Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Spring 2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Department
Department of Health Sciences
Advisor(s)
Stephanie Baller
Katherine Ott-Walter
Kristi Lewis
Abstract
This study sought to determine if certain personality traits are correlates of mobile phone dependency, motivations for purchasing a mobile phone, and reasons for commonly using a cell phone. The impact of mobile phones on human day-to-day living and the interplay between cellular devices and human behavior have been topics of ongoing research. Through these investigatory efforts, numerous potential harms of mobile phone overuse and abuse have recently become increasingly apparent, but very little research has generated conclusive results about the interaction between human persona and mobile dependency. This was a cross-sectional study of a quasi-randomized sample of undergraduate students at James Madison University. Participants completed questionnaires to measure personality and level of addiction and inform the researcher of primary reasons for buying and using the devices. The majority of personality traits tested were shown to significantly predict mobile phone addiction. In addition, all traits significantly predicted a mix of reasons for purchasing and operating the phones. The study indicates how different personality traits can predispose an individual to addictive mobile behaviors, and how differently those behaviors can be manifested in the person’s immediate environment, depending on his or her personality. The conclusions of this study intend to inform clinicians, counselors, and policy-makers of intangible human characteristics that may be important to consider when dealing with cell phone abuse and habits of obsessive use.
Recommended Citation
Phillips, Elijah, "An investigation of personality traits as predictors for mobile phone dependency" (2018). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 590.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/590
