The 25-item Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory along with the 60-item NEO FFI Personality Inventory measured participants’ level of agreement and assessed participants’ evaluative attitudes toward themselves. The information they found amongst the 200 university student participants (146 females, 54 males) resulted in “evidence for high levels of communication technology use and indications of some addictive tendencies.” Their three indicators of addiction included withdrawal, loss of control, and salience. These indicators gauged the response to not engaging in technological contact, to engaging more than necessary, and to discover the activity behind the behavior. Through the exploration of areas of academic, social, family, and personal experience, the article also explained the research they found based off the participants personality types. When it came to disagreeable individuals, they reportedly spent increased time on phone calls. Those with lower self-esteem were reported to spend increased time using instant messaging (IM). Extraverted and neurotic individuals reported to having spent increased time text messaging. Other personal traits used to predict mobile phone behavior included extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and individual difference variable of self-esteem.
I would agree with the article’s study that states how certain personalities are more prone to different mobile phone behaviors. From personal experiences I know which of my friends are more likely to call me, or text me, or IM me if they would like to get in contact with me. For them personally, I believe it is more of a convenience form of communication and less of being part of their addictive personality.
As for the “results found evidence for high levels of communication technology use and indications of some addictive tendencies,” I have to respond by saying; well naturally people have become addicted. This class alone has me checking my e-mail, elms, blogs, and twitter account twenty six times a day. When other classes are factored in an addictive nature is what becomes natural. We have to keep up with our classes and also our family and friends. We need constant social interaction as well as interaction with our teachers and classmates to keep up with assignments.
Whether or not there is “a reliance on technology to validate social connection,” which “may have psychological implications, including developing technological addictions withdrawal,” there is also a need to constantly be communicating through technology.
For a large majority I do agree with the articles claims to certain personalities being addicted. I also cannot deny checking my phone for texts or missed calls in the morning.
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Interesting thoughts and response to the research. I really wonder if "loss of control " or "withdrawl" are the most accurate terms to describe one's feeling of "missing something." What do you think? I mention this because I often think I'm probably addicted to technology. However, it's most often because I don't want to miss something (emails, text, news). Is that "withdrawl?" I don't think so. If anything, it's closer to loss of control but I don't experience that feeling either. In fact, when I abandon the technology, I feel MORE in control of my life because I'm no longer a slave to digital technology!
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see classes to go what you say "hybrid". The journalism class that we are currently taking is definitely the class with the most use of technology that I have ever had. I definitely do like the combination of actually going to class twice a week and being taught but at the same time have an even amount of the use of the computer as well. I think with our generation and with the great importance of technology, using the computer as we do is so important. But, at the same time there are professor's who definitely do not feel connected with our generation and its use of technology. They simply lecture and then rarely post the homework or announcements on elms which definitely means that it is not a technology friendly class. On the other hand, classes that simply are just on the computer could be too much of an extreme. Several Universities have the option of either attending a class or signing up for a class and just taking it online. I have a lot of friends who attend the University of Florida and only go on campus about once a week. The rest of the days they are in their rooms on the computer watching the lecture over a computer. I was wondering if this could be too much of an extreme and indeed a negative affect on students. If we all took computer classes then there would be no physical interaction with others. The use of computers could lead to one locking themselves in a room all day and solely be connected with technology not people. This article I found shares the positive affects of students who are taking online classes rather then those who are physically attending class (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_1_41/ai_n27182054/pg_3/)
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