Motives and Consequences of Maladaptive Social Networking Sites Use

Abstract

This chapter extends the scope of social networking site addiction. It identifies the social and psychological origins of needs that result in excessive social networking site usage and leads to addiction and other deviant behaviors among millennials. The chapter explains how certain gratifications, such as the need for affiliation, impression management, narcissism, and leisure boredom, can lead to maladaptive social networking site usage and cause addiction. The chapter highlights the importance of formulating policies, offering constructive suggestions, and possible methods of interventions to prevent millennial’s excessive non-productive use of social networking sites.

1. Introduction

Advancements in communication technologies have altered the way individuals interact from traditional and direct methods of communication to viral means instead [1]. Social media motivates and encourages users to highly indulge in these types of online interpersonal communications, which increases the possibility of putting them in danger of being addicts [2, 3]. There are many types of social media, such as blogs, microblogs, instant messaging, and social networking sites (SNS), which appear attractive to individuals. There has been increasing evidence that some individuals spend excessive amounts of time on such platforms, to the extent of displaying addiction symptoms. Different studies have argued that any behavior, that fulfills the six primary addiction components (mood modification, withdrawal symptoms, salience, tolerance, conflict, and relapse), including excessive SNS usage, can operationally be defined as an addiction [4].

SNS addiction generates adverse interpersonal repercussions, since it influences individuals’ psychological and social states, and personal lives [5]. SNS addiction has characteristics that are similar to substance addiction, including alcohol and other drug addictions [6]. Previous studies have also indicated that substance dependence and addictions result in an impairment and a reduction in the academic, social, and recreational activities that are considered valid criteria for SNS addiction. SNS addiction is a subtype of technology addiction and is important to investigate since its maladaptive use may result in the experience of negative personal repercussions, such as decreased happiness and vitality, social isolation, alterations in mood, social inhibition, obesity, and a decreased performance at either school or work [7].

Different studies have proven that with the rapid popularity of social media, millennials are more prone to be social media addicts, and are the age group most likely to be affected by this condition [8], because millennials, in particular, are heavy users of SNS [9, 10], and represent 2.5 billion people worldwide and almost one-third of the whole world’s population [11, 12]. Consequently, it becomes vital to gain an understanding of the reasons that motivate them to use such platforms [13]. Especially since individuals do not get addicted to one medium per se. They, however, get addicted to certain activities, which they carry out online [7, 14]. Research started focusing on understanding the reasons that motivate users to use social media [13], and the influence of these motivations on their social relationships. Studies have shown that the usage of social media has an overall positive effect on an individual’s well-being and is effective in building friendships [15].

Although sociopsychological factors are important factors that influence behaviors and SNS usage as well, very little data have been available regarding SNS adoption, with respect to the sociopsychological factors. Moreover, limited attention has been given to the effect of these factors on addiction and other deviant behaviors. It is argued that with the increased number of individuals using SNS increases and as the frequency of their SNS usage increases, the number of victims of such excessive usage is expected to increase as well. As a result, it becomes necessary to explore the motivations behind the excessive SNS usage and realize related deviant behaviors, all of which subject SNS addiction to further research and investigation [6, 16].

Social psychology research pointed out the most important social and psychological traits that influence the individuals’ motivations and behaviors [6, 7]. Firstly, all humans desire a minimum number of healthy relationships with others, also referred to as the need to affiliate, and their means to maintain such relationships can be reflected in their frequent social contact with others. The need to affiliate is one of the crucial reasons that involve individuals in social media usage because it grants them their affiliation needs and improves their social interactions and interpersonal relationships. Nonetheless, this desire to affiliate can cause maladaptive usage that may result in addiction if taken too far. Secondly, scholars have also found relations between impression management on social media platforms and higher social media usage that can result in problematic social media usage as well as it provides these individuals with an environment to manage their impressions, invoke positive self-presentation, and help them to project a better version of themselves. Thirdly, narcissism has increased among the digital native generations. Social media is considered an ideal medium for attention-seeking narcissists, since it allows them to overstate their accomplishments, enjoyment of life, exaggerate their self-importance, and deliberately show off. These narcissists are inclined to be the heaviest users of social media and are the most likely to be addicted to these platforms [17, 18]. Fourthly, social media has similarly occupied most of the leisure time of young people and has greatly displaced other social activities. Leisure boredom has caused an alarm and has gained the concern of many researchers. Many studies found that leisure boredom was related to high levels of social media usage, dependence, and different forms of addiction [18, 19, 20]. Hence, it is important to explore the influence of different sociopsychological traits on SNS usage and adoption [6, 7, 17], and how they involve users in SNS addiction [16, 18].

2. Internet and social media addiction

The internet can be benign when kept to normal levels. However, high levels of internet usage that may intervene with an individual’s daily life are linked to a wide range of problems and a decrease in psychosocial well-being [21]. Some individuals spend a great portion of their time using the internet, and therefore, the risk of developing “Maladaptive Usage” or “Problematic Internet Usage” increases. This condition has also been known as “Internet Dependence”, “Pathological Internet Usage”, and “Internet Addiction” [22]. Internet addiction is one type of behavioral addiction [3]. It is a broad term that covers a variety of impulse control behaviors and problems [23]. It is like addictions that are identified with conventional mass media (ex. Television) but are potentially more serious. This is because television can be used to occupy leisure time at home, but the internet can be used at school, work, and play which can affect families, businesses, and even personal relationships [2].

Several subtypes of internet addiction include:

1. Cybersexual addiction: This happens to individuals typically involved in adult role-play chat rooms, and in viewing, downloading, or trading online pornography [21, 23].

2. Cyber-relational addiction: This kind of addiction involves individuals who engage in virtual adultery or in online relationships. In this case, online relationships become even more important than any real-life relationship that may result in marital discord or family instability [21, 23].

3. Net compulsions: They include a broad category of behaviors that include shopping or stock trading and online gambling. This may result in relational disruptions and significant financial losses [2, 23].

4. Information overload: The World Wide Web has created a compulsive behavior that involves excessive database searches and web surfing. These individuals spend an excessive amount of time looking for, collecting, and organizing information [23].

5. Online chatting or synchronous communication activities: Activities such as IM, chatting, and SNS, are considered the most addictive online [18, 24].

Internet addiction symptoms include the loss of sense of time [3]. Internet addicts have the habit of using the internet for extended periods, focusing almost all their time on the internet instead of broader life events, and isolating themselves from social contact [24]. Moreover, studies found that the excessive use of computers results in a lack of physical energy; looking overly tired because of the all-night internet sessions, back strains, and eye strains from the excessive computer use. It is also associated with apnea, insomnia [22, 25], episodes of disturbance in sleep, and more irregular sleep patterns [21, 23, 24]. In addition to that, it was found that addiction was even more common among those who have skipped their breakfast habit. Since internet addicts stay up late at night, they might therefore get up late for breakfast. The high frequency of snacking might be related to skipping meals, frequent snacking was also observed among internet addicts. Researchers found that their most favorite snack was fast food. Since fast food is nutritionally poor and higher in calories, internet addicts do not have proper dietary behaviors [22, 25].

Internet addiction is positively related to social anxiety, discontent with parents’ attitudes, and family violence exposure [24]. Adolescents who have high conflicts with their parents are more prone to become addicted to the internet, because they refuse to obey their parents’ supervision and the rules that they set for their internet usage. They separate themselves from their families, friends, and social activities and choose to spend their time alone [22]. Children and adolescents are more likely to carry higher risks of problematic internet use and become internet addicts because of their incomplete developmental processes [22, 25]. Internet addicts also witness withdrawal symptoms such as tension or feelings of anger when the computer is inaccessible [2, 3, 24, 25], less tolerance, which includes the need for a better computer, better software or even more hours of usage [2, 24, 25], and preoccupation, which causes the neglect of other activities [25]. Previous studies suggested a relationship between depression and internet addiction as well. Interpersonal stress, social support, coping strategies, and chronic stress were found to be associated with hostility and depression. Individuals with depression are more likely to cope with their depression through the internet [3].

The internet can also be used to expand one’s social network through engaging in social media which consequently enhances the chances for self-confidence, meaningful relationships, social support, and social abilities. Even though individuals who use the internet for online chatting and communications believe that using the internet is psychologically beneficial to them, they also believe that it could be addictive. It is argued that “chat users” who fear social interactions, may use the internet as a form of a social approach and an opportunity that is lower in risk, to rehearse social communication behaviors and skills, to improve their face-to-face interactions in social environments. Other researchers have argued that internet-dependent individuals mainly use the internet as a coping mechanism against their underlying psychological issues [24].

SNS addiction is a relatively new addictive behavior that has started to increase among millennials. As a type of internet-related behavioral addiction, SNS incorporates basic classic symptoms of addiction, by overly indulging in SNS usage, driven by a strong need and motivation to log in to or use SNS, which results in the impairment of other social activities, interpersonal relationships, studies/jobs, and psychological health and well-being [26]. SNS is considered potentially addictive because it fills the sociopsychological voids in individuals’ lives. Even though SNS has gained rapid popularity and has brought many benefits to its users, its excessive usage can also lead to addiction and problematic dependency. Technology addiction harms individuals’ personal lives, raises the organization’s concern with regard to their employees’ productivity [27, 28], and affects students’ academic performance in schools and colleges [22]. Spending countless hours on SNS could divert the attention and focus from tasks, as it lowers individuals’ levels of motivation. This is because they mostly rely on SNS, instead of engaging in the experiences and practical knowledge of everyday life [27, 28].

Individuals addicted to SNS experience symptoms like the ones experienced by other substance addicts. However, unlike other addictions, SNS addiction is different in terms of its treatment, as it has become an integral part of an individual’s daily life either professionally or during leisure time. Therefore, the therapy for SNS addiction would rather lie in its controlled usage [29]. Some authors have criticized the attempts to categorize internet and SNS addiction as a disorder [23]. Arguing that for someone to be “truly addicted”, he/she must witness serious life consequences that result from their addictive behavior, such as the dissolution of a marriage or loss of employment. As long as this component remains missing, this makes many of the “addicts”, who were described in internet and SNS addiction studies, are not addicted at all. Furthermore, addictions develop over a period, or in phases, which means that an individual might be “a little bit addicted”, or just has mild indications of the addiction symptoms, or might have serious indications of several of them, but can still lead a normal life [2].

Internet addicts are like alcoholics who try to hide their addiction, they engage in the same lies about the time they spend on the internet, and they hide fees and bills for the internet service from their families [25]. In addition to that, in a study where respondents were asked to go without all social media platforms for one day, one of them said “I think that was one hour and I wanted to turn on my computer and see what’s going on in Facebook and Twitter. Between 4 and 6 pm it was horrible. I couldn’t focus on my study. Even in my dreams I see myself chatting, using Skype, Twitter and adding people on Facebook”. Moreover, respondents used the words “addicted” and “obsessed” and mentioned that they felt socially disconnected. Another respondent said, “I’m so obsessed with checking my cell phone and my Facebook and the New York Times Web site that I lose track of the people who are physically with me sometimes”, and another said “From my lack of social networking I had no idea what people were up to, no idea what was happening and generally didn’t know what to do with myself. I even found myself thinking of status’s I could put if I was to go on” [7] (2018; p.5). As quoted by another user “I love that thing and I hate it at the same time. The reason I love it is that it gives me so much power. And the reason I hate it is that it has so much power over me” [30, 31].

Unfortunately, internet addiction causes familial problems. Serious relationship problems have been reported among 53% of individuals with internet addiction. Marriages are the most affected relationships. Individuals started forming online relationships at the cost of real ones which has caused an increase in divorce cases because of “Cyber affairs”. Such characteristics create distrust and over time hurt the quality of stable relationships [25]. In addition, according to a case study, a 24-year-old female used SNS to an extent that interfered significantly with her private and professional life. As a result, she was referred to a psychiatrist. The girl was dismissed from her job because of her continuous SNS usage during working hours, and even during her clinical interview, she checked SNS on her mobile phone several times. Her excessive SNS usage led to significant impairment in diverse areas of her life. She also developed symptoms of anxiety and insomnia, which were all symptoms of SNS addiction [29]. Such extreme cases, accordingly, draw attention to the severity of SNS addiction, as an internet spectrum addiction disorder. An individual’s reliance on or engagement in SNS may be due to certain sociopsychological traits. The next section explains four sociopsychological traits that are argued to be some of the underlying causes of SNS addiction.

3. Sociopsychological traits

Some studies suggested that the causes of addiction lie in the substance itself; other studies found that certain brain differences or genetic dispositions were responsible for addiction, while others argued that certain social and psychological traits may be the reasons [18]. This section explains SNS addiction from the perspective of the most frequently used sociopsychological traits in psychology research and who were found to affect customers’ behavior as well, these sociopsychological traits include (1) Need for Affiliation [7, 18, 32, 33, 34], (2) Impression Management [7, 18, 35, 36] as social traits, (3) Narcissism [7, 8, 37, 38], and (4) Leisure Boredom [18, 19, 20, 39] as psychological traits.

3.1 Need for affiliation

Human beings seek to establish and maintain relationships with others [40], and seeking belonging or social dependency is considered a normal and common human behavior. The need for affiliation is the foundation for any human interaction [18], and can be explained as the ability of an individual to derive pleasure from friendly or close relationships with others [41]; and reflects an individual’s desire for belongingness and social contact [42]. The need for affiliation has also been defined as the tendency to acquire social gratifications from harmonic relationships with others and seeking approval and connection [18]. The tendency is to derive certain social gratifications such as a sense of communion with others or rewards from harmonious relationships [42].

The need for affiliation can be described as the fear of being abandoned or rejected by others. It is assumed that human beings have a pervasive need to form and maintain a minimum quantity of lasting and significant interpersonal relationships. Satisfying this need consists of two main criteria. Firstly, there is the need for frequent and affectively pleasant interactions with other people, and secondly, the context of these interactions, which must take place in a temporally stable and enduring framework of affective concern for the welfare of each other. The need to affiliate or belong is not a new concept and was represented in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the “love and belongingness need”. It is also assumed that the need to belong is a part of the human biological inheritance. Therefore, this need is not just a socialized one, but is rather genetically inherited and hence, difficult to countermand [7]. Millennials with a strong need for affiliation seek to engage in internet communication and intimate conversations with ease of self-disclosure, and perceive internet communication as more reciprocal, controllable, deeper, and broader than face-to-face communication [34]. In contrast to those with a high need for affiliation, millennials with low affiliation needs are more likely to be independent and have less intrinsic need to belong. It has been argued that an individual’s self-construal is what shapes his/her values and needs; it also strongly influences his/her emotions, motivations, and cognitions in social settings [42].

The internet is a great place for individuals to engage in social interactions [43]. Computer-mediated communication users, who anticipate long-term commitment or associations, are more expected to engage in greater self-disclosure and affiliated behaviors, than those who anticipate short-term interactions, and are more negative or impersonal-oriented. Therefore, computer-mediated communication users, who have long-term goals, have a greater motive for affiliation and exchange, seek more personal information, and are more likely to evaluate each other more positively, than individuals from short-term interactions [44].

The need for affiliation can be facilitated through SNS, and to feel affiliated on SNS, individuals must have social bonds with at least a few of their SNS friends. Moreover, such interactions need to be healthy and positive to fulfill such needs. In addition to that, the lack of fulfillment of the need to belong has many negative psychological and physical consequences. Moreover, an individual’s well-being may be influenced by the connectedness he/she feels to their SNS social group. SNS can provide a place for healthy socialization that could result in positive outcomes for an individual’s general well-being, which may, therefore, explain their popularity. However, it may also lead to severe negative psychological and physical consequences if such socialization becomes maladjusted. Since the fulfillment of the need to affiliate is satisfying, hence, like other pleasurable activities, an individual’s drive to satiate this need may become addictive [7]. SNS provides individuals with a convenient platform to establish immediate and accessible social connections. It was found that there is a huge tendency to rely on SNS and other social resources to meet the need for affiliation. Moreover, when the affiliation motivation is evoked, individuals turn to SNS to rectify the situation. The mental association demonstrated between the need for affiliation and SNS suggests that individuals are becoming more dependent on online socializing; to satisfy their need to belong. In addition to that, such a connection implies that millennials who are less engaged in offline social life are more likely to engage in higher SNS usage, which may eventually lead to addiction [32].

3.2 Impression management

Self-concept is a well-established phenomenon in the tradition of consumer behavior and is considered a multidimensional term. The “actual self” is reflected in how an individual perceives oneself; the “ideal self” is reflected in how an individual would like to perceive oneself; and the “social self” reflects how a person presents oneself to others [4]. It is in human nature that we spend a lot of time with other people. Thus, our social behavior is influenced by understanding how others see us [45]. Impression management is the unconscious and conscious trials to influence certain images during human interactions. Therefore, impression management is mostly based on an individual’s inherent need to be included and accepted [18]. Impression management refers to an individual’s effort to create, protect, maintain, or alter his/her image. Millennials use various impression management tactics and behaviors to create a desired image and to accomplish this goal [46]. They have a need to present their inner or true self to the outside world, and let others know them the way they know themselves. When individuals have difficulty doing that in their relationships, they turn to establishing relationships, which would make these preferences and needs expressed [43].

To appear to other people as a decent and acceptable person, individuals usually try to manage the impressions they give, where they present themselves in the way they would want to be seen by others. Thus, they play roles and wear masks. They attempt to project this self-impression and maintain it through consistently performing complementary and coherent behaviors [18]. As quoted by [47] (1999; p.647), “We put on a face to meet the faces we meet”. Self- presentation is a vital factor in an individual’s daily life. If someone’s self-presentation is perceived by others as competent, trustworthy, and dynamic, he will probably achieve more social rewards than another who is perceived as negatively-devious, lazy, or inept. Impression management is not just a type of behavior that happens under certain circumstances. Impression management takes place all the time, on a date, during a job interview, and everywhere. Impression management is a fundamental characteristic or feature of interpersonal experience. No one can just reveal everything about himself to a particular audience. Individuals edit the information so that it is germane to the occasion. In addition to that, it takes as much social skill to create a real accurate impression as it does to create a misleading one. Individuals with better acting skills are more successful in presenting themselves accurately [48].

Impression management can be used for beneficial ends. An individual may regulate information to protect or support the identities of others, make them feel good, inspire them, or help them cope with situations or challenges, such as a father who helps his son to interpret a failure in a certain manner that promotes effective coping and preserves his son’s self-confidence, even if, privately, the father is unsure about the causes of such failure [48]. There are five strategies for self-presentation construction that are: Ingratiation, Competence, Intimidation, Exemplification, and Supplication [47].

1. Ingratiation: individuals using this strategy have a goal of being admired and liked by others. Typical characteristics of ingratiation include saying positive things about others, statements of modesty, mildly saying negative things about oneself, humor, and familiarity.

2. Competence: the goal of individuals in this strategy is to be perceived as qualified and skilled. Common characteristics include claims about accomplishments, abilities, qualifications, and performance.

3. Intimidation: the main goal of individuals here is power. Thus, characteristics would include statements of anger, potential unpleasantness, and threats.

4. Exemplification: this strategy’s goal is to be perceived as possessing high moral standards and being morally superior. Characteristics include militancy for a cause, self-discipline, self-sacrifice, and ideological commitment.

5. Supplication: the goal here is to appear helpless and nurturing so that individuals would come to aid. Characteristics of this strategy include self-deprecation and entreaties for help.

Online self-disclosure differs among computer-mediated communication users, depending on the nature of the relational goals they seek to develop. The internet is a medium that enables identity manipulation or at least a selective presentation of oneself [44]. It provides individuals with the opportunity to engage in role construction than in the offline world. The internet makes it easier for individuals to express and establish these relationships. According to numerous studies, individuals engage in the expression of multiple identities and role-playing over the internet [43]. However, self-representations differ according to an individual’s temporary variations in mood states, attention focus, presentational behavior, and composition of the social environment [49]. In addition, individuals must consider the negative consequences of anonymity and role-playing on the internet. For example, if different aspects of self-presentation are not well integrated, an individual may possibly lose the coherent sense of self (i.e., have multiple or split personalities) [43]. On the other hand, millennials seeking long-term goals of establishing face-to-face relationships engage more and have higher levels of self-disclosure. They tend to disclose personal information, make more intentional and conscious disclosures, and are more honest with others online. They try to present themselves the way they are in a more realistic manner and tend to include both positive and negative attributes. This is because they understand that eventually such attributes will be revealed if they develop ongoing face-to-face relationships with these individuals [44].

SNS environment erodes the ability of an individual to custom a “unified” identity, because in order to interact with numerous people in the online environment, individuals can attempt to portray and disclose different personalities [4]. Self-presentation is easier to control on SNS in comparison to face-to-face communication. SNS provides an ultimate opportunity for impression management. Individuals have the capability to think about the personality aspects they want to present to others. They can strategically manage their self-presentations than in face-to-face situations [35].

Individuals can be identified through their “front stage” and “backstage” performances. “Front stage” performances consist of the scenarios that take place when a face is presented publicly (i.e., when a waiter in a restaurant is waiting for consumers). “Back stage” performances take place in other private spaces that are reserved for group members (i.e., the restaurant’s kitchen). Students for example may present a “front stage”; in class, but present “backstage” while they hang out with other students after class. In the case of SNS, the front stage performance of identity occurs through individuals’ profiles, while other additional backstage identity information can be conveyed in private messages, personal meetings, or emails [36]. Humans always have a “need for self- esteem”, it is important for them to maintain or even raise their self-esteem. Therefore, it can be expected that millennials will seek to present themselves in a positive way by putting huge efforts into designing their profiles and presenting many friends. It is plausible to assume that individuals with low self-esteem will engage more in activities that will raise their self-esteem. On the other hand, the more the audience, the more likely truthful and honest an individual’s self-presentation will be, this is because, in such situations, excessively positive self-presentation can be risky. This suggests that individuals, especially those with low self-esteem, will be careful not to present themselves in exaggerated ways to a large audience [35]. The research argues that individuals who are better at impression management will more likely use social media for self-presentation and find it more gratifying than offline or face-to-face communications. In addition to that, the more dedicated they are to managing their impressions through social media, the more likely they are to become addicted to these platforms [7, 18].

3.3 Narcissism

The concept of narcissism goes back to the Greek mythology when Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pond that he never left his reflection until he died [50]. The term narcissism was coined after Narcissus [51]. Narcissism is the grandiose preoccupation with the importance of oneself, where one believes that he/she is more important than other people [50, 52]. Narcissists are preoccupied with constantly reinforcing their self-view and have an exaggerated sense of self [53], believe they are superior and unique [54], have a continuous need for admiration [55], seek admiration from others, and are always engaged in self-centered thinking and behaviors [56]. Narcissism is associated with feelings of entitlement and superiority, exaggerations of personal qualities and abilities, expectations for special treatment, lack of empathy, contempt, exploitation of others, and constant demands for admiration and attention. It is also characterized by feelings of hostility and aggression [52], and positive self-views such as power, physical attractiveness, and intelligence [55]. Narcissists have a highly inflated and positive but unrealistic self-concept. They lack interest in forming strong interpersonal relationships, and engage in self-regulatory strategies, to affirm positive self-views to make themselves feel and look special, important, and successful [54]. Narcissists overestimate their attractiveness and put a vast amount of effort into looking fashionable and well-groomed, and they mostly seek the kind of relationships that can enhance their positive self-views and status [38].

There are two subtypes of narcissism: grandiose and vulnerable. Grandiose narcissism, also called “overt” narcissism, is mainly characterized by the search for high self-esteem, arrogance, admiration, and direct expression of exhibitionism. It is associated with traits related to grandiosity, aggression, and dominance. On the other hand, vulnerable narcissism, which is also called “hypersensitive” or “covert” narcissism, is characterized by an insecure or defensive sense of grandiosity, which is associated with shyness, shame proneness, low self-esteem, and hypersensitivity to the evaluation of others [55]. Vulnerable narcissists have obscure feelings of incompetence and inadequacy. They are also characterized by hostility, lack of empathy, feelings of depletion, depression, inferiority, and high reactivity to evaluative events [57]. Even though displays of dominance and arrogance are characteristics of grandiose narcissism, both subtypes of narcissism are characterized by grandiose fantasies, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to promote an image of perfection [55]. Grandiose narcissists act out this desire confidently in their interactions with others, whereas vulnerable narcissists have social avoidance, are socially inhibited, and are mainly concerned with protecting their fragile egos [57].

There are different causes for narcissism; however, the universally accepted cause is parent’s overvaluation, in terms of treating their child as a unique or special person and giving him/her an excessive amount of attention [51]. Some research argues that narcissism is a personality disorder [50]; while others link narcissism with interpersonal difficulties [52]. Several negative outcomes have been related to high levels of narcissism. High levels of narcissism are considered a threat to the psychological and emotional health of young adults. As previously stated, narcissism is accompanied by the use of personal interaction to achieve self-promotion and self-enhancement. It can, therefore, prevent individuals from forming intimate long-term relationships and impair their ability to form healthy relationships [56]. Narcissists do not focus on positive relational outcomes, interpersonal intimacy, or warmth. Instead, they form relationships to appear successful and popular. As romantic partners, they seek high-status and attractive individuals. Regardless of their tendency to seek many superficial relationships, they rarely pursue such commitments for long periods. Relationships will only be pursued if accompanied by an opportunity for public glory [55]. There are several components of narcissism that include: entitlement (believing one deserves the best), superiority (feeling that one is better than others), exhibitionism (showing off), authority (feeling like a leader), exploitativeness (taking advantage of others), vanity (focusing on one’s appearance), and self-sufficiency (valuing independence). These components were found to convey a high self-valuation but relate to different behaviors and feelings. Some of them are indicative of a healthy human initiative, whereas others are considered unhealthy. For example, self-sufficiency is considered a positive trait, at least in Western societies, while exploitativeness is considered an unhealthy trait. Some traits are neither healthy nor unhealthy such as exhibitionism, which does not involve anything harmful but rather indicates a lack of impulse control and extraversion [56].

Recently, a tremendous amount of attention has been given to the relation between narcissism and SNS. Online communities are considered a fertile ground for narcissists for many reasons. They offer a gateway for many virtual friends and shallow relationships, facilitate emotionally detached communication (through likes, posts, and comments) [37], and are a means for self-enhancement and self-promotion, since several attributes of SNS make them an ideal tool to attain their narcissistic goals. Narcissists use SNS to construct and maintain the required self-image [56] and enable them to maintain a large social network of superficial relationships, which they would be drawn to [38]. Social media also enables them to manipulate the information by choosing what information to disclose and what to hide. SNS allows individuals to better control the impression they give to others, which increases their chances of getting admiration that they may not achieve in face-to-face exchanges. Narcissists feel more comfortable and safer in online interactions than in face-to-face situations [55].

Narcissism has been consistently related to content- generation online. It is positively related to high levels of social activity. The more narcissistic a person is, the more likely he/she will interact with others in the online community and the more he/she will post self-promoting content. Millennials with high levels of narcissism enjoy the nature of SNS [54], since it provides users with various ways to interact either individually or collectively, in private or public. Individuals who highly value their own feelings, thoughts, and experiences can publicize them to a wide audience [56]. Social media enables users to dwell on their past self-expressions and the popularity of such self-expressions that are manifested in different metrics, such as “shares” and “likes” in the case of Facebook, and “retweets” or “followers” in the case of Twitter. Narcissists engage in self-promotion behaviors through descriptions of themselves and status updates [56], and as expected, narcissists have lots of Facebook friends [38]. They also tend to post more personal photos and albums to their Facebook profiles/accounts [55]. In addition to that, as SNS has become now available on mobile devices and has become accessible anytime and anywhere, narcissists do not have to wait until other users are available to engage in self-aggrandizement, but they can promote and manage an “online self” anytime they want during the day [56]. It has also been found that high levels of narcissistic traits may lead to SNS addiction. Millennials with high narcissistic traits report compulsive social media and SNS usage because they provide them with an ideal tool to reinforce the idealized self [55].

3.4 Leisure boredom

Leisure behavior is psychologically rewarding when individuals have the right amount of time for their leisure activities [20]. However, millennials who have unstructured leisure activities are more inclined to feelings of boredom [18, 58]. Psychologists define boredom as a state of under-arousal, under-stimulation, lack of psychological involvement, or lack of momentum associated with feelings of dissatisfaction. Leisure and boredom together have a complex relationship, and different leisure activities result in different boredom levels [19]. Boredom is considered a physiological or a psychological condition, “it is a negative state of mind reflecting an inner conflict between expected optimal and perceived actual experiences” [58].

Leisure time is the time remaining after finishing everyday life obligations, including one’s job, school, work, household chores, personal maintenance, caring for others, and other necessary obligations [59]. It takes place when other available leisure experiences are not frequent, exciting, involving, or novel. Leisure boredom has gained the attention of many scholars. Many studies found that leisure boredom was related to different forms of addiction. It has also been implicated in behaviors such as smoking, delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, and extreme sensation activity, [19]. For example, it was found that students who smoke are less challenged and more bored than nonsmokers. Among the reasons they smoke, is that they find relief and relaxation from boredom [20]. Moreover, the quantity and frequency of alcohol use among college students were also found to be positively related to boredom susceptibility [19].

Leisure-related factors were found to cause addictive use of mobile phones, and social media [20]. The advancement of electronic media, including computer gaming, video gaming, web surfing, and the internet, has occupied the leisure time and has significantly displaced other types of social activities. A study conducted among college students examined SNS game players and showed that the higher the levels of leisure boredom experienced by individuals, the more likely they were to become addicted to SNS games [19]. Individuals use SNS when they are bored at work, at school as they wait for their classes to start, or to pass the time when classes are boring. As mentioned previously, boredom is a fleeting emotional state where an individual is unable to concentrate and lacks interest [60]. In leisure time, if the time is not well spent, individuals experience leisure boredom. The next generation easily encounters boredom, and accordingly, participates in different activities to overcome or prevent it, they contribute content to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and online forums during their leisure time. In addition, millennials who encounter high levels of leisure boredom are more likely to be engaged in social media and are more likely to be addicted to them [39].

4. Conclusion

SNS addiction is considered a severe social problem, which has attracted the attention of researchers. As the usage of SNS continues to increase, it becomes important for researchers to gain a better understanding of the reasons that motivate users to use them [13]. It is important to understand the motives and gratifications individuals acquire from SNS usage [61]. Social media encourage users to highly indulge in these types of online interpersonal communications, which increases the possibility of putting them in the danger of being addicts [2, 3, 22, 23]. Very little data and attention has been given to the adoption of SNS, with respect to the sociopsychological factors, even though they may contribute to deviant behaviors or SNS addiction [6].

Studies revealed that millennial addicts exhibited heavier SNS usage and acquired more gratifications from SNS usage, since the longer periods they spent on SNS, the higher their risks of becoming addicted. Hence, the intensity of SNS usage is considered an indicator of SNS addiction. Moreover, individuals who had higher affiliation needs were more gratified by SNS, because it allowed them to connect with others, and provided them with a convenient platform to establish immediate, and accessible social connections. Moreover, those who had better impression management skills were more gratified by SNS, since it allowed them to present themselves in a positive way, by putting effort into designing their profiles and posting things to maintain a certain favorable image. Narcissism was also related to SNS addiction. Since some narcissists have difficulty projecting the image of perfection in real life, as well as interacting and communicating with others offline, they might be addicted in terms of showing off, promoting their intelligence, posting beautiful pictures, and revealing their connections, power, and control on SNS, since they were unable to project that offline and felt more comfortable in the online world. Similarly, leisure boredom was an indicator of higher gratifications obtained from SNS, since it offered individuals a let out from boredom or stress. Therefore, the pleasure and enjoyment obtained from SNS during leisure boredom were considered motors for SNS involvement.

Social media needs to be looked at as a tool that can be used and harnessed with safe measures, because if used properly, it can enhance and improve individuals’ social lives. However, it can also be used in ways that would pose dangers to them. Symptoms of addiction may be present to different degrees. Some addicts may experience very high degrees of tolerance, whereas others may have less tolerance. The unsuccessful efforts, as well as the desire to cut down usage, may vary considerably among individuals. Hence, addiction is considered a continuous concept, which starts from very mild habit formation to irresistible urges, which may need severe interventions. Considering the possible severe consequences, that may take place because of addiction, possible interventions, and ways to overcome addiction, should be included among the measurements [62, 63]. SNS addiction is not like other behavioral addictions since the object of overuse is the platform on which many aspects of an individual’s life take place. Accordingly, the goal of treatment for SNS addiction, unlike other addictions, should lie in its controlled usage and prevention of relapse, rather than the total abstinence.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Thanks

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