Student’s social networks profiles: Psychological needs, self-concept, and intention to be physically active

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify social networks addiction profiles and whether there is a relationship with basic psychological needs, self-concept and intention to be physically active. The participants were 276 Spanish University Students (115 men and 161 women, Mage= 28.47; SD= 8.65) from 10 different universities through incidental sampling. Two profiles were found: a profile characterized by high scores in addiction symptoms, social usage, geek treats and nomophobia; a profile characterized by extremely-high scores in addiction symptoms, social usage, geek treats and nomophobia. Results revealed significant differences between the profiles in autonomy, competence and emotional self-concept. The second profile revealed higher scores in the aforementioned variables and showed lower age in their participants (M= 25.69; SD= 6.93) in comparison with the high social network profile (M= 30.10; SD= 9.15). The presence of important levels of addiction symptoms in both profiles of the sample suggests that interventions should be conducted to prevent the maladaptive outcomes of addictions in social media.