Moderating Role of Identity Crisis in the Relationship Between Loneliness and Social Media Addiction Among Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The study investigated the moderating role of identity crisis in the relationship between loneliness and social media addiction among undergraduate students. One hundred and Forty Six (146) undergraduate students comprising of 44 males and 102 females with a mean age of 20.78 and S. D of 2.197were drawn using multi-stage (cluster, simple random: by balloting and purposive) sampling techniques as participants from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. The ULCA Loneliness Scale (Russell & Cutrona, 1978), Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (Ballistreri, Bush-Rossnagel, & Geisinger, 1986), and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (Andreassean et al, 2016) were used for data collections, a correlational design was adopted, while moderated multiple regression with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 was used for data analysis. Findings revealed that loneliness r= .133 and identity formation r= .101 at p> .05 did not relate to social media addiction. identity formation did not moderate the relationship between loneliness and social media addiction Stβ= .145 t= .312 at p>.05 among undergraduate students. However, the study shows a positive correlation between age and both identity formation and loneliness. This suggests that as individuals’ age, their sense of identity and feelings of loneliness may change. Therapists should work with students to help them understand that as they grow older, there are specific tasks and responsibilities they need to address.