The Relationship between Loneliness and Problematic Internet Usage - Research Paper Example

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LONELINESS AND PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USAGE Abstract This study aims to establish the relationship between loneliness and problematic Internet usage in a community sample of adults. It includes 249 participants with 124 males and 125 females aged 18-68 years, known by this student as either a friend or family member. This paper revealed that the more problematic a person’s internet usage, the more likely that he or she experienced loneliness in the social, family, and romantic domains. These results imply that by reducing a person’s internet usage, it may be possible for a person to improve his relationship with family and friends, and consequently diminish his or her loneliness. The Relationship between Loneliness and Problematic Internet Usage in a Community Sample of Adults Loneliness is a state of mind when an individual experiences undesirable psychological phenomena such as emptiness, boredom and depression associated to lack of interpersonal relationship (Morahan-Martin, 1999). It is a very subjective condition and variations are high between individuals. However, loneliness is triggered when an individual does not have a person with whom he desires to communicate (Morahan-Martin, 1999). The dilemma of Internet usage and loneliness has emerged with the rapid increase of Internet users via social networks. At present, whether or not the lonely are drawn to the Internet or the Internet creates the loneliness remains a controversial issue (Morahan-Martin, 1999) Today, the Internet provides a huge opportunity for users to interact with society members via social networks. Further, it provides a chance for people to freely express their thoughts and feelings to other people. Although there is no assurance for quality, a person can build up interpersonal relationships more easily via the Internet as compared to real life. Researches on chronic loneliness have revealed that some lonely individuals are lacking social skills required to create and maintain interpersonal relationships (Morahan-Martin, 1999). This raises the idea that lonely people are more likely to use the Internet because it facilitates social interactions and does not require advanced social skills. With the rapid expansion of Internet social networking sites and easy low cost accessibility, a considerable number of users are more interested in creating interpersonal relationships via the Internet as compared to personal interactions. Internet relationships are highly flexible, users can select the person they want to go out with and then create or end the relationship without much problems. This is a safe way of carrying out a relationship, and users can hide their real identity or even create a false identity to gain prestige. And such situations, draws in and attracts many lonely people (Morahan-Martin, 1999). Thereby literally, lonely are drawn to internet. The argument against the use of the internet and social networking is that the Internet addiction also creates loneliness. This is supported by the idea that internet addicted individuals are creating more unrealistic and weaker interpersonal relationships with the people that they do not know personally (Morahan-Martin, 1999). This leads to a detachment from the physically known society including their family and neighbors. With time they become more and more isolated. When they face a real world circumstance, there is a limited chance for them to get help from the internet society. Also, some of these users are also abused through the Internet (Morahan-Martin, 1999) A study conducted by Ghassemzadeh, Shahraray, and Moradi (2008) assessed the relationship between Internet addiction and loneliness among Iranian high school students aged 14-16 years. They established the presence of a significantly higher number of lonely individuals in the Internet-addicted group of respondents as compared to moderate users and nonusers group of respondents. Also, they found a significant lack of social skills in Internet addicts as compared to non-addicts, further confirming results found in previous studies. Another study by Kraut, et al. (1998) using 256 individuals from 93 families found a significant inverse association between usage of Internet and social involvement. The respondents included in this paper were 93 families from 8 diverse areas in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These respondents were chosen as they started using computers and the Internet in their homes either in March 1995 or March 1996 (Kraut, et.al., 1998). The study revealed that the higher the use of Internet, the lower the respondents’ meaningful social involvement. Today the Internet is an essential route of communication and is incomparable due to its unique characteristics. Since some of the early studies were random and widely different in methods, participants, age, race etc., neither hypotheses can be supported with adequate evidence. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between loneliness and problematic Internet usage in a community sample of adults. It was hypothesized that those whose Internet usage is more problematic will experience more social, family, and romantic loneliness than those whose Internet usage is less problematic. Method Participants There were 249 participants all in all, with 124 males and 125 females, and with ages ranging from 18 to 68 years. All participants were known by this student who is enrolled in PSY2010, and none of whom were enrolled in the subject themselves. These participants had the following relationship with this student: 51.8% were friends, acquaintances, or work colleagues; 22.1% were either a spouse or romantic partner of this student; 24.9% were another family member of this student; and 24.9%, indicating other relationships with this student. All respondents had internet access in their homes and used the Internet from time to time for personal, professional, or school-related reasons. About 42.3% of the respondents accessed the Internet several times a day; 30.1%, once daily; 4.0%, once every week; and 2.8% once or twice a month. As to marital status, 34.9% of the participants were single and never been married; 37.8% were married; 16.5% were cohabiting; 0.4% were widowed; 2.8% were separated; 4.4% were divorced; 0.8% were in same-sex relationships; and 2.4% were divorced and were now cohabiting. Materials The Internet Use Survey was used in order to measure internet usage. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items which assessed internet usage, including overall amount of time spent in the Internet per week; time spent on individual services where participants usually connected to the Internet; personal and voluntary uses of the internet, minus business uses (Armstrong, Phillips, & Saling, 2000). The questionnaire measured the responses based on a 10-point scale, ranging from 0-not true at all to 10-extremely true. In order to measure loneliness, the Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA) was used. It is a 15-item questionnaire which measured differentiates between two aspects of emotional loneliness: family emotional loneliness and romantic emotional loneliness (DiTomasso, Brannen, & Best, 2004). It measured the participants’ responses on a 7- point scale – from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Procedure The participants were asked to answer the Internet Usage Survey and the Loneliness Scale for Adults Survey. These respondents were – a.) friends, family members, or acquaintances of this student; b.) who had internet access and who used the internet every now and then for their work, their classes, and their personal activities; c.) not enrolled in the PSY2010 class; d.) and aged 18 to 68 years. The respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire and when they were finished answering, to submit the questionnaire to this student in a sealed envelope. Their informed consent was obtained by giving them the consent form to read. Participants agreeing to the conditions in the consent form were asked to sign their approval in the form. The responses of participants were ensured by asking participants not to sign their names in the questionnaires and by separating their consent sheets from the questionnaires. The respondents can obtain a copy of the results from the students who shall receive such feedback from their professor. Such results will be available in about May of June 2010. Results Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed between Internet usage and each of the three types of loneliness. Results indicated that Internet usage was positively correlated with social, family, and romantic loneliness. All correlations were statistically significant. Thus, the more problematic a person's Internet usage, the more likely that he or she experienced loneliness in the social, family, and romantic domains. Discussion The results support the hypothesis that the more problematic a person’s Internet usage is, the more likely he or she experiences loneliness in the social, family, and romantic domains. These results are similar with the study of Ghassemzadeh, Shahraray, and Moradi (2008) who point out that internet addicts are usually lonelier, have lower self-esteem, and poorer social skills as compared to moderate internet users. These results were also seen in the paper by Kraut, et.al., (1998) which revealed that the participants who used the internet experienced greater decline in their communication with their family and their friends. Such decline also contributed to their depression and loneliness. The results of this study may be explained by the fact that when people spend more time in the Internet, they tend to spend less time with their family and their friends. Their addiction to and their preoccupation with the internet are so consuming that the internet is all they can think about at most times of the day. They see the internet as a duty and an obligation and if they do not use it, they feel bereft, like their day and their routine are not complete. They also feel more at home in relating with other people in the internet because the fact that they do not have to face a person personally gives them a chance to overcome what they view as their shyness or their unsophisticated social skills. The feeling of well-being they get from using the internet induces them to keep on using the internet and to draw further and further away from personal relationships with their families and their friends. Consequently, as these people use the internet more, the more that their addiction is fed, the more that they feel bereft of personal relationships. In the end, as they drive their family and friends away, they end up being alone and lonely. From the results, it is possible to deduce that by eliminating parts of the whole which build up into the internet addiction, it is possible to come up with ways in order to help lonely people overcome their loneliness. The study implies that by decreasing internet usage, it may follow that an improved relationship with family and friends can be formed – a relationship which can then diminish a person’s loneliness. Since, Internet addiction may also take on the form of any other addiction, like smoking, alcoholism, and drugs, gradually taking away the habit may bring about effective results in the individual. This study is limited in the sense that it does not consider age differences of the respondents. Although, the ages of the respondents were included in the demographic, these were not evaluated in terms of how each age group would manifest in terms of internet usage and loneliness. Those who are younger may use the internet more, but may not feel as lonely as their older counterparts, and vice versa. Another limitation is on gender differences, some men may be inclined to use the internet more and be lonelier as compared to the females. Based on limitations, recommendations for future research include a research which would consider age and gender differences in the participants. Also, future research on this topic can also include one which will consider civil status of participants in the assessment of loneliness among internet users. Works Cited Armstrong, L., Phillips, J., & Saling, L. (2000) Potential determinants of heavier internet usage. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 53, 537-550. DiTomasso, E., Brannen, C., & Best, L. (2004) Measurement and Validity Characteristics of the Short Version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64(1), 99-119 Ghassemzadeh, L. Shahraray, M., & Moradi, A. (2008) Rapid Communication Prevalence of Internet Addiction and Comparison of Internet Addicts and Non-Addicts in Iranian High Schools. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 731-733 Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998) Internet Paradox: A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being? American Psychologist Association, 53(9), 1017-1031 Morahan-Martin, J. (1999) The Relationship between loneliness and internet use and abuse. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 2, 431-440 Read More