Abstract:

This research aims to examine whether the social media addiction levels of university students differ according to gender, parental education level, daily social media usage time, and whether basic psychological need satisfaction and shyness predict social media addiction levels. The study has been realized through the use of the Demographic Information Form, Social Media Addiction Scale- Adult Form, Need Satisfaction Scale, and Shyness Scale. The data has been collected from 532 students in Universities at Ankara and İzmir in the 2020-2021 Education year by using the convenient sampling method. According to the average scores drawn from Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form it was determined that there was not a meaningful difference regarding gender and parental education level but there was a meaningful difference by the means of daily social media usage time. The students who have more daily social media usage time also have higher social media addiction scores. It was observed that students’ Need Satisfaction Scale Autonomy Factor positively predicts the average scores taken from Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form. It was also found that the average scores taken from Shyness Scale negatively predict the scores taken from Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form.

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