AGREEABLENESS AND NEUROTICISM AS CORRELATES OF INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Guidance and Counselling

This study examined agreeableness and neuroticism as correlates of internet addiction among undergraduates in Benue State, Nigeria. The study was guided by two specific objectives which were translated to two research questions. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted correlation research design. A sample of 396 respondents was drawn from the population of 42,624 undergraduates of the three conventional Universities in Benue State. Sampling for the study was done using simple random sampling techniques. Two instruments were adapted and used for data collection which are: Internet Addiction Test (AIT) by Young (1998) consisting of 20 items, Beck and Big Five-Factor Personality Inventory (BFFPI) by John, and Srivastava (1999). The instruments were validated by five experts and were subjected to reliability test using Cronbach Alpha method of estimating reliability. It yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.52 and 0.88 respectively for the two instruments. Data collected for the research questions were analysed using coefficient of R in Pearson Product Moment Correlation, while the research hypotheses were tested using Test of significance of coefficient in Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Findings of the study revealed that; there is a positive and significant relationship between agreeableness and internet addiction among undergraduate students in Benue State (r = .036**, p<0.05); there is a positive and significant relationship between neuroticism and internet addiction among undergraduate students in Benue State (r = .062**, p<0.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that undergraduates characterized with traits of agreeableness and neuroticism are prone to developing internet addiction It was recommended among others that educational institutions in Benue State should actively promote mental health awareness and provide accessible support services to their undergraduate students.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.