Personality Traits and News Addiction: Mediating Role of Self-Control
Keywords:
News Addiction, Self-control, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, GenderAbstract
Background: It is common observations that due to advanced technologies such as mobile phones, internet, social media usage and augmented terrorism, people are persuaded towards news. Similarly, engrossment of a certain individual in any domain from politics, sports, global issues, arson or terrorism can also promote news addiction.
Objective: To examine the mediating role of self-control by verifying the role of gender in the dynamic interplay between conscientiousness, neuroticism and news addiction in young and old adults from main cities (Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi khan, Faisalabad, and Sargodha) only data. Co-relational research design was employed.
Materials & Methods: Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Self-control and News addiction, were assessed through News Addiction1
, Big Five Inventory2 , and 10 Item Self-Scoring Self-control Scale3.
Results: The co-relation matrix revealed that news addiction is negatively co-related with conscientiousness and positively co-related with neuroticism. Independent sample t-test revealed women are higher on neuroticism and conscientiousness where as men are higher score on news addiction. Conscientiousness and neuroticism was significant predictors of news addiction, however they remain significant predictor of news addiction after self-control was entered in the model as a mediator and controlling the gender as a control variable with dependent variable. Model fit indices for structured equation mediation model analysis through AMOS provided empirical support for proposed mediation model.
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