Impact of Internet Addiction on Social Skills

Impact of profits dependency on societal SkillsThe adult male continues to progress e rattling last(predicate) the time with the rapid festering of new technologies. Inventions equivalent telephone, television, computers, and profits being one ofthe most recent in a series of technological developments crap proven that populate atomic number 18 nolonger limited by geographical boundaries. Almost everyone go away take that earnings isthe largest and most flexible source of information in the universe today. It is widely implementdby the business world for conducting their daily perish or re attend and by individuals forcommunication, entertainment, learning and relaxing. However, by from theadvant epochs thither argon some disadvantages of the excessive expenditure. lucre has beenresponsible for decreased family time, relationship problems, demoralise productivity inemployment, continuation of false information and the increasing of psychologicalproblems (Beard, 2005). The development of profits is increasing worldwide and theexcessive utilisation leads to meshwork habituation that became a common problem nowadays.The nature of the term addiction is difficult to define. Addiction has been referredas an uncontrollable compulsive behavior that disdain of the negative consequences it is arepeated behavior. This behavior overwhelms victimization more of the magnetic cores than thinkhaving unsuccessful attempts to stop, and experiencing problems in their loving and workenvironment (Kring, Johnson, Davison, Neale, 2010).Internet addiction malady was prime(prenominal) seen in the U.S press in 1995, in an expressionthat was published in New York Times with the title The Lure and Addiction of Life Online. The author of the article, O Neill, verbalise that health professionals related excessiveInternet use to obsessive shopping, exercise, and gambling (Chack Leung, 2004).Goldberg (1996) presented the first translation for Internet addiction, describing it as abehavioral addiction that took the criteria from substance dependence from the DSM-IV.Griffiths (2000) expanded the translation by stating that technological addictions be asubset of behavioral addictions that include six components (salience, moodmodification, tolerance, insularism, conflict and relapse). to a fault Internet addiction mightbe caused by m either aspects of meshwork use like distant communication, the fact that thereis no human hardihood to face contact, and opposite online activities like chat rooms (Griffiths, 2000). Asecond definition that was speaked Problematic Internet Use (PIU) took criteria from DSM-IV and was associated with pathological gambling (Young, 1996). The author stated thatin revision for a person to be addicted he/she has to meet five of the eight criteria. Some ofthese criteria are, obsession with network, environmental problems, withdrawal whenreducing internet etc. Also according to Young, Problematic Int ernet Use could be morerelated to impulse control disorder that substance dependence. The problem that arisesout of these two definitions is that they neither exclude co-morbidity as an importantfactor nor determine whether the time spent on the internet is related to their normal workor to a pathological addiction. some(prenominal) defitions support a pathological etiology that has notheoretical etymon (Hall Parsons, 2001).By extending the definition of Young, Davis (2001) suggests that problematicinternet can be regarded as Specific Pathological Internet Use and GeneralizedPathological Internet Use. The first is using the internet to increase an addiction that hasoccurred before (gambling), musical composition the second is well-nigh the general use of internet(searching, chatting). An other(a) definition that was presented for internet addiction wasnamed Internet Behavior Dependence. This definition suggests that excessive Internet usecan cause problems to cognitive, deportm ental, and emotional functioning in a generallyhealthy person. The dependence that a person has on internet can been seen by thefollowing deficient in satisfaction with all areas in his life, like school, work or home,use of internet with little pleasure, nips worry when not using, failure in controlling theuse careless(predicate) of all the physical, psychological and neighborly problems. No matter howsomeone call it, Internet- related disorders are arising as a serious problem for whichthe great unwashed need apprehending, help and change.The internet because of its rapid spread is reachable nowadays by almosteveryone and especially college students. They tend to be more penetrable than othersbecause of the developmental stressors, like amicable relationships, and because internet canbe comfortably accessed. M whatever students use it nowadays for many purposes, like preparingcourse works, search information, communicate, and entertain those selves (Ceyhan,2008). Also onli ne relationships differ from real relationships. Through internetanonymity is provided and anxiety is reduced because there are no face to faceinteractions. The self- presentation of a person in an online activity may foreclose him frombeing judged for his appearance or personality style (Kandell, 1998). Therefore studentsare more likely to develop problems with internet than others. Many studies have beenconducted using DSM- based criteria and represented higher come outs in internet use amongcollege students than in general population (Morahan- Martin Schumacher, 1999Yang, 2001). In the literature there is a cracking number of studies showing that Internetaddiction has been related to many variables apart from social skills such as gender andinternet expertise (Morahan-Martin Schumacher, 1997), age and grade aim(Johansson, 2004), online experiences and the amount of time spent online (Morahan-Martin, 1999), low gear, with increased levels of depression being associates wit hinternet addiction (Young, Rogers, 1998), and impulse control disorder (Shapira, 2003).Social skills are a fundamental factor in the development of the relationships.They include all the behaviours that a person should have in his/her interactions andcommunication with other people (Teodoro, 2005). Caplan (2002) developed a theoryimploring deficient social skills. The author claimed that people who are depressive andlonely tend to have a negative view towards their social skills. Another explanation canbe that people who tend to be low in social skills are attracted by some special features ofonline communication. These features allow the person to adopt another(prenominal) self-presentationthat cannot be developed through face to face interaction. Through this, a person mayexaggerate and present himself assorted than he is in real life (Caplan, 2002). Thus, forsome people Internet is a steer much easier and safe because of its anonymity andbecause it requires less interpersonal communication. It is a locate less stressful wherethey can control their social skills better than having a face to face interaction (Shaw Black, 2008).There have not been conducted a lot of studies until now that verse internetaddiction and social skills in college students. Most of the studies focused on excessiveinternet use and how it affects the development of social skills in children andadolescents (Harman, Hansen, Cochran, Lindsey, 2005). The query that has beenconducted focused in some special aspects of social skills like reserve, privacy, socialadjustment. There is a contradiction in the literature referring to these specific aspects ofsocial skills and internet addiction. Engelberg (2004) in his study about internet use,social skills and social adjustment found out that individuals who use excessively internettend to be lonelier and have problems in their social adjustment in work and in their sparetime. On the other hand, another research found out that by talkin g online in chat rooms,loneliness is reduced and social support is increased (Waestlund, Norlander, Archer,2001). Also another study conducted by Morahan-Martin (2003) found out that lonelypeople tend to use internet for emotional support and that their social behaviour isincreased by making online friends. In a study it was shown that bashfulness and locus ofcontrol were associated with internet addiction. It was found that persons scored higherlevels of internet addiction tend to be shier and indicating more difficulties in their sociallife. (Chack Leung, 2004). Most of the studies that have been conducted measuredsome specific aspects of social skills that are most of them loneliness, shyness and socialadjustment and social comfort. There is a contradiction in the studies referring toloneliness and social comfort, with studies indicating different results (Engelberg, 2004Waestlund et al., 2001). Due to this contradiction further research should be conducted tomeasure whether t hese aspects of social skills are related in a negative or in a positiveway with the use of internet. The purpose of this study is to enquire the relationshipbetween compulsive internet use and four dimensions of social skills that are loneliness/depression, impulse control, social comfort and distraction.MethodsParticipantsAn approximately number of 70 undergraduate college students is sledding to act in the current study. Their age pull up stakes range from 18 to 35 yearsold. The study will be conducted in an English University in northern Greece andstudents will be recruited from different departments, the psychology, computer and business department. The measure tools will be given in English since they know andunderstand the language. Also participants will not be from the same ethnicity but fromdifferent countries like Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Serbia and Fyrom.MeasuresOnline Cognition Scale (Davis, Flett, Besser, 2002). The OCS is amultidimensional questionnaire that was designed to measure Problematic Internet Use. Itis consisted of 36-items that cover four sub measures, six items measure loneliness/depression, ten items measure debased impulse control, distraction is measured byseven items and social comfort by thirteen items. Respondents will rate in a seven-pointLikert scale with services ranging from 1- strongly disagree, 4- neither agree/ nordisagree to -7 strongly agree. Students will respond to statements such as I feel safestwhen I am on the internet I use the Internet more than I ought to I am less lonelywhen I am online and I often use the Internet to avoid doing acrid things. Inorder to avoid order effects the items of the online perception scale were presented in arandom order. The author in order to evince the validity of the Online Cognition Scaleinvestigated the association between various cognitive and behavioural variables and theOCS dimensions of problematic internet use. Item-total correlations were highlysignific ant, ranging from 0.47- 0.77 for social comfort, 0.49- 0.81 for loneliness/depression, 0.50-0.76 for diminished impulse control, and 0.55-0.80 for distraction.Compulsive Internet Use Scale (Meerkerk, Eijnden, Vermulst, Garretsen,2009). The CIUS was designed to mensurate the severity of compulsive Internet use. Itincludes 14 items and participants will respond in a five-point scale 0, never 1, seldom2, sometimes 3, often 4, very often. The questions included in the scale are like Howoften do you think about the Internet, even not online How often do you go on theInternet when you are feeling down. The author in order to test the validity of the testused another test the online cognition scale. Pearson correlations were high andsignificant between CIUS and OCS with pProcedureThe sample will be obtained by college students randomly during class or break.Participants are going to fill in the three questionnaires individually with all the useful book of instructions provided. They will have the chance to fill them secure away or hand themover later to secretary. Also with the questionnaires they will receive a consent form thathave to sign in order to show that they agree to participate in the study. Participants willbe encouraged to answer as honest as they can, but someone can be never sure about theanswers and if someone will feel offend or upset by a question. Participants will havethe right to withdraw anytime they do not want to continue for any reason, withoutreceiving any penalty. Confidentiality and anonymity were provided and explained thatthe study is only for research. Also, the instructor will be there ready to answer anyquestion in case of any doubt.DesignThe design of the study is a correlation design that will measure the two variables,Internet addiction and the level of social skills.Proposed outlinePearson correlation will be conducted for the data analysis that will investigatethe correlation between the severity of compulsive internet use a nd the level of socialskills.