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The Winner Takes IT All: Swedish Digital Divides in Global Internet Usage

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Digital Transformation and Global Society (DTGS 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 859))

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Abstract

In the present study, we examined the influence of personality factors and demographic factors on Internet usage. Personality was defined from the Five Factor Model of personality in terms of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, while demographic factors were defined as gender, age and socioeconomic status (e.g. income and educational attainment). The results from a large, representative Swedish sample (N = 1,694) show that global Internet usage can be explained by a high degree of Extraversion, young age and high socioeconomic status. Our findings are consistent with some previous studies, but in contrast with others. We discuss contrasting results in terms of different study designs, cultures and time periods of Internet development. The results are discussed in terms of the “rich get richer model” and digital divides, and what broader implication our findings might have for society. The study may help facilitate our understanding regarding future challenges in the Internet design.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden

    John Magnus Roos

  2. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    John Magnus Roos

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  1. John Magnus Roos
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Correspondence to John Magnus Roos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Daniel A. Alexandrov

  2. Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Alexander V. Boukhanovsky

  3. Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Andrei V. Chugunov

  4. National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Yury Kabanov

  5. National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Olessia Koltsova

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Roos, J.M. (2018). The Winner Takes IT All: Swedish Digital Divides in Global Internet Usage. In: Alexandrov, D., Boukhanovsky, A., Chugunov, A., Kabanov, Y., Koltsova, O. (eds) Digital Transformation and Global Society. DTGS 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 859. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02846-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02846-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02846-6

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