The predictive roles of Dark Triad, Big Five personality traits, loneliness, and attachment to caregivers in social media addiction: A cross-national study in Türkiye and Kyrgyzstan

Social media addiction (SMA) is a form of behavioral addiction that can impact individuals' social, mental, and physical well-being. Although many studies have examined the effects of SMA, its individual antecedents have been relatively underexplored from a cross-national perspective. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the predictors of SMA, including the Dark Triad, Big Five personality traits, loneliness, and attachment styles stemming from early experiences with caregivers (anxious and avoidant attachment). The sample comprised 604 university students (369 from Türkiye and 235 from Kyrgyzstan). Data were collected through standardized self-report scales, and descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, group comparisons, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that conscientiousness was the strongest negative predictor of social media addiction (SMA) in both samples. Additionally, neuroticism positively predicted SMA in both countries. Anxious attachment emerged as a significant positive predictor in the Turkish sample, whereas loneliness, extraversion, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were significant predictors of SMA in the Kyrgyz sample. Females reported higher levels of SMA among both samples. Although the antecedents of SMA appear to vary across cultural contexts, specific personality traits (i.e., low conscientiousness and high neuroticism), consistently emerged as stronger risk factors across both samples.