Relationship between personality and social networking behaviors in undergraduates / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the relationship between social network behaviors and personality.Methods Both questionnaires including self-reported Renren questionnaire and the simplified Chinese version of NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) were completed in university students (n =509).Results (1) Individuals with higher score of Extraversion used Renren applications more frequently,such as using Wall (2.26 ± 0.51,2.10±0.40,t=3.163,P=0.002),Status Update (2.58 ±0.71,2.33 ±0.62,t =3.268,P=0.001),Image (2.05±0.88,1.81 ±0.72,t=2.628,P=0.009),and Photo (2.17 ±0.49,1.96 ±0.33,t=4.409,P＜0.01).(2)Individuals with higher score of Openness of Experience were more likely to use Gift (2.01 ± 0.49,1.83 ± 0.59,t =2.870,P =0.005).(3) Individuals who were willing to use Blacklist (41.93 ± 4.41,43.07 ± 4.72,t =2.207,P =0.028) and who were willing to send private messages (42.23 ± 4.79,43.27 ± 4.55,t =2.476,P =0.014) have higher score of Agreeableness.(4) Individuals who checked messages more often had higher score of Conscientiousness (41.59 ± 6.33,40.72 ± 5.67,37.56 ± 8.33,F =7.170,P =0.001).(5) Individuals with higher score of Neuroticism were more likely to be dependent to Renren (2.91 ± 1.01,2.48 ± 1.02,t =3.815,P ＜0.01).Individuals who were more likely to express their emotions on SNS had higher score of Neuroticism (33.10 ± 6.78,32.19 ± 6.16,31.36 ± 5.77,F=3.594,P =0.010).Conclusion The data suggest that the usage of social networking sites are related to personality factors.Personality can be used to predict university students' social networking behaviors.