Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.2699711
Submit to HPR
Cite this article
18
Download
163
Views
Journal Browser
Volume | Year
Issue
Search
Forthcoming Issue
Current Issue
View All
News and Announcements
View All
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cross-cultural Differences in the Relationship between Personality Traits and Mobile and Internet Addiction

Pavel Veselský1 ,  Lucie Váchová2 ,  Jana Kvintová2 ,  Vojtech Regec2 ,  Hongyang Liu2*
Show Less
1 Department of Sociology, Andragogy and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Moravia 779 00, Czech Republic
2 Department of Psychology and Abnormal Psychology, Faculty of Education, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Moravia 779 00, Czech Republic
HPR 2025, 13(2), e81240006 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.2699711
Submitted: 16 March 2025 | Accepted: 5 April 2025 | Published: 19 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Download PDF
Cite
XML
Abstract

Background

The widespread use of the Internet and mobile phones has introduced significant addiction-related challenges.

Objective

This study investigates the role of personality in mobile phone and internet addiction across two cultural contexts.

Methods

A total of 1,075 Czech (84.9% female) and 710 Chinese (54.6% female) university students participated in this study. Data were collected using the Smartphone Addiction Scale, Internet Addiction Test, and Ten-Item Personality Measure, and analyzed using multiple regression models to assess cross-cultural differences.

Results

Significantly higher addiction rates were found among Chinese students. Among Czech students, internet addiction decreased with higher levels of conscientiousness (b=−1.11), emotional stability (b=−0.60), and openness (b=−0.42), explaining 16% of the variance. For Chinese students, only conscientiousness (b=−1.23) had a significant effect, explaining 6% of the variance. Openness differed significantly between groups (p=0.02). Regarding mobile phone addiction, both groups showed similar patterns, with addiction decreasing as agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness increased. Conscientiousness had a stronger impact among Chinese students (difference=0.98, p=0.008).

Conclusion

Further analysis indicated that the influence of personality on addiction varied by sex and country. These findings underscore the importance of personality and cultural factors in understanding technology addiction.

Keywords
Internet addiction
Mobile phone addiction
Personality traits
Cross-cultural differences
Funding
This study was supported by the following project: the internal grant “Selected topics of psychological research in the field of educational psychology” (grant number: IGA_011_2024), and the institutional project Dean’s Grant 2025 (grant number: GFD_Pdf_ 2025_02).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
References
[1]
  1. Young KS, De Abreu CN. Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment. John Wiley and Sons; 2010. Available from: https://books. google.cz/books?id=c-omszqyfycc&lpg=pt7&ots=x­hcrkmro3s&dq=young%20ks%2c%20de%20 abreu%20CN.%20ınternet%20addiction%3a%20 a%20handbook%20and%20guide%20to%20evaluation%20and%20treatment.%20john%20wiley%20 %26%20sons%3b%202010.&lr&pg=PT7#v=onep­age&q=young%20ks,%20de%20abreu%20cn.%20 ınternet%20addiction:%20A%20handbook%20 and%20guide%20to%20evaluation%20and%20 treatment.%20John%20Wiley%20&%20Sons;%20 2010.&f=false [Last accessed on 2025 Jun 10].

 

  1. Adams ME. Internet Addiction: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Health Effects. Nova Science Publisher’s, Incorporated; 2017. Available from: https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&­scope=site&db=nlebk&an=1419194 [Last accessed on 2025 Jun 17].

 

  1. Young K. Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Stoelting; 2016. Available from: https://stoeltingco.com/ psychological/media/iat-web-sample.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 May 12].

 

  1. Krasnova H, Abramova O, Notter I, Baumann A. Why Phubbing is Toxic for Your Relationship: Understanding the Role of Smartphone Jealousy Among “Generation Y” Users. 2016. Avaliable from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301369663.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 Feb 12].

 

  1. Griffiths M. Technological Addictions. Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychol Soc; 1995. p. 14. Available from: https://www. researchgate.net/profile/mark-griffiths-17/pub­lication/284665745-technological-addictions/ links/5bec2bd9299bf1124fd1de9b/technologi­cal-addictions.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 May 17].

 

  1. Griffiths M. A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial frame­work. J Subst Use. 2005;10(4):191-197. doi: 10.1080/14659890500114359

 

  1. Roberts JA, David ME. My life has become a major distraction from my cell phone: Partner phub­bing and relationship satisfaction among romantic partners. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;54:134-141. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.058

 

  1. Chen YL, Gau SSF. Sleep problems and internet addiction among children and adolescents: A lon­gitudinal study. J Sleep Res. 2016;25(4):458-465. doi: 10.1111/jsr.12388

 

  1. Liu H, Zhou Z, Huang L, Zhu E, Yu L, Zhang M. Prevalence of smartphone addiction and its effects on subhealth and insomnia: A cross-sectional study among medical students. BMC Psychiatry. 2022;22(1):305. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-03956-6

 

  1. Feng B, Sun W. Bedtime procrastination and fatigue in Chinese college students: The medi­ating role of Mobile phone addiction. Int J Ment Health Addiction. 2022;21:3362-3375. doi: 10.1007/ s11469-022-00796-z

 

  1. Subu MA, Waluyo I, Al-Yateem N, et al. Smartphone Addiction and Self-Esteem among Indonesian Teenage Students. United States: IEEE; 2022. p. 104-106. doi: 10.1109/ICDH55609.2022.00024

 

  1. Schoeni A, Roser K, Röösli M. Symptoms and cognitive functions in adolescents in rela­tion to mobile phone use during night. PLoS One. 2015;10(7):e0133528. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0133528

 

  1. Kuang-Tsan C, Fu-Yuan H. Study on relation­ship among university students’ life stress, smart mobile phone addiction, and life satisfaction. J Adult Dev. 2017;24(2):109-118. doi: 10.1007/ s10804-016-9250-9

 

  1. Xu TT, Wang HZ, Fonseca W, et al. The rela­tionship between academic stress and ado­lescents’ problematic smartphone usage. Addict Res Theory. 2019;27(2):162-169. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2018.1488967

 

  1. Ma Y, Li Y, Xie X, et al. The role of depressive symptoms and social support in the association of internet addiction with non-suicidal self-in­jury among adolescents: A cohort study in China. BMC Psychiatry. 2023;23(1):322. doi: 10.1186/ s12888-023-04754-4

 

  1. Cao Y, Liu Q, Yu Q, et al. Depression mediates the relationship of experiential avoidance and internet addiction: A cross-lagged mediation anal­ysis. Curr Psychol. 2023;43:3727-3737. doi: 10.1007/ s12144-023-04511-6

 

  1. Aflahudin MAN, Febriyana N, Djuari L. Correlation between smartphone addiction risk with anxiety level of elementary schooler in Surabaya. J Psikiatri Surabaya. 2022;11(1):28-35. doi: 10.20473/jps.v11i1.24484

 

  1. Cheng S, An D, Yao Z, et al. Association between mental health knowledge level and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students. Int Journal Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(4):1850. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041850

 

  1. Byun YH, Ha M, Kwon HJ, et al. Mobile phone use, blood lead levels, and attention deficit hyper­activity symptoms in children: A longitudinal study. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59742. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0059742

 

  1. Ibrahim NK, Baharoon BS, Banjar WF, et al. Mobile phone addiction and its relationship to sleep quality and academic achievement of medi­cal students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. J Res Health Sci. 2018;18(3):e00420.

 

  1. Du H. Relationship between childhood phys­ical abuse, neglect and alexithymia and mobile phone addiction in adolescents. Psychiatr Danub. 2022;34(4):653-659. doi: 10.24869/psyd.2022.653

 

  1. Gülbetekin E, Gül Can F. The relationship between internet addiction and peer bullying level of sixth and seventh grade secondary school stu­dents. J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Nurs. 2023;36:248- 255. doi: 10.1111/jcap.12420

 

  1. Mancinelli E, Sharka O, Lai T, Sgaravatti E, Salcuni S. Self-injury and Smartphone Addiction: Age and gender differences in a community sam­ple of adolescents presenting self-injurious behavior. Health Psychol Open. 2021;8(2):1-14. doi: 10.1177/20551029211038811

 

  1. Guimarães CLC, Oliveira LBSD, Pereira RS, Silva PGND, Gouveia VV. Nomophobia and smartphone addiction: Do the variables age and sex explain this relationship? Psico-USF. 2022;27:319-329. doi: 10.1590/1413-82712022270209

 

  1. Inguscio L, Caponnetto P, Valeri S, et al. Smartphone Addiction Through Age and Gender During Italian Lockdown for COVID-19. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ecerph-3-09027

 

  1. Terzioğlu MA, Uğurlu TT, Aksoy C, Gümüş Ü. An evaluation of the relationship between self-compassion and nomophobia and comor­bid mental disorders in adolescents. Addicta Turk J Addict. 2023;10(1):75-85. doi: 10.5152/ ADDICTA.2023.22019

 

  1. Mitropoulou EM, Karagianni M, Thomadakis C. Social media addiction, self-compassion, and psy­chological well-being: A structural equation model. Alpha Psychiatry. 2022;23(6):298-304. doi: 10.5152/ alphapsychiatry.2022.22957

 

  1. Jo HS, Na E, Kim DJ. The relationship between smartphone addiction predisposi­tion and impulsivity among Korean smartphone users. Addict Res Theory. 2018;26(1):77-84. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2017.1312356

 

  1. Güner TA, Demir İ. Relationship between smartphone addiction and nomophobia, anxi­ety, self-control in high school students. Addicta Turk J Addict. 2022;9(2):218-224. doi: 10.5152/ ADDICTA.2021.21089

 

  1. Yılbaş B, Karadeniz PG. The relationship between chronotype and impulsivity, attention-defi­cit disorder, internet, social media, and smartphone addiction. Alpha Psychiatry. 2022;23(4):203-209. doi: 10.5152/alphapsychiatry.2022.21656

 

  1. Menendez-García A, Jiménez-Arroyo A, Rodrigo- Yanguas M, et al. Internet, video game and mobile phone addiction in children and adolescents diag­nosed with ADHD: A case-control study. Adicciones. 2022;34(3):208-217. doi: 10.20882/adicciones.1469

 

  1. Kim C, Kwak K, Kim Y. The relationship between stress and smartphone addiction among adolescents: The mediating effect of grit. Curr Psychol. 2023;42(10):8451-8459. doi: 10.1007/ s12144-022-03367-6

 

  1. Liu H, Novotný JS, Váchová L. The effect of mobile phone addiction on perceived stress and mediating role of ruminations: Evidence from Chinese and Czech university students. Front Psychol. 2022;13:1057544. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2022.1057544

 

  1. Zhang A, Xiong S, Peng Y, et al. Perceived stress and mobile phone addiction among college students: The roles of self-control and security. Front Psychiatry. 2022;13:1005062. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyt.2022.1005062

 

  1. Çevik C, Ciğerci Y, Kılıç İ, Uyar S. Relationship between smartphone addiction and meaning and purpose of life in students of health sciences. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2020;56(3):705-711. doi: 10.1111/ ppc.12485

 

  1. Servidio R. Fear of missing out and self-es­teem as mediators of the relationship between maximization and problematic smartphone use. Curr Psychol. 2023;42(1):232-242. doi: 10.1007/ s12144-020-01341-8

 

  1. Mangialavori S, Russo C, Jimeno MV, et al. Insecure attachment styles and unbalanced family functioning as risk factors of problem­atic smartphone use in spanish young adults: A relative weight analysis. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2021;11(3):1011-1021. doi: 10.3390/ ejihpe11030075

 

  1. Yue H, Yue X, Zhang X, Liu B, Bao H. Exploring the relationship between social exclusion and smartphone addiction: The mediating roles of loneliness and self-control. Front Psychol. 2022;13:945631. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.945631

 

  1. Kuscu TD, Gumustas F, Rodopman Arman A, Goksu M. The relationship between nomophobia and psychiatric symptoms in adolescents. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2021;25(1):56- 61. doi: 10.1080/13651501.2020.1819334

 

  1. De Stefano R, Cedro C, Iannuzzo F, et al. The relationship between subthreshold psychiatric symptoms and internet addiction in an Italian population. Psychiatry Res. 2022;317:114914. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114914

 

  1. Elhusseiny A, Haggag W, Abd Elmoez K, Elsayed M, Hassan H. Psychiatric symptoms associated with internet addiction among suez canal university students. Egypt J Psychiatry. 2022;43(3):149-154. doi: 10.4103/ejpsy.ejpsy-50-21

 

  1. Dib JE, Hallit R, Akel M, et al. Association between personality traits/dimensions and fear of no mobile phone connectivity (nomophobia): Results of a lebanese national study. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2022;24(5):21m03036. doi: 10.4088/PCC.21m03036

 

  1. Kim Y, Jeong JE, Cho H, et al. Personality factors predicting smartphone addiction predisposition: Behavioral inhibition and activation systems, impul­sivity, and self-control. PLoS One. 2016;11(8):e0159788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159788

 

  1. Zeighami R, Hosseini SM, Mohammadi N, Shahsavari S. Predicting addiction susceptibility based on big five personality traits. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2021;15(4):e109103. doi: 10.5812/ ijpbs.109103

 

  1. Zhou Y, Li D, Li X, Wang Y, Zhao L. Big five personality and adolescent Internet addiction: The mediating role of coping style. Addict Behav. 2017;64:42-48. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.08.009

 

  1. Arpaci I, Kocadag Unver T. Moderating role of gender in the relationship between big five personality traits and smartphone addiction. Psychiatr Q. 2020;91(2):577-585. doi: 10.1007/ s11126-020-09718-5

 

  1. Albursan IS, Al Qudah MF, Dutton E, et al. National, sex and academic discipline difference in smartphone addiction: A study of students in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan. Community Ment Health J. 2019;55(5):825-830. doi: 10.1007/ s10597-019-00368-x

 

  1. Olson JA, Sandra DA, Colucci ÉS, et al. Smartphone addiction is increasing across the world: A meta-analysis of 24 countries. Comput Hum Behav. 2022;129:107138. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2021.107138

 

  1. Data Ai. State of Mobile 2022. Available from: https://posiel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ dataai--state-of-mobile-2022--en.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 May 31].

 

  1. Kwon M, Kim DJ, Cho H, Yang S. The smart­phone addiction scale: Development and vali­dation of a short version for adolescents. PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e83558. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0083558

 

  1. Young KS, Rogers RC. The relationship between depression and ınternet addiction. CyberPsychol Behav. 1998;1(1):25-28. doi: 10.1089/cpb.1998.1.25

 

  1. Ali AM, Hendawy AO, Almarwani AM, et al. The six-item version of the Internet addiction test: ITS development, psychometric properties, and meas­urement invariance among women with eating dis­orders and healthy school and university students. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(23):12341. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312341

 

  1. Woods SA, Hampson SE. Measuring the big five with single items using a bipolar response scale. Eur J Pers. 2005;19(5):373-390. doi: 10.1002/per.542

 

  1. Thørrisen MM, Sadeghi T. The ten-item per­sonality inventory (TIPI): A scoping review of versions, translations and psychometric proper­ties. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1202953. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2023.1202953

 

  1. Kline P. Handbook of Psychological Testing. Routledge; 2013. Available from: https://www.rou­tledge.com/handbook-of-psychological-testing/ kline/p/book/9780415211581 [Last accessed on 2025 Feb 12].

 

  1. Gosling SD, Rentfrow PJ, Swann WB Jr. A very brief measure of the big-five personality domains. J Res Pers. 2003;37(6):504-528. doi: 10.1016/ S0092-6566(03)00046-1

 

  1. Vorkapić ST. Ten İtem Personality İnventory: A Validation Study on a Croatian Adult Sample. The European Proceddings of Social and Behavioural Sciences; 2016. p. 192-202. Available from: https://www.academia.edu/download/72812008/ b46a5204a2baac10272eb7fd35e7e4105ae6.pdf [Last accessed on 2025 May 20].

 

  1. Kircaburun K, Griffiths MD. Instagram addic­tion and the big five of personality: The mediating role of self-liking. J Behav Addict. 2018;7(1):158- 170. doi: 10.1556/2006.7.2018.15

 

  1. BMI. China Consumer Electronics Report. China Consumer Electronics Report; 2023. Available from: https://store.fitchsolutions.com/consumer-elec­tronics/china-consumer-electronics-report [Last accessed on 2025 Jun 10].

 

  1. Negro G. China’s perspective on internet governance: A more integrated role in the global discussion? J Chin Polit Sci. 2023;28(1):105-125. doi: 10.1007/s11366-022-09811-5

 

  1. Wei G, Claire K. The promise of the internet for rural economic development in China: A study of agricultural e-com­merce. Peking Univ Law J. 2022;10(2):151-172. doi: 10.1080/20517483.2023.2171595

 

  1. Guobin Y. China’s Contested İnternet. Nias Press; 2015. Available from: https://journals.openedition. org/chinaperspectives/7060 [Last accessed on 2025 Jun 10].

 

  1. Zhang L, Eggum-Wilkens ND. Correlates of shy­ness and unsociability during early adolescence in urban and rural China. J Early Adolesc. 2018;38(3):408- 421. doi: 10.1177/0272431616670993

 

  1. Xiao B, Coplan RJ. A cross-cultural examination of implicit attitudes toward shyness in Canada and China. J Res Pers. 2021;93(1):104119. doi: 10.1016/j. jrp.2021.104119

 

  1. Nelson LJ, Lee CT, Duan XX. Associations between shyness and internalizing and exter­nalizing problems during emerging adulthood in China. Emerg Adulthood. 2015;3(5):364-367. doi: 10.1177/2167696815592096

 

  1. Chen X, Fu R, Li D, Liu J. Developmental tra­jectories of shyness-sensitivity from middle child­hood to early adolescence in China: Contributions of peer preference and mutual friendship. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2019;47(7):1197-1209. doi: 10.1007/ s10802-018-00507-0

 

  1. Guo J, Jiang Y, Lin S, Pang W. Individualism and collectivism as predictors of creative potentials and real-life creativity in China and US. Creat Res J. 2023;37(1):120-131. doi: 10.1080/10400419.2023.2217028

 

  1. Chen H, Hong B, Zang HL. Pathogen Prevalence, Collectivism and Online Sadness Expression in China: For Special Track “Covid-19 and Computational Social Psychology”. United States: IEEE; 2020. p. 1-6. doi: 10.1109/BESC51023.2020.9348332

 

  1. XU X, Chen D. Collectivism VS İndividualism: The Comparison of Family Values Between China and the USA. England: Routledge; 2017.

 

  1. Huo D, Johnson-Migalski L. Social interest and collectivism: A study of the new generation of mainland China. J Individ Psychol. 2021;77(3):322- 334. doi: 10.1353/jip.2021.0023

 

  1. ORKIN. Neil focus on the czech republic: While İndividualism is valued in the czech culture, team­ing and collaboration are expected in the training classroom. Training. 2017;54(5):16.

 

  1. Leonavičienė E, Burinskienė A, Peleckis K. The role of national culture as an Indicator of evidence of sus­tainable development. Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia. 2022;22(2):146-167. doi: 10.2478/foli-2022-0023

 

  1. Agbaria Q, Bdier D. The association of Big Five per­sonality traits and religiosity on Internet addiction among Israeli-Palestinian Muslim college students in Israel. Ment Health Relig Cult. 2019;22(9):956- 971. doi: 10.1080/13674676.2019.1699041

 

  1. Kayiş AR, Satici SA, Yilmaz MF, Şimşek D, Ceyhan E, Bakioğlu F. Big five-personality trait and internet addiction: A meta-analytic review. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;63:35-40. doi: 10.1016/j. chb.2016.05.012

 

  1. Julka S. A study of internet addic­tion and its association with big five per­sonality traits in Indian adolescents. Indian J Public Health Res Dev. 2018;11(3):975-980. doi: 10.5958/2320-6233.2018.00013.5

 

  1. Gao L, Zhai S, Xie H, Liu Q, Niu G, Zhou Z. Big five personality traits and problematic mobile phone use: A meta-analytic review. Curr Psychol. 2020;40:3093-3110. doi: 10.1007/ s12144-020-00817-x

 

  1. Montag C, Bey K, Sha P, et al. Is it meaningful to distinguish between generalized and specific Internet addiction? Evidence from a cross‐cultural study from Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and China. Asia Pac Psychiatry. 2015;7(1):20-26. doi: 10.1111/appy.12122

 

  1. Su W, Han X, Yu H, Wu Y, Potenza MN. Do men become addicted to internet gaming and women to social media? A meta-analysis examin­ing gender-related differences in specific internet addiction. Comput Hum Behav. 2020;113:106480. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2020.106480

 

  1. Griffiths MD. The myth of ‘addictive person­ality’. Glob J Add Rehab Med. 2017;3(2):555610. doi: 10.19080/GJARM.2017.03.555610

 

  1. Marino C, Gini G, Vieno A, Spada MM. A com­prehensive meta-analysis on problematic Facebook use. Comput Hum Behav. 2018;83:262-277. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.009

 

  1. Horwood S, Anglim J. Personality and prob­lematic smartphone use: A facet-level analysis using the five factor model and HEXACO frame­works. Comput Hum Behav. 2018;85:349-359. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.04.013

 

  1. DeYoung CG. Personality neurosci­ence and the biology of traits. Soc Pers Psychol Compass. 2010;4(12):1165-1180. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00327.x
Share
Back to top
Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here
Accept