A Study on the Effect of Social Psychological Factors on Internet Addiction

New research on internet addiction identifies online users who became hooked on internet online games, chatting, and even internet shopping only to see their lives become increasingly unmanageable because of the Internet. The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between internet addiction and social psychological factors of college students. This study model used four themes(self-esteem, self-efficacy, family relationships, stress) in order to identify the effect of social psychological factors on internet addiction. The result of this study identified that self-esteem, self-efficacy, stress have a significant effect on internet addiction. Future areas for studying internet addiction are continuously discussed.