Online Shopping Addiction, Big-Five Personality Types, and Social Media Addiction in College Students: A Correlational Study

Abstract

This study aimed at understanding the correlational relationships between online shopping

addiction, the big-five personality types, and social media addiction in college students. A

sample of 130 students, aged between 18 to 25, was collected using convenience and snowball

sampling methods. A Google form comprising standardized measures, the Online Shopping

Addiction Scale, the Big-Five Inventory-2-Small form, and Bergen’s Social Media Addiction

Scale was circulated. The statistical analysis including, the descriptive analysis and Pearson’s

Correlation to examine the relationships was carried out. The investigation revealed a significant

positive correlation between online shopping addiction and social media addiction, suggesting

that excessive use of social media is likely to influence online shopping behaviour. A significant

positive relationship between social media addiction and neuroticism was also reported, which

indicates that an individual who is neurotic is more susceptible to problematic use of social

media platforms. Lastly, a significant negative correlation was observed between social media

addiction and conscientiousness, suggesting that conscientiousness may be a protective factor

against social media addiction, as people high on this trait are less likely to engage in excessive

use of social media. No significant correlations were detected between online shopping addiction

and all the big-five personality traits, and between social media addiction and extraversion,

agreeableness, and openness to experience. These results highlight how two pathological

behaviours are associated and may be influencing each other. It also highlights how the big-five

personality types are related to online shopping addiction and social media addiction, as some

influence them, while others do not.