Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Specific Virtues as Predictors of Smartphone Addiction among Chinese Undergraduates

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Smartphones are important communication and technological tools that have become an indispensable part of university students’ lives. Although empirical research has evaluated factors that influence Smartphone addiction, few studies have explored positive and potentially protective factors such as virtues that may increase the efficacy of future Smartphone addiction prevention programs. Thus, this study examined the relationship between three key virtues (i.e., relationship, vitality, and conscientiousness) and Smartphone addiction as well as evaluated the specific contributions of these virtues as applied to Smartphone use among Chinese university students. A total of 682 undergraduates (aged 18–24 years) from three universities completed the 96-item Chinese Virtues Questionnaire and Mobile Phone Addiction Index. Results showed that three virtues were significantly correlated with Smartphone addiction. Specifically, conscientiousness and relationship virtues negatively predicted Smartphone addiction and explained 82.61% of addiction-related variance. Vitality positively predicted Smartphone addiction and accounted for the remaining 17.39% variance. Thus, this study demonstrated that conscientiousness and relationship virtues were potential protective factors for Smartphone addiction, while vitality led to increased vulnerability. Gender-related differences were also discovered. Specifically, male students may be more sensitive to the conscientiousness virtue, while female students may show increased sensitivity to the relationship virtue. Consequently, future efforts to prevent Smartphone addiction could focus on how to enhance conscientiousness and relationship virtues and how to reduce the vitality virtue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akin, A. (2012). The relationships between internet addiction, subjective vitality, and subjective happiness. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 15(8), 404–410. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0609.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aljomaa, S. S., Al Qudah, M. F., Albursan, I. S., Bakhiet, S. F., & Abduljabbar, A. S. (2016). Smartphone addiction among university students in the light of some variables. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 155–164. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alt, D. (2016). Students’ wellbeing, fear of missing out, and social media engagement for leisure in higher education learning environments. Current Psychology. doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9496-1.

  • Bandura, A. (1991). Theories of cognitive self-regulationSocial cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 248–287. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90022-L.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Yielding to temptation: Self-control failure, impulsive purchasing, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(4), 670–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billieux, J., Maurage, P., Lopez-Fernandez, O., Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Can disordered mobile phone use be considered a behavioral addiction? An update on current evidence and a comprehensive model for future research. Current Addiction Reports, 2(2), 156–162. doi:10.1007/s40429-015-0054-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budesco, D. V. (1993). Dominance analysis: A new approach to the problem of relative importance of predictors in multiple regression. Psychological Bulletin, 114(3), 542–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canby, N. K., Cameron, I. M., Calhoun, A. T., & Buchanan, G. M. (2015). A brief mindfulness intervention for healthy college students and its effects on psychological distress, self-control, meta-mood, and subjective vitality. Mindfulness, 6, 1071–1081. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0356-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chemaitelly, H., Kanaan, C., Beydoun, H., Chaaya, M., Kanaan, M., & Sibai, A. (2013). The role of gender in the association of social capital, social support, and economic security with self-rated health among older adults in deprived communities in Beirut. Quality of Life Research, 22(6), 1371–1379. doi:10.1007/s11136-012-0273-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, S.-I. (2014). The relationship between life stress and smartphone addiction on taiwanese university student: A mediation model of learning self-efficacy and social self-efficacy. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 49–57. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, N. (2011). Korean adolescent girls' addictive use of mobile phones to maintain relationship solidarity. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 39(10), 1349–1358. doi:10.2224/sbp.2011.39.10.1349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Shared virtue: The convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of General Psychology, 9(3), 203–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng, Z. J., Huang, H., Gui, Y. F., Niu, L. Y., & Zhou, C. Y. (2015). Mobile phone dependence, parenting style and subjective well-being in college students. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 29(1), 68–73.

  • Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Yu, B., & Yuen, T. (2012). Factor structure of the Chinese virtues questionnaire. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(6), 680–688. doi:10.1177/1049731512450074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Bai, Y., & Tang, X. (2013). Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese virtues questionnaire. Research on Social Work Practice, 23(3), 336–345. doi:10.1177/1049731513477214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Tang, X., Li, T., & Zhang, Y. (2014). Character strength-based intervention to promote satisfaction with life in the Chinese university context. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15, 1347–1361. doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9479-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Siu, B. P. Y., Li, T., & Zhang, Y. (2015). Role of virtues and perceived life stress in affecting psychological symptoms among Chinese college students. Journal of American College Health, 63(1), 32–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel, R., Bell, R., Cotton, C., Craig, J., Drummond, D., Gibson, S., et al. (2015). The truth about smartphone addiction. College Student Journal, 49(2), 291–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geser, H. (2006). Is the cell phone undermining the social order?: Understanding mobile technology from a sociological perspective. Knowledge, Technology, and Policy, 19(1), 8–18. doi:10.1007/s12130-006-1010-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillham, J., Adams-Deutsch, Z., Werner, J., Reivich, K., Coulter-Heindl, V., Linkins, M., et al. (2011). Character strengths predict subjective well-being during adolescence. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(1), 31–44. doi:10.1080/17439760.2010.536773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaven, P. C. L., Ciarrochi, J., Leeson, P., & Barkus, E. (2013). Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and psychoticism: Distinctive influences of three personality dimensions in adolescence. British Journal of Psychology, 104(4), 481–494. doi:10.1111/bjop.12002.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, F.-Y., Chiu, S.-I., & Huang, D.-H. (2012). A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2152–2159. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, H., Niu, L.-y., Zhou, C.-y., & He-ming, W. (2014). Reliability and validity of mobile phone addiction index for Chinese college students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22(5), 835–838.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R. (1987). Problem-behavior theory, psychosocial development, and adolescent problem drinking. British Journal of Addiction, 82(4), 331–342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, B., & Park, N. (2010). In-person contact begets calling and texting: Relationship motives for cell phone use, face-to-face interaction, and loneliness. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 13(6), 611–618. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. W. (2000). A heuristic method for estimating the relative weight of predictor variables in multiple regression. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 35(1), 1–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kong, F., Ding, K., & Zhao, J. (2015). The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, social support and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 477–489. doi:10.1007/s10902-014-9519-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lepp, A., Li, J., Barkley, J. E., & Salehi-Esfahani, S. (2015). Exploring the relationships between college students’ cell phone use, personality and leisure. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 210–219. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, L. (2008). Linking psychological attributes to addiction and improper use of the mobile phone among adolescents in Hong Kong. Journal of Children and Media, 2(2), 93–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, S., & Shim, H. (2016). Who multitasks on Smartphones? Smartphone multitaskers' motivations and personality traits. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 19(3), 223–227. doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linkins, M., Niemiec, R. M., Gillham, J., & Mayerson, D. (2015). Through the lens of strength: A framework for educating the heart. Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 64–68. doi:10.1080/17439760.2014.888581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. USA: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. A., & Pirog, S. F. (2012). A preliminary investigation of materialism and impulsiveness as predictors of technological addictions among young adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9, 308–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. A., Pullig, C., & Manolis, C. (2015). I need my smartphone: A hierarchical model of personality and cell-phone addiction. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 13–19. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.01.049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samaha, M., & Hawi, N. S. (2016). Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 321–325. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomée, S., Härenstam, A., & Hagberg, M. (2011). Mobile phone use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression among young adults - a prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 1–11. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toner, E., Haslam, N., Robinson, J., & Williams, P. (2012). Character strengths and wellbeing in adolescence: Structure and correlates of the values in action inventory of strengths for children. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(5), 637–642. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.12.014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Deursen, A. J. A. M., Bolle, C. L., Hegner, S. M., & Kommers, P. A. M. (2015). Modeling habitual and addictive smartphone behavior: The role of smartphone usage types, emotional intelligence, social stress, self-regulation, age, and gender. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 411–420. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, S. P., White, K. M., & McD Young, R. (2010). Needing to connect: The effect of self and others on young people's involvement with their mobile phones. Australian Journal of Psychology, 62(4), 194–203. doi:10.1080/00049530903567229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, M. P., Eiser, J. R., & Harris, P. R. (2004). Risk perceptions of mobile phone use while driving. Risk Analysis: An Official Publication Of The Society For Risk Analysis, 24(2), 323–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, J. J., Kim, H., & Hay, I. (2013). Understanding adolescents’ problematic internet use from a social/cognitive and addiction research framework. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2682–2689. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.06.045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y., Yang, Z., Duan, W., Tang, X., Gan, F., Wang, F., et al. (2014). A preliminary investigation on the relationship between virtues and pathological internet use among Chinese adolescents. Child And Adolescent Psychiatry And Mental Health, 8(1), 8–8. doi:10.1186/1753-2000-8-8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, 199 South Chang’an Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710062, China

    Ling Lian & Xuqun You

  2. Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, 199 South Chang’an Road, Xi’an, 710062, China

    Ling Lian & Xuqun You

Authors
  1. Ling Lian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xuqun You
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xuqun You.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Author Ling Lian is a teacher at Xi’an Polytechnic University. She has received research grants from the Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Project of Xi’an Polytechnic University (grant number 2015ZXSK02) and the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government (grant number 2013JK0031). Author Xuqun You has received research grants from the 2011 Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education (grant number 11JZD044), the Specialized Research for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (grant number 20130202110014), and the Shaanxi Science and Technology Department (grant number 2015KTZDSF02–02). Author Ling Lian declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Xuqun You declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study does not include any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Project of Xi’an Polytechnic University (grant number 2015ZXSK02), the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government (grant number 2013JK0031), the 2011 Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education (grant number 11JZD044), the Specialized Research for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (grant number 20130202110014), and the Shaanxi Science and Technology Department (grant number 2015KTZDSF02–02).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lian, L., You, X. Specific Virtues as Predictors of Smartphone Addiction among Chinese Undergraduates. Curr Psychol 36, 376–384 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9612-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9612-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation