an association between dark tetrad personality, fear of missing out and social media addiction

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate an association between dark tetrad personality, fear of missing out and social media addiction. In this correlational study, participants were young adults aged from 19 to 25 (M=20.12, SD=1.65), from Government and Private Universities in Lahore. For the process of data collection, the convenient sampling strategy was used in the current study. Short Dark Tetrad Scale (SD4; Paulhus,2018), Fear of Missing Out Scale (FOMO; Przybylski,2013), Social Media Addiction Scale (SMA; Cengiz Sahin,2018) were used to assess the degree of dark tetrad persoanlity, fear of missing out and social media addiction in young adults. The results revealed that (machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism) had a positive correlation with fear of missing out and social media addiction. Moreover, dark tetrad personality was a predictor of fear of missing out and social media addiction. Fear of missing out was also a mediator between the relationship of (machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism), and social media addiction. The findings suggest that the levels of dark tetrad personality may be reduced by interventions that focuses on improving cognitive patterns and self-compassion. Counselling services could help young adults in Pakistan’s educational institutions to deal with this problem and improve their mental health. Present study implications have been discussed.