CO-OCCURRENCE OF APPEARANCE-REJECTION SENSITIVITY AND INTERNET ADDICTION IN AN UNDERGRADUATE POPULATION

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the role of appearance-rejection
sensitivity and internet addiction among students of among students of Our Saviour
Institute of Science Agriculture and Technology (OSISATECH), Enugu through a crosssectional
survey design by recruiting two hundred and fortyone (241) participants
through purposive sampling. The participants’ age ranged from 16 to 39 years and they
had a mean age of 23.61 years with SD of 3.60. While investigating the study variables,
two standardized instruments were employed: the short version of Internet Addiction (s-
IAT) and Appearance-Rejection Sensitivity Inventory (ARSI). To arrive at an empirical
outcome, two hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient and linear regression. The result indicated that appearance-rejection
sensitivity significantly correlated with internet addiction such that students with high
appearance-rejection sensitivity reported less internet addiction while students with low
appearance-rejection sensitivity reported more Internet addiction. On the other hand,
appearance-rejection sensitivity significantly predicted internet addiction. In line with
the findings, discussions and policy implications centered on the need for increasing
access to effective prevention strategies by talking young people out of Internet addiction
through the active involvement in skills acquisitions, entrepreneur and taking their
studies seriously so as to redirect the negative energy obtainable in internet addiction.