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Shyness, self-esteem, and loneliness as causes of FA: The Shyness, self-esteem, and loneliness as causes of FA: The
moderating effect of low self-control moderating effect of low self-control
Mohammad Iranmanesh
Edith Cowan University
Behzad Foroughi
Davoud Nikbin
Sunghyup Sean Hyun
Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013
Part of the Psychology Commons, and the Science and Technology Studies Commons
10.1007/s12144-019-00465-w
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Current Psychology. The =nal
authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00465-w
Iranmanesh, M., Foroughi, B., Nikbin, D., & Hyun, S. S. (2021). Shyness, self-esteem, and loneliness as causes of FA:
The moderating effect of low self-control.
Current Psychology, 40
(11), 5358-5369. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s12144-019-00465-w
This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.
https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/9811
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Shyness, Self-Esteem, and Loneliness as Causes of FA: The Moderating Effect of Low
Self-Control
Mohammad Iranmanesh
a
, Behzad Foroughi
b
, Davoud Nikbin
c
, Sunghyup Sean Hyun
d
a
School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA 6027, Australia
b
Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
c
Faculty of Business, Sohar University, 311 Sohar, Oman 4 School of Tourism
d
Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdonggu Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea
Abstract
This study examined the impacts of shyness, self-esteem and loneliness on Facebook
addiction by considering their inter-relations. Furthermore, the moderating effect of low self-
control on the relationship between Facebook addiction and individuals’ performance was
also examined. Data were collected via an online survey from 348 Malaysians and were
analysed using the partial least squares technique. The results showed that shyness has both a
direct effect and an indirect effect through loneliness on Facebook addiction. Although self-
esteem has no direct effect on Facebook addiction, it has an indirect effect through loneliness.
The results also confirmed that low self-control negatively moderates the relationship
between Facebook addiction and individuals’ performance. The findings of the study
contribute to knowledge on the impacts of social and psychological problem, including
shyness, self-esteem and loneliness, on Facebook addiction. In addition, this study is the first
attempt to investigate the moderating effect of personal characteristics, including low self-
control, on the relationship between Facebook addiction and performance. The results could
benefit psychologists, managers, and school counsellors in helping to prevent Facebook
addiction and control its effect on individuals’ performance by developing prevention and
intervention programs.
Keywords: Facebook Addiction; Shyness; Self-Esteem; Loneliness; Low Self-Control
1. Introduction
Using social network sites (SNSs) is considered as a core component of the daily tasks
for many users worldwide (Foroughi et al., 2019a). Recently, Facebook has emerged as the
most popular SNS, with 2.2 billion monthly active users (Statista, 2018). Meanwhile, some
studies have highlighted the negative consequence of using Facebook, especially in terms of
privacy (Pemoek et al., 2009; Special & Li-Barber, 2012), and most recently addiction
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(Blachino & Przepiorka, 2018; Foroughi et al., 2019a; Masur et al., 2014). As such, Facebook
addiction (FA) has received considerable attention among researchers. Previous studies have
shown that FA has a harmful effect on students’ and employees’ performance (Moqbel &
Kock, 2018), subjective happiness (Satici & Uysal, 2015; Uysal et al., 2013), subjective
vitality (Satici & Uysal, 2015), health (Moqbel & Kock, 2018), and life satisfaction (Błachnio
et al., 2016a; Foroughi et al., 2019a; Satici & Uysal, 2015). Among these harmful outcomes,
the negative effect of FA on performance has been strongly evidenced in the literature. If we
accept it as a fact that FA has a negative effect on performance, the next question arises: How
can we minimize the negative effect of FA on individuals’ performance? According to the
literature, individuals with high self-control have the ability to concentrate on their tasks and
are less affected by job distractors such as Facebook (Liu et al., 2017; Eisenberg et al., 2004).
Furthermore, psychological studies of performance have consistently reported a negative
relationship between low self-control and performance (Martinez-Pons & Shaham, 1995;
Tangey et al., 2018). As such, in this study, high self-control was proposed as a potential
personality characteristic that may offset the impact of FA on individuals’ performance. This
study contributes to the emerging body of knowledge about outcomes of FA by testing the
moderating effect of self-control and proposing it as a personality characteristic that may
diminish the negative effect of FA on individuals’ performance.
Identifying the drivers of FA has been one key area of investigation. The first group of
studies pertains to the relationships between social and psychological needs and FA. For
instance, Foroughi et al. (2019a) found that using Facebook to gratify recognition and
entertainment needs will lead to FA. According to Masur et al. (2014), gaining competence
(the ability to work efficiently and the desire to achieve something meaningful), satisfying
the desire for autonomy (no external pressures and having volition), and satisfying the need
for relatedness (feelings of closeness and being connected to others) contribute to FA. This
group of researchers believe that due to Facebook’s interactive dynamics and the
corresponding possibilities to satisfy social and psychological needs, Facebook users might
be particularly at risk of becoming addicted. The second group of studies introduces users’
personality and psychological problems as drivers of FA. The ‘Big Five’ model consists of
personality factors with a high level of predictability; however, previous studies reveal that
only a very small amount of the variance in FA could be predicted through these factors
(Błachnio et al., 2016a, 2017; Hong et al., 2014). This can probably be explained by the fact
that the Big Five factors are too general to accurately predict a particular behaviour.
Therefore, it would be better to use narrower and more precise personality traits such as
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shyness, self-esteem, and loneliness in order to examine FA. Much of the previous research
on the importance of these personality traits has investigated their impacts without
considering the inter-relations of these traits. For example, Błachnio and Przepiorka (2019)
tested the direct effects of self-esteem and loneliness on FA without testing the indirect effect
of self-esteem on FA through loneliness. Zhao et al. (2012) showed that these three variables
are inter-related. Disregarding the inter-relation of loneliness, self-esteem, and shyness will
create bias in the findings. To overcome the limitations of previous studies, the present
research tests the joint impact of loneliness, self-esteem, and shyness on FA by considering
their inter-relations. The findings extend the literature by illustrating a more accurate picture
of their impacts on FA.
2. Literature review and conceptual development
2.1. Facebook Addiction
Behavioural addiction could be considered as a disorder in the form of (1) behaviour that
intends to create pleasure and to alleviate stress and pain, and (2) failure to regulate
behaviour in spite of significant pernicious outcomes (Shaffer, 1996). In behavioural
addictions, the reward is usually the behaviour itself in gambling or using SNSs. FA is the
most recent type of behavioural addiction. Its symptoms are similar to the symptoms of
addiction to other types of behaviours or substances (Echeburua & de Corral, 2010). To be
more specific, FA symptoms include salience, modifying mood, withdrawal, tolerance,
relapse, and conflicts (Griffiths, 2005). Salience refers to the importance of a particular
activity in one’s life and the extent to which an activity dominates behaviours and thinking
(e.g., paying full attention to Facebook use in daily conduct, emotion, and cognition). Mood
modification is the extent to which an activity leads to a favourable change in emotional
states and improves mood (e.g., using Facebook brings numerous beneficial changes in the
state emotion). Tolerance and withdrawal are, respectively, the extent to which increasing
amounts of an activity are required to remain satisfied (e.g., increasing Facebook usage over
time) and the unpleasant feelings that occur when the activity is discontinued (e.g., showing
unpleasant emotional and physical symptoms if Facebook usage is restricted or blocked).
Conflict refers to the extent to which an activity causes conflict in relationships, in
work/education and in other activities (e.g., using Facebook negatively affects job or family
relations). Relapse is a tendency to quickly revert to earlier patterns of activity after a period
of abstinence (e.g., a quick return to excessive use of Facebook after being away from it for a
long time) (Andreassen et al., 2012; Griffiths et al., 2014; Douglas et al., 2008).
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Previous studies on FA have highlighted a number of important topics such as
measurement of FA (Andreassen et al., 2012), the link between Facebook use and FA (Hong
et al., 2014; Serenko & Turel, 2015), outcomes of FA (Satici & Uysal, 2015; Błachnio et al.,
2016a, Foroughi et al., 2019a), psychological reasons for negative outcomes of FA (Moqbel
& Kock, 2018; Satici, 2018), the potential causes of FA, including social and psychological
needs (Balakrishnan & Shamim, 2013; Foroughi et al., 2019a; Masur et al., 2014), and
personality and psychological problems (Tang et al., 2016; Błachnio et al., 2017; Błachnio &
Przepiorka, 2018). Although these efforts have expanded our understanding of FA from
various angles, research on the interactive effect of personal characteristics and FA on
individuals’ performance is relatively underdeveloped. Therefore, testing the moderating
effect of low self-control is an attempt to fill this gap in the literature (Figure 1).
Previous studies on behavioural addiction considered low self-control as a mediator to
explain the relationship between psychological problems (i.e., shyness, loneliness, and self-
esteem) and behavioural addiction (i.e., smartphone addiction and Internet addiction). For
instance, Mei et al. (2015) found that both self-esteem and well-being were associated with
Internet addiction via the mediating effect of low self-control. In another study, Özdemir et
al. (2014) showed that depression and loneliness have indirect effects on Internet addiction
through low self-control. Han et al. (2017) also found that low self-control mediates the
impacts of shyness and anxiety on smartphone addiction. According to these studies, low
self-control is one of the causes of addictive behaviours. However, the findings of these
studies demonstrate that although psychological problems have indirect effects on addictive
behaviours through low-self-control, self-control is not able to fully explain these
relationships. For example, according to the findings of Ozdemir et al. (2014), loneliness has
both a direct effect and an indirect effect through self-control on Internet addiction.
Furthermore, Chan et al. (2012), drawing on Uses and Gratifications theory (U&G), proposed
recognition needs, information needs, social needs, and entertainment needs as drivers of FA.
As such, as psychological problems are not the only drivers of FA and low self-control
cannot fully explain the impacts of psychological problems on FA, there is no guarantee that
individuals with high self-control will not become addicted to Facebook. Self-control is
defined as “the ability to interrupt undesired behavioural tendencies” (Tangney et al., 2004;
p. 275). Individuals with high self-control have also shown better performance in comparison
to those with low self-control (Shoda et al., 1990). Accordingly, this study proposed self-
control as an ability that enables addicted Facebook users to interrupt their undesired
