Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university

The youth population comprises individuals who are highly adaptable in general to the use of smartphones on a daily basis for various purposes. However, excessive use of the digital communication tool has caused physical and emotional distress in their daily habits. The main purpose of this study wa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jun, Lim Yan, Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati, Zainudin, Zaida Nor, Mohamed Yusop, Yusni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Human Resources Management Academic Research Society (HRMARS) 2023
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/1/116490.pdf
_version_ 1848867015509409792
author Jun, Lim Yan
Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati
Zainudin, Zaida Nor
Mohamed Yusop, Yusni
author_facet Jun, Lim Yan
Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati
Zainudin, Zaida Nor
Mohamed Yusop, Yusni
author_sort Jun, Lim Yan
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The youth population comprises individuals who are highly adaptable in general to the use of smartphones on a daily basis for various purposes. However, excessive use of the digital communication tool has caused physical and emotional distress in their daily habits. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction among undergraduates at a Malaysian public university. A total of 318 undergraduates participated in this study, selected via random sampling. Data was collected through a set of self-administered online questionnaire: UCLA-Loneliness Scale-Version 3 was used to measure loneliness; and Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version was used to measure smartphone addiction. Findings demonstrate a positive correlation between loneliness and smartphone addiction, suggesting that social interaction is vital in preventing problematic or addictive behaviour among undergraduates. The implications of this study for university counsellors, lecturers and management were highlighted to strategise intervention plans to avoid addictive behaviours and promote a healthy mental health state among the students. Recommendations for future research were discussed to expand its focus to various public universities in Malaysia and explore the predictive factors for undergraduates’ smartphone addiction.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T14:29:47Z
format Article
id upm-116490
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T14:29:47Z
publishDate 2023
publisher Human Resources Management Academic Research Society (HRMARS)
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-1164902025-04-09T03:18:53Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/ Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university Jun, Lim Yan Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati Zainudin, Zaida Nor Mohamed Yusop, Yusni The youth population comprises individuals who are highly adaptable in general to the use of smartphones on a daily basis for various purposes. However, excessive use of the digital communication tool has caused physical and emotional distress in their daily habits. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between loneliness and smartphone addiction among undergraduates at a Malaysian public university. A total of 318 undergraduates participated in this study, selected via random sampling. Data was collected through a set of self-administered online questionnaire: UCLA-Loneliness Scale-Version 3 was used to measure loneliness; and Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version was used to measure smartphone addiction. Findings demonstrate a positive correlation between loneliness and smartphone addiction, suggesting that social interaction is vital in preventing problematic or addictive behaviour among undergraduates. The implications of this study for university counsellors, lecturers and management were highlighted to strategise intervention plans to avoid addictive behaviours and promote a healthy mental health state among the students. Recommendations for future research were discussed to expand its focus to various public universities in Malaysia and explore the predictive factors for undergraduates’ smartphone addiction. Human Resources Management Academic Research Society (HRMARS) 2023-12-25 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/1/116490.pdf Jun, Lim Yan and Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati and Zainudin, Zaida Nor and Mohamed Yusop, Yusni (2023) Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13 (12). pp. 4972-4975. ISSN 2222-6990 https://hrmars.com/index.php/IJARBSS/article/view/20346/Loneliness-and-Social-Anxiety-Predicting-Smartphone-Addiction-among-Undergraduates-in-A-Malaysian-Public-University 10.6007/ijarbss/v13-i12/20346
spellingShingle Jun, Lim Yan
Wan Othman, Wan Norhayati
Zainudin, Zaida Nor
Mohamed Yusop, Yusni
Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title_full Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title_fullStr Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title_full_unstemmed Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title_short Loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university
title_sort loneliness and social anxiety predicting smartphone addiction among undergraduates in a malaysian public university
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/116490/1/116490.pdf