The Mediating role of Health Behaviors on the Relationship between Big Five Personality Traits and Problematic and Risky Internet Use

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A in General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associated Professor, General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Aim: This study examined the mediating role of health behaviors in the relationship between Big Five personality traits and problematic and risky internet use among university students.
 
Method: In this correlational study, 297 students (116 male and 163 female), selected via available sampling, responded to the Five Factor Personality Traits Questionnaire (McCrae & Costa, 1987), the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (Walker, Sechrist & Pender, 1995), and the Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale (Jelenchick et al., 2014).
 
Results: The results indicated that the partially mediated model of health behaviors in the relationship between personality traits and problematic and risky internet use fit the data well. All regression weights in the hypothesized model were statistically significant. The Big Five personality traits and health behavior variables accounted for 42% of the variance in problematic and risky internet use.
 
Conclusion: The findings of this study, in line with other theoretical and experimental research, suggest that the Big Five personality traits, through their influence on self-regulation resources—such as affective states, perceptions of control, and goal-oriented behaviors—affect health-promoting or inhibiting lifestyle behaviors, which in turn predict risky and problematic internet use among students.

Keywords

References

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