Background & objectives: With regard to the growing trend of networking web-sites among students, this study was performed to compare self-Regulation, self-Presentation and narcissism in students with and without addiction to social networks.
Methods: In a cross-sectional and comparative study, 236 subjects have been selected from the students of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Responders completed the scales of Self- Regulation scale, Self-Presentation scale, Narcissism subscale of dark triad personality traits and SNSs addiction scale. The subjects were divided into two groups based on their scores on the SNSs addiction scale. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance using SPSS-18.
Results: Multivariate analysis showed that self-regulation mean score of addicted students was not significantly different from the other students. But mean scores of self- Presentation (F=5.271) and Narcissism (F=4.108) of the students dependent on online social networks are significantly higher than students without addiction (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that addicted students to social networking sites were more narcissistic than other groups and have more self-presentation trait. Therefore, to reduce students' addiction to social networks, educational, and therapeutic interventions should be aimed to reduce the narcissism and self-presentation.
