Loneliness and Internet Addiction Among University Students : The Moderating Role of Defense Mechanisms
Subject Areas : social psychology
Fatemeh Alidoost
1
,
hosein eskandari
2
1 - Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran.
2 - M.A. in General Psychology, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran
Keywords: Internet addiction, loneliness, defense mechanisms, university students.,
Abstract :
This study aimed to determine the moderating role of defense mechanisms in the relationship between loneliness and internet addiction among university students. The study method was correlation and the statistical population included all students studying at Khayyam University (approximately 7000 people). A number of 200 students were selected by convenience sampling method and completed the Internet Addiction Questionnaire, Loneliness, and Defense Style Questionnaire. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient show a positive and significant relationship between loneliness and internet addiction, a negative and significant relationship between mature defense style and internet addiction and there is a positive and significant relationship between immature defense style and internet addiction. Also, a positive and significant relationship exists between immature defense style and loneliness. Finally, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis of the proposed model show that defense mechanisms significantly moderate the relationship between loneliness and internet addiction. This research shows that the relationship between loneliness and internet addiction is not linear and simple, and other variables such as defense mechanisms play a role in this relationship.
Keywords: Internet addiction, loneliness, defense mechanisms, university students.
