Personality Traits, Narcissism and TikTok Addiction: A Parallel Mediation Approach

Abstract

Short-form video apps have gained huge success and popularity in recent years. The addictive behavior towards these short-form video apps has not been fully explored yet. This study focused on the personality traits and narcissistic behavior of university students about whether they use TikTok or make a short-form video for getting attention to have self-esteem, need to belong, or need for admiration and how much time they spent on these social sites. The study focused to examine TikTok addiction by surveying 350 university students through a purposive sampling technique. The study found that a positive correlation exists between independent, dependent, and mediating variables. In addition to this, the results showed that only grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism have a direct effect on the TikTok addiction. On the other hand, the need for admiration has also a direct effect on TikTok addiction. For the specific indirect effect, neuroticism, which is a personality trait, has no indirect effect on the addition of TikTok through the mediators like need to belong, need for admiration, and self-esteem. This study highlights the contribution towards the media-related research that can be identified by the general public. Hence policymakers can make strategies for social media users to overcome addictive tendencies.