The Relations of Conscientiousness, Risk Avoidance, and Growth Motivation with Facebook Usage and Regret

Date of Award

2018

Degree Name

M.A. in Psychology

Department

Department of Psychology

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Jack J. Bauer

Abstract

Facebook has become one of the most prolific social network sites available online which has led to a variety of research on who uses Facebook, what they use it for, and how people's personality can affect their usage and feelings towards their use. The purpose of this study was to examine how the personality traits of conscientiousness, risk avoidance, and growth motivation relate to Facebook usage and regret. Utilizing personality surveys, self-reported Facebook usage, and actual Facebook data collected from volunteer participants, this study was able to assess how these traits interact with using Facebook and the potential regret users have. I found that individuals who scored high in conscientiousness reported feeling low levels of regret over time spent on Facebook and their overall usage, whereas risk avoidance and growth motivation did not play significant roles in predicting Facebook usage and regret. Interestingly, older participants were found to regret their Facebook usage more than the younger participants.

Keywords

Psychology, Facebook, regret, conscientiousness, growth motivation, risk avoidance

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2018, author

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