Distinctive personality traits of present-day adolescents –active users of social media

Abstract

Purpose of the study: To Reveal and describe the distinctive personality traits of today’s adolescents who are active users of social media. Methodology: The major methods employed to explore the researched problem were the interview and testing which allowed revealing and scrutinizing the explored psychological and pedagogical phenomena. Main Findings: It was revealed that today’s adolescents who actively use social media have the proclivity for submission, rejection of responsibility and leadership, describe themselves as being selfish, self-centered, having an inclination towards rivalry and dominance, while their agemates perceive themselves as being friendlier and less inclined to dominance. This paper explains that the active use of social media by the adolescents today is driven by their need for communication, high levels of anxiety and determination to preserve their individuality. Teenagers who actively use social media are sensitive, impulsive, and expressive, have low self-control, maybe confrontational, tend to be selfindulgent and seek benefits in different life situations. The active use of social media is related to a strongly expressed keenness of the teenagers to communicate, while at the same time they have low motivation for spiritual self-fulfilment in the area of public activity. Applications of this study: The applications are that the obtained results may be used in the psychological and pedagogical practice of work with adolescents, their parents, and teachers, as well as for professional training and qualification upgrade of teachers and psychologists. Novelty/Originality of this study: The novelty of this study is that it allows for a deep psychological analysis of determinants and predictors of problems and difficulties faced by today’s teenagers.