Dakota Krebs

Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

F. R. Ferraro

Abstract

Social media has become an increasing staple in everyday life for numerous people. Yet, excessive and repetitive social media usage may become problematic, to the extent that the behavior takes the form of a psychological addiction. The primary objective of this study was to explore prospective factors that could predict the psychological dependency on social media applications, characterized as social media addiction (SMA). Paralinguistic Digital Affordances (PDAs) are “likes” one receives on social media and may predict SMA via the expected gratification attained when a PDA is received. Cognitive processes, assessed with a general executive functioning index and the n-back working memory task, may also predict SMA. A sample of 136 undergraduate psychology students completed an online questionnaire that assessed SMA, expected gratifications from PDAs, general executive functioning, and working memory via the n-back. Several multiple regression analyses were conducted to model the effect of predictors. The model entering all predictors simultaneously explained a significant amount of variance in SMA (p < .001). Regression coefficients revealed that PDA gratification (p < .001) and executive function (p = .017) were significant predictors of SMA. For PDA gratification, social gratification was a significant predictor (p =.010). For executive function, impulse control (p < .001) and motivational drive (p = .005) were significant predictors. There were no significant two or three-way interactions among predictors. The results indicated that individuals who perceive higher gratification from PDAs, especially social gratification, were more likely to display SMA. Independent from PDAs, individuals who exhibited greater executive dysfunction, notably poor self-inhibition and motivation, were more likely to display SMA. This study offered valuable insight for factors that could influence the development of addictive social media use.

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