UNIVERSITY STUDENT'S INTERNET USE AND THE IMPACT ON



University Student's Internet Use And The Impact On Their Social And Psychological Well Being



Contents

The Impact of the Internet on Young People Daily Lives3

Introduction3

The Significance of the Study3

Objective of the Study3

Research Questions3

Literature Review3

Young People And Internet3

Social Learning Theory3

Internet Knowledge, Experience And Self-Efficacy3

Method3

Participants3

Procedure3

Data Collection Instruments3

Demographics and Internet Usage Questionnaire3

Internet Attitudes Scale3

UCLA psychological well-being Scale3

Bibliography3

The Impact of the Internet on Young People Daily Lives

Introduction

The Internet is becoming increasingly influential for many people. It seems that there is no aspect of life that the Internet does not touch. It is probably the recognition of the predominance of the Internet that has led psychologists to focus on this phenomenon (Hamburger & Ben-Artzi, 2003, 52). Observers have noted that heavy Internet users seem to be alienated from normal social contacts and may even cut these off as the Internet becomes the predominant social factor in their lives (Beard 2002; Weiser 2001; Widyanto & McMurran, 2004; Young, 1996, 366). Although there are a lot of, yet partly unknown, factors concerning negative effects of the internet, two main factors are especially relevant for the presented study: first there is a displacement of social activities where the individual ends up spending so much time online that he or she is unable to participate in face to face social activities. The second is the displacement of “strong ties.” That is, the quality of online relationships is of a lower quality than face to face relationships. When one engages in a large number of online relationships, these may replace the stronger face to face ones (Kraut et al., 1998; Moody, 2001, 542).

Kraut and his colleagues (1998) claimed that greater use of the Internet was associated with negative effects on individuals, such as a diminishing social circle, and increasing depression and psychological well-being. Also, many quantitative studies confirmed that psychological well-being was associated with increased Internet use (Kraut et al., 1998; Lavin, Marvin, McLarney, Nola & Scott, 1999; Nie & Erbring, 2000; Stoll, 1995; Turkle, 1996, 52). Internet use may be beneficial when kept to normal levels, however high levels of internet use which interfere with daily life have been linked to a range of problems, including decreased psychosocial well-being, relationship breakdown (Widyanto & McMurran 2004; Yao-Guo, Lin-Yan & Feng-Lin 2006; Whitty & McLaughlin, 2007, 521).

The Significance of the Study

Two opposing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the relationship between psychological well-being and Internet use: excessive Internet use causes psychological well-being versus lonely individuals is more likely to use the Internet excessively (Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2003). According to the first hypothesis time online interrupts real life relationships. Internet use isolates individuals from real world and deprives them of the sense of belonging and connection with real world contacts. Thus, psychological well-being can be a byproduct of excessive Internet use because users spend time online, often investing in online relationships. Additional confirmation of the adverse effect of Internet use on psychological well-being has been found in other studies as ...