Measuring the Relationship between the Big Five Personality Traits and Time Spent on Social Media

Abstract

This study examined the effects of personality on social media usage. Ninety-seven participants completed a Social Media Survey that asked them to use the iPhone “Screen Time” settings to record the time spent on social media applications in a given week. They then completed the 44-item Big Five Inventory to measure their personality based on openness, contentiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. It was hypothesized that people with higher levels of all big five traits will have higher social media usage. Similarly, it was hypothesized that people who score higher on openness, agreeableness, and extraversion will use Snapchat the most. It was also hypothesized that those who score higher on conscientiousness and neuroticism will use Instagram the most. Finally, it was hypothesized that TikTok will be the most used application overall. There were no significant correlations between social media usage and any of the five personality traits. Also, the only significant finding between any of the social media applications and personality traits was between YikYak and neuroticism. As hypothesized, TikTok was the most used social media application.