the Time Styles Scale, the Problematic Smartphone Use Scale, the Problematic Internet Use Scale, and the Problematic Facebook Use Scale.Results: Results revealed that self-control was negatively related to all assessed types of problematic digital media use, namely problematic Internet use, problematic smartphone use, and problematic Facebook use. Media multitasking was found to be a significant mediator of the relationship between self-control and problematic digital media use.Discussion: High self-control can be preventative against uncontrolled and automatic social media checking, whereas low self-control fosters the habit of continuously remaining current.Keywords: self-control, digital media addiction, media multitasking, time style

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