Abstract:

The aim of this study is to model the happiness classification of university students – grouped as addicted, addiction risk, threshold and non-addicted to internet usage -- with compatibility analysis on a map as happiness, average and unhappiness. The participants in this study were 400 university students from Turkey. According to the results of two-step cluster analysis, it was found that 21.10% of participants are in the ‘addiction group’, 26.60% participants are in the ‘addiction risk group’, 26.60% participants are in the ‘threshold group’ which is between the ‘risk’ and ‘non-addicted’ groups, and 25.80% participants are in the ‘non-addicted group’. Additionally, two-step cluster analysis for happiness research showed that 15.90% of participants are in the ‘happiness group’, 43.20% belong to the ‘average group’ and 40.90% fall into the ‘unhappiness group’. Correspondence analysis between internet addiction groups and happiness status suggested a significant and justifiable relationship between the two variables. Consequently, taking the findings of this study and of the limited research addressing different concepts of positive psychology such as internet addiction and happiness (e.g., satisfaction of needs, psychological strength etc.) together, these research findings are thought to contribute to the literature.

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