Relationship between Self-Esteem, Area of Study, Phubbing, and Perceived Social Media Addiction among University Students

Abstract

Due to its increasing importance in our lives, it is crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of social media. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining data from the Gulf region in the Middle East. The study focuses on self-esteem, phubbing, area of study, and how students perceive themselves in terms of social media addiction. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to examine the role of self-esteem, phubbing, and area of study (Science, Engineering, Social Science) in predicting perceived social media addiction, following an exploratory analysis. The results indicate that both phubbing and area of study were significant predictors of reported social media addiction. Specifically, compared to students with science majors, those with engineering and social science majors reported being 10% and 13% more addicted to social media, respectively. Additionally, students who reported engaging in phubbing rarely, sometimes, often, or always perceived themselves as being 10%, 19%, 26%, and 33% more addicted to social media, respectively, compared to those who reported never engaging in phubbing.