Do social motivations predict addiction to social media in young people? The role of flow and algorithm awareness

• Wang, Xin ^[2] ; Guo, Yin ^[1]
  1. [1] North China Institute of Science and Technology

     North China Institute of Science and Technology

     China

     
  2. [2] North China Institute of Science and Tecnology
• Localización: Anales de psicología, ISSN-e 1695-2294, ISSN 0212-9728, Vol. 41, Nº. 1, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: January - April), págs. 76-84
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.6018/analesps.610811
• Títulos paralelos:
  • ¿Las motivaciones sociales predicen la adicción a las redes sociales en los jóvenes? El papel del flujo y la conciencia algorítmica
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen
  • español

    El uso adictivo de las redes sociales se ha convertido en un fenómeno cada vez más relevante entre los jóvenes, afectando tanto a su bienestar psicológico como a su comportamiento online. El objetivo principal de este estudio es investigar las asociaciones entre el uso adictivo de las redes sociales, las motivaciones de uso, el flujo y el conocimiento de los algoritmos. Nuestra hipótesis es que la experiencia de flujo y la conciencia del algoritmo son dos mediadores a través de los cuales motivaciones sociales relevantes influyen en el desarrollo de una adicción a las redes sociales. Se utilizan cuestionarios validados para medir las variables del estudio, incluido el BSMAS para evaluar la adicción a las redes sociales. El modelado de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) con pruebas Bootstrap se utiliza para analizar los datos recopilados de una muestra de 580 usuarios más jóvenes de entre 18 y 22 años en China (M = 20.61, SD = 1.32), con un 47.7% de mujeres y un 52.2% de hombres, todos estudiantes de pregrado, con el fin de probar las hipótesis de investigación. Los resultados revelan que diferentes mecanismos de adicción implican diferentes asociaciones con motivaciones socialmente relevantes. Avanza en el campo de la adicción a las redes sociales al mostrar que la adicción también está relacionada con la conciencia de algoritmos, a través del cual se identifica un nuevo mecanismo alternativo de adicción.

  • English

    Addictive use of social media has become an increasingly relevant phenomenon among young people, affecting both their psychological well-being and their online behavior. The principal objective of this study is to investigate the associations between addictive use of social media, usage motivations, flow, and algorithm awareness. Our hypothesis is that the flow experience and the algorithm awareness are two mediators through which relevant social motivations influence the development of an addiction to social media. Validated questionnaires are used to measure the study variables, including the BSMAS to assess social media addiction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with Bootstrap tests is used for analyzing data that is collected from a sample of 580 younger users aged 18 to 22 in China (M = 20.61, SD = 1.32), with 47.7% women and 52.2% men, all undergraduate students, in order to test the research hypotheses. The results reveal that different addiction mechanisms implicate different associations with socially relevant motivations. It advances the field of addiction to social media by showing that addiction is also related to algorithm awareness, through which a new alternative mechanism of addiction is identified.

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