Effects of Attachment Styles, Dark Triad, Rejection Sensitivity, and Relationship Satisfaction on Social Media Addiction: a Mediated Model

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate the mediating effects of attachment styles, rejection sensitivity and the Dark Triad personality traits on the links between relationship satisfaction and social media addiction. It is proposed that insecure attachment styles (i.e., preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful attachment styles), rejection sensitivity, and the Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) are negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, which, in turn, is negatively related to social media addiction. The data were collected from 229 university students from 14 different universities in four different cities of Turkey. The results of the structural equation modeling analyses revealed that relationship (dis) satisfaction was a significant predictor of social media addiction; and also, it partially mediated the link of fearful attachment with social media addiction. Furthermore, the direct positive paths from fearful attachment, rejection sensitivity and psychopathy to social media addiction were significant. The findings were discussed regarding the theoretical and practical implications along with suggestions for future research.