Graduation Semester and Year

2011

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

William Ickes

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to compare bloggers' personalities to the personalities of non-bloggers, and to determine whether it is possible to identify individuals who are more likely to use the Internet in a problematic way. A sample of bloggers (N = 231) and non-bloggers (N = 248) completed a series of online surveys including the Big Five Inventory (BFI), the Online Cognition Survey (OCS), and a questionnaire about general Internet use. I found that bloggers scored significantly higher on the Big Five Trait Openness to Experience than did non-bloggers. Bloggers also reported higher scores of the Distraction subscale of the Online Cognition Scale (OCS). Unexpectedly, Extraversion was positively related to scores on the Distraction and Dependency subscales of the OCS. Individuals who had experienced problems at work due to something written or said online in general or on a blog had lower scores on the Dependency subscale of the OCS, as did individuals who reported meeting an Internet acquaintance in real life. Individuals who reported having experienced interpersonal problems due to something they had done online had lower scores on the distraction subscale of the OCS. Limitations and future directions are discussed, including longitudinal studies and an examination of possible positive outcomes associated with blogging.

Disciplines

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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