Abstract
Ostracism and dark triad personality traits have been found to be linked with social media addiction. Despite the well-established relationship between the dark triad (i.e., narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and social media addiction, there is limited research on their mediating effect. In the present study, we tested a hypothetical model to examine the mediating effect of the dark triad on the relationship between ostracism and social media addiction. Data were collected from 497 Turkish adolescents (M = 14.98, SD = 0.93) who regularly use social media. Participants completed measures of ostracism, dark personality traits, and social media addiction. The results of the mediation analysis showed significant relationships among ostracism, social media addiction, and the dark triad. Specifically, the dark triad variables acted as mediators in the relationship between ostracism and social media addiction. The present study also highlights the importance of dark personality traits as a mediator of the relationship between ostracism and social media addiction. The implications of these results extend to the development of interventions aimed at mitigating social media addiction among adolescents. Ultimately, this study offers valuable insights into the contributing factors that underlie the detrimental effects of social media on the mental well-being of adolescents.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Akın, A., Uysal, R., & Akın, Ü. (2016). Ergenler için Ostrasizm (Sosyal Dışlanma) Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’ye uyarlanması. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 24(2), 895–904.
Andreassen, C. S. (2015). Online social network site addiction: A comprehensive review. Current Addiction Reports, 2(2), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9
Arslan, G., & Yıldırım, M. (2022). Psychological maltreatment and loneliness in adolescents: Social ostracism and affective experiences. Psychological Reports, 125(6), 3028–3048.
Austin, E. J., Farrelly, D., Black, C., & Moore, H. (2007). Emotional intelligence, Machiavellianism and emotional manipulation: Does EI have a dark side? Personality and Individual Differences, 43(1), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.11.019
Ayar, D., Bektas, M., Bektas, I., Kudubes, A. A., Ok, Y. S., Altan, S. S., & Celik, I. (2017). The effect of adolescents’ internet addiction on smartphone addiction. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 28(4), 210–214. https://doi.org/10.1097/JAN.0000000000000196
Bagir, A., Emre, O., Birgul, C., & Ulutas, A. (2020). The relationship between social exclusion (ostracism) and internet addiction of adolescent girls. Research in Pedagogy, 10(1), 50–65. https://doi.org/10.5937/istrped2001050b
Bağriaçik, B., & Yaman, Y. (2022). Examination of ostracism and internet addiction in gifted students according to multiple variables. European Journal of Education Studies, 9(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v9i2.4172
Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00064
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
Brevers, D., & Turel, O. (2019). Strategies for self-controlling social media use: Classification and role in preventing social media addiction symptoms. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 8(3), 554–563. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.49
Buffardi, L. E., & Campbell, W. K. (2008). Narcissism and social networking web sites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(10), 1303–1314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208320061
Büttner, C. M., & Rudert, S. C. (2022). Why didn’t you tag me?!: Social exclusion from Instagram posts hurts, especially those with a high need to belong. Computers in Human Behavior, 127, 107062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107062
Caplan, S. E. (2002). Problematic internet use and psychosocial well-being: Development of a theory-based cognitive-behavioral measurement instrument. Computers in Human Behavior, 18(5), 553–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00004-3
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic.
Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.1.1.16
Dalvi-Esfahani, M., Niknafs, A., Alaedini, Z., Ahmadabadi, H. B., Kuss, D. J., & Ramayah, T. (2021). Social media addiction and empathy: Moderating impact of personality traits among high school students. Telematics and Informatics, 57, 101516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101516
David, M. E., & Roberts, J. A. (2017). Phubbed and alone: Phone snubbing, social exclusion, and attachment to social media. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1086/690940
De Clercq, B., De Fruyt, F., De Bolle, M., Van Hiel, A., Markon, K. E., & Krueger, R. F. (2014). The hierarchical structure and construct validity of the PID-5 trait measure in adolescence. Journal of Personality, 82, 158–169. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12042
Demircioğlu, Z. I., & Göncü Köse, A. (2021). Effects of attachment styles, dark triad, rejection sensitivity, and relationship satisfaction on social media addiction: A mediated model. Current Psychology, 40, 414–428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9956-x
Esen, E., & Siyez, D. (2011). Ergenlerde internet bağımlılığını yordayan psiko-sosyal degişkenlerin incelenmesi. Türk PDR Dergisi, 4(36), 127–138.
Eşkisu, M., Hoşoğlu, R., & Rasmussen, K. (2017). An investigation of the relationship between Facebook usage, big five, self-esteem and narcissism. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 294–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.036
Gillespie, S. M., Lee, J., Williams, R., & Jones, A. (2022). Psychopathy and response inhibition: A meta-analysis of go/no-go and stop signal task performance. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 104868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104868
Gilman, R., Carter-Sowell, A., DeWall, C. N., Adams, R. E., & Carboni, I. (2013). Validation of the Ostracism Experience Scale for Adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030913
Greenwood, N., Mezey, G., & Smith, R. (2018). Social exclusion in adult informal carers: A systematic narrative review of the experiences of informal carers of people with dementia and mental illness. Maturitas, 112, 39–45.
Griffiths, M. D., & Kuss, D. (2017). Adolescent social media addiction (revisited). Education and Health, 35(3), 49–52.
Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., & Demetrovics, Z. (2014). Social networking addiction: An overview of preliminary findings. In K. P. Rosenberg & L. Curtiss Feder (Eds.), Behavioral addictions: Criteria, evidence, and treatment (pp. 119–141). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-407724-9.00006-9
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360
Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. https://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf
Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/bmsp.12028
Heym, N., Firth, J., Kibowski, F., Sumich, A., Egan, V., & Bloxsom, C. A. (2019). Empathy at the heart of darkness: Empathy deficits that bind the dark triad and those that mediate indirect relational aggression. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 95. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00095
Jonason, P. K., & Jackson, C. J. (2016). The dark triad traits through the lens of reinforcement sensitivity theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.023
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2012). A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad personalities and social influence tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(4), 521–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.023
Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., & Buss, D. M. (2010). The costs and benefits of the dark triad: Implications for mate poaching and mate retention tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(4), 373–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.11.003
Jonason, P. K., Slomski, S., & Partyka, J. (2012a). The Dark Triad at work: How toxic employees get their way. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 449–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.008
Jonason, P. K., Webster, G. D., Schmitt, D. P., Li, N. P., & Crysel, L. (2012b). The antihero in popular culture: Life history theory and the dark triad personality traits. Review of General Psychology, 16(2), 192–199. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027914
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105
Keleşoğlu, F. (2021). Güçlendirme yaklaşımı bağlamında sosyal dışlanma. F. Altun (Ed.). Güncel sosyal politika tartışmaları (ss.199–217). Gazi Kitapevi.
Kircaburun, K., Jonason, P. K., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018). The Dark Tetrad traits and problematic social media use: The mediating role of cyberbullying and cyberstalking. Personality and Individual Differences, 135, 264–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.07.034
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Internet addiction in psychotherapy. Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137465078
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14, 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14030311
Lyvers, M., Salviani, A., Costan, S., & Thorberg, F. A. (2022). Alexithymia, narcissism and social anxiety in relation to social media and internet addiction symptoms. International Journal of Psychology, 57(5), 606–612. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12840
Mehdizadeh, S. (2010). Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking, 13(4), 357–364. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2009.0257
Miller, J. D., Dir, A., Gentile, B., Wilson, L., Pryor, L. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Searching for a vulnerable dark triad: Comparing factor 2 psychopathy, vulnerable narcissism, and borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality, 78(5), 1529–1564. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00660.x
Monacis, L., Griffiths, M. D., Limone, P., Sinatra, M., & Servidio, R. (2020). Selfitis behavior: Assessing the italian version of the Selfitis Behavior Scale and its mediating role in the relationship of dark traits with social media addiction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(16), 5738. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165738
Moon, J. H., Lee, E., Lee, J. A., Choi, T. R., & Sung, Y. (2016). The role of narcissism in self-promotion on Instagram. Personality and Individual Differences, 101, 22–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.042
Nida, S. A., & Saylor, C. F. (2017). Ostracism in children and adolescents. Ostracism, exclusion, and rejection (pp. 192–206). Routledge.
Özgenel, M., Canpolat, Ö, & Ekşi, H. (2019). Ergenler için Sosyal Medya Bağımlılığı Ölçeği (ESMBÖ): Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 6, 629–662. https://doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2019.6.3.0086
Özsoy, E., Rauthmann, J. F., Jonason, P. K., & Ardıç, K. (2017). Reliability and validity of the turkish versions of dark triad dirty dozen (dtdd-t), short dark triad (sd3-t), and single ıtem narcissism scale (SINS-T). Personality and Individual Differences, 117, 11–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.019
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
Pechorro, P., Curtis, S., DeLisi, M., Maroco, J., & Nunes, C. (2022). Dark triad psychopathy outperforms self-control in predicting antisocial outcomes: A structural equation modeling approach. European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education, 12(6), 549–562. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12060041
Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect size measures for mediation models: Quantitative strategies for communicating indirect effects. Psychological Methods, 16(2), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022658
Ren, D., Hales, A. H., & Williams, K. D. (2017). Ostracism being ignored and excluded. Ostracism, exclusion, and rejection (pp. 10–28). Routledge.
Riva, G., Wiederhold, B. K., & Cipresso, P. (2016). Psychology of social media: From technology to identity. In G. Riva, B. K. Wiederhold, & P. Cipresso (Eds.), The psychology of social networking: Personal experience in online communities (pp. 1–11). Gruyter Open.
Rogers, C. R. (1951). Perceptual reorganization in client-centered therapy. https://doi.org/10.1037/11505-011
Sagar, M. E. (2021). Predictive role of cognitive flexibility and self-control on social media addiction in university students. International Education Studies, 14(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v14n4p1
Savci, M., & Aysan, F. (2016). Relationship between impulsivity, social media usage and loneliness. Educational Process: International Journal, 5(2), 106. https://doi.org/10.12973/edupij.2016.52.2
Savci, M., Turan, M. E., Griffiths, M. D., & Ercengiz, M. (2021). Histrionic personality, narcissistic personality, and problematic social media use: Testing of a new hypothetical model. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(4), 986–1004. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00139-5
Siah, P. C., Hue, J. Y., Wong, B. Z. R., & Goh, S. J. (2021). Dark triad and social media addiction among undergraduates: Coping strategy as a mediator. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/11104
Soto, C. J., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). The developmental psychometrics of big five self-reports: Acquiescence, factor structure, coherence, and differentiation from ages 10 to 20. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4), 718–737. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.718
Sun, X., Zhang, Y., Niu, G., Tian, Y., Xu, L., & Duan, C. (2021). Ostracism and problematic smartphone use: The mediating effect of social self-efficacy and moderating effect of rejection sensitivity. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00661-5
Tang, W. Y., Reer, F., & Quandt, T. (2022). The interplay of the Dark Triad and social media use motives to social media disorder. Personality and Individual Differences, 187, 111402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111402
Tanhan, F., Özok, H., Kaya, A., & Yıldırım, M. (2023). Mediating and moderating effects of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between social media addiction and phubbing. Current Psychology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04242-8
Taş, İ. (2021). The relationship between social ıgnore and social media addiction among adolescents: Mediator effect of satisfaction with family life. Youth & Society, 0044118X211055210. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X211055210
Teo, W. J. S., & Lee, C. S. (2016). Sharing brings happiness? Effects of sharing in social media among adult users. In A. Morishima, A. Rauber & C. L. Liew (Eds.), Digital Libraries: Knowledge, Information, and Data in an Open Access Society: 18th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2016, Tsukuba, Japan, December 7–9, 2016, Proceedings (pp.351–365). Springer International Publishing.
Tromp, N. B., & Koot, H. M. (2010). Dimensions of normal and abnormal personality: Elucidating DSM-IV personality disorder symptoms in adolescents. Journal of Personality, 78, 839–864. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00635.x
Tsitsika, A. K., Tzavela, E. C., Janikian, M., Ólafsson, K., Iordache, A., Schoenmakers, T. M., Tzavara, C., & Richardson, C. (2014). Online social networking in adolescence: Patterns of use in six european countries and links with psychosocial functioning. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55, 141–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.11.010
Turan, M. E. (2021). Empathy and video game addiction in adolescents: Serial mediation by psychological resilience and life satisfaction. International Journal of Progressive Education, 17(4), 282–296. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2021.366.17
Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TÜİK) (2021, December 22). Çocuklarda bilişim teknolojileri kullanım araştırması, 2021. https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Cocuklarda-Bilisim-Teknolojileri-Kullanim-Arastirmasi-2021-41132
Van Beest, I., & Williams, K. D. (2006). When inclusion costs and ostracism pays, ostracism still hurts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 918–928. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514
Vilnai-Yavetz, I., & Tifferet, S. (2015). A picture is worth a thousand words: Segmenting consumers by facebook profile images. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 32(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2015.05.002
von Deneen, K. M., Hussain, H., Waheed, J., Xinwen, W., Yu, D., & Yuan, K. (2022). Comparison of frontostriatal circuits in adolescent nicotine addiction and internet gaming disorder. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(1), 26–39. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00086
Vorderer, P., & Schneider, F. M. (2017). Social media and ostracism. Ostracism, exclusion, and rejection (pp. 250–267). Routledge.
Wang, T., Mu, W., Li, X., Gu, X., & Duan, W. (2020). Cyber-ostracism and wellbeing: A moderated mediation model of need satisfaction and psychological stress. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00997-6
Whaite, E. O., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., & Primack, B. A. (2018). Social media use, personality characteristics, and social isolation among young adults in the United States. Personality and Individual Differences, 124, 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.030
Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism: The kiss of social death. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 236–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00004.x
Williams, K. D. (2009a). Ostracism: A temporal need-threat model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 41(2009a), 275–314. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)00406-1
Williams, K. D. (2009b). Ostracism: A temporal need-threat model. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (41 vol., pp. 279–314). Academic.
Wu, A. M., Cheung, V. I., Ku, L., & Hung, E. P. (2013). Psychological risk factors of addiction to social networking sites among chinese smartphone users. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(3), 160–166. https://doi.org/10.1556/JBA.2.2013.006
Yıldırım, M., & Çiçek, İ. (2022). Fear of COVID-19 and Smartphone Addiction among turkish adolescents: Mitigating Role of Resilience. The Family Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807221139510
Yıldırım, M., & Maltby, J. (2022). Examining irrational happiness beliefs within an adaptation-continuum model of personality and coping. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 40(1), 175–189.
Yıldırım, M., Öztürk, A., & Solmaz, F. (2023). Fear of COVID-19 and sleep problems in turkish young adults: Mediating roles of happiness and problematic social networking sites use. Psihologija. https://doi.org/10.2298/PSI220412027Y
Yue, H., Yue, X., Zhang, X., Liu, B., & Bao, H. (2022). Exploring the relationship between social exclusion and smartphone addiction: The mediating roles of loneliness and self-control. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.945631
Acknowledgements
We thank all participants who voluntarily contributed to this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
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.
Informed consent
Consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Turan, M.E., Adam, F., Kaya, A. et al. The mediating role of the dark personality triad in the relationship between ostracism and social media addiction in adolescents. Educ Inf Technol 29, 3885–3901 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12002-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12002-1