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Cellphones Communications Social Networks The Internet Science Hardware Technology

The Personality Traits That Put You At Risk For Smartphone Addiction (washingtonpost.com) 73

Zorro shares a report from The Washington Post: When the Trump-affiliated firm Cambridge Analytica obtained data on tens of millions of Facebook users, it used the "Big 5" or "Five Factor Model" personality test to target them with ads designed to influence their votes in the 2016 election. The test scores people on five traits -- openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism -- and was used in the election to predict the way a voter would respond to an advertisement. But the Big 5 can predict a lot more -- including how likely you are to even use Facebook or any other social media (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source).

That's because the way you score on the test can tell you how likely you are to become addicted to your screen. Research shows that people who score high on neuroticism, low on conscientiousness, and low on agreeableness are more likely to become addicted to social media, video games, instant messaging, or other online stimuli. Studies have also found that extraverts are more likely to become addicted to cellphone use than introverts. Some of the correlations make sense. Less agreeable people may be more apt to immerse themselves in technology because it does not require the kind of friendly interactions that real life does. Neurotic people have been shown to spend more time online because it validates their desire to belong or be part of a group. Conscientious people are less impulsive and therefore more able to control and organize their time. But then it gets complicated. Because according to a new study out of the State University of New York at Binghamton, specific combinations of those personality traits can mitigate or exaggerate one's propensity to addiction.

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The Personality Traits That Put You At Risk For Smartphone Addiction

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  • by thinkwaitfast ( 4150389 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2018 @06:33PM (#56420949)
    Maybe why the internet took such a nose dive when smartphones came out
    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2018 @06:37PM (#56420967)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by Anonymous Coward

        It's almost like smartphones were invented for people who were too stupid to use a real computer (kind of like all Apple products).

        You mean all current Apple products. I have fond memories of the original Apple II, which came with a circuit diagram for the motherboard, and with a big stack of manuals that explained how to write programs in BASIC. I assume that all that printed documentation was Woz's idea--it was Jobs who wanted the computer to be a dumbed-down appliance.

        • Jobs was a big fan of the original Macintosh, which couldn't even be opened without special tools that were difficult to obtain.

          I've always replaced that torx screw in the handle with a phillips of the same size any time I've acquired another dinkyscreen Mac. I have four or five of them at present. (of course, retaining the torx screw because it's part of the original equipment.)

      • What's a computer?
  • by Anonymous Coward

    When I look at others, I notice they stare at their phones like 18 hours everyday

    I tried staring at my phone, and I gave up, after 5 minutes or so

    Oh yes, I do have a phone

    I can make calls with it

    I can even send text messages with it

    And that's all

    I dunno why I can't stare at my phone longer

    Probably there is very wrong with me

    Help !!

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Progressive-left media like the Washington Post were foaming at the mouth in their attempts to discredit former Google engineer James Damore's infamous memo that made extensive reference to the Big Five Personality Traits, regarding it as discredited and junk science.

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2018 @07:12PM (#56421119)
    are prone to addiction. Congratulations, you've figured out something psychologists have known for ages.
    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      You should read the summary more carefully. It doesn't mention any assessment of social ties, it just talks about personality traits.

      Sure, there's correlation -- someone who is disagreeable, neurotic, and irresponsible may tend to have weaker social ties. But showing that an easily measurable personality trait has predictive value has significant utility. That's really the whole point of personality psychology, isn't it? To make inferences about future behaviors from readily observable past behaviors.

  • if you pay attention to a lot of media from sports news to youtube personalities like casey neistat to pulp like BGR or Ars Technica, they live on clickbait and making enemies for you or complaints how some product is bad or some coach needs to be fired.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    I run a business. A medium sized business. It's a huge, 24 hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year, no-way-am-I-ever-having-kids kind of thing. I'm a very busy person, most of the time. I *have* to use my phone to deal with a lot of different things via email. And, I have to call people and receive calls, etc. It's 100% business. It's what I do.

    If I wasn't running a business, I'd have a fucking flip phone, if that. I look around to all of these people *buried* in their phones, all the fucking time, walking up
  • I drink 8 or 10 beers after work, then start woofing rubbers full of cocaine and doing Tide pods anally. All that keeps me wired enough to polish off a pint of Wild Turkey. About 4 am when I need to ramp down it's on to meth and wine. Alarm goes off at 6:30 so that I can make it to the studio in time to do my thing ....Broadcasting live from the UN stonghold, Austin Texas, you're listening to the Alex Jones show
  • Prime Traits of those at risk:
    - being a fat lonely awkward average frustrated chump
    - being a beautiful but nevertheless unfathomly insecure inexperienced girl/young lady living off selfies
    - being latently bipolar/adhd
    - being ugly
    - having not discovered the joy of going outside
    - being a nerd / wuss / wannabe
    - not having a regular job or non-computer passion

    Do I get my PhD in Psychology now?

  • In the middle of the article, there's this marvelous link:
    [ Are you in danger of online addiction? Take the Big 5 test ]
    So, in the middle of a story about how a company used quizzes to harvest data, we have a link to the quiz that would most help them. *sigh*

    (I removed the hyperlink itself... you can go read the article if you want to click on it.)
  • At least heroin and addicts of other opiods go somewhere to shoot up. You damn mobile addicts are shooting up ALL THE BLOODY TIME.

    And if you've *ever* texted while driving, or on a date, you're a fucking addict, and need to go cold turkey, and get into rehab.

    (And I have and use my flipphone, so don't think I'm a hypocrite).

  • There's a similar test to see if you use the media platform Slashdot:

    1. Do you masturbate chronically?
    2. Do you play computer games chronically?
    3. Are you over 300 lbs.?

Truly simple systems... require infinite testing. -- Norman Augustine

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