The relationship between personality traits and social media use of college students in a private higher education institution

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the correlational relationship between personality traits and social media use, utilizing a sample population of 231 college students across all years studying in a private higher education institution. The study uses the “Big Five” or “Five-Factor Theory” as a theoretical basis. The respondents were chosen through stratified random sampling and the data gathered included the respondents’ prevalent trait according to the Big Five Personality Traits, their social networking site most used, and their average daily time spent on social media. The researchers hypothesized no significant relationship between personality traits and social media use. Analyzing the relationship between respondents’ Personality Traits and Average Daily Time Spent on Social Media using the Chi-square Likelihood Ratio yielded p=0.052, thus rejecting the null hypothesis and indicating a significant relationship between the two variables, opposing the original hypothesis. Similarly, association of the Respondents' Personality Traits and Social Networking Site Used resulted in a value of 0.039, likewise suggesting a significant relationship between the two variables and contradicting the previous hypothesis. Ultimately, the researchers found that there is a positive correlation between the Big Five Personality Traits and the Average Daily Time Spent on Social Media, as well as Personality Traits and Social Networking Site Used.