Sensation Seeking and Internet Addiction Among College Students- Users and Non-Users of Dating Applications/Sites

Abstract

Internet facilitates mass and personal communication, and has enhanced global competitiveness, however its excessive, uncontrolled, and problematic use can result in a condition called Internet Addiction, one personality trait consistently found to determine internet addiction is sensation seeking which is also found to be associated with the practices of online dating. Not many researches in the Indian context have explored the relationship between these three variables. Within this backdrop, this study aims to examine the influence of levels of sensation seeking on internet addiction among college students-users and non-users of online dating apps. Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V) and Internet addiction test was administered on 400 (200 male and 200 female) college students. The results revealed that levels of sensation seeking has a significant influence on internet addiction and there is a significant interaction effect between levels of sensation seeking and online dating on internet addiction, however no significant influence of online dating was found on internet addiction among males and females.