The Relationship between Attachment Styles, Fear of Negative Evaluation and Internet Addiction in College Students

Subject Areas : Infomartion Technology

Nazli Tavakoli ¹ , Farhad Jamhari ² , Noor Ali Farrokhi ³

1 - M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Assessment and Measurement, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2014-05-23 Accepted : 2014-11-14 Published : 2015-02-01

Keywords: students, Internet addiction, Attachment Styles, fear of negative evaluation,

Abstract :

Addiction to internet as one of the phenomena of the modern era includes cognitive, excitatory and behavioral aspects. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the attachment styles, fear of negative evaluation and internet addiction in college students. The method of the study was correlational. The population included all the M.A. and Ph.D. students studying at the faculty of human and social sciences, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran in 2013. 161 students were selected as the final sample, who filled the Internet Addiction questionnaire, the Adult Attachment Inventory and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis tests. The findings indicated that avoidant insecure attachment styles (r=0.264), anxiety insecure (r=0.300) and fear of negative evaluation (r=0.174) were significantly correlated with internet addiction, whereas the secure attachment style was not significantly correlated with internet addiction. In addition, regression analysis results revealed that avoidant insecure attachment styles and anxiety insecure (R2=0.130) and fear of negative evaluation (R2=0.030) had significant contribution in predicting the students' addiction to internet. Therefore, to prevent internet addiction, it is necessary to consider the role of psychological factors such as insecure attachment styles and fear of negative evaluation.

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