The exploration of personality traits among adolescents addicted to the internet

Background: According to previous studies, some personality traits are associated with internet addiction. The purpose of this study was to compare the personality traits of adolescents who are addicted to the internet with those normal adolescents.

Methods: 4342 male and female students in high schools and pre-university schools across 11 provinces of Iran through multistage cluster sampling for this study were selected. NEO personality questionnaires and Yangs’ internet addiction scale was used. For data analysis both descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (MANOVA) were employed.

Results: While there was significant difference between first and second adolescents groups in the four subscales of neuroticism, extroversion, open to experience and agreeableness (P=0/001), there was no statistically significant difference between groups on subscale of conscientious (P=0/348).

Conclusion: Adolescents who are addicted to the internet compared to the normal adolescents obtain higher scores on the subscales of neuroticism and open to experience, instead, they aquired lower scores on subscales of extroversion and conscientious. As a result, according to the personality profile of individuals susceptible to internet addiction providing the required training on the use of cyberspace seems to be essential.