The Relationship Between Problematic Internet Use, WhatsApp and Personality

The manner and frequency of Internet use may reflect the needs, preferences, values, personal motivations and personality characteristics of users. The aim of this research was to analyse the relationship between the Big Five Personality factors and impulsivity with Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp. The sample consisted of 630 university students (75.7% female) aged between 18 and 62 years (M = 21.23). The results indicated that the Big Five Personality factors and impulsivity correlated significantly with Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp. Impulsivity proved to be the most important predictor of Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp. It can be concluded, cautiously, that impulsive people have a greater predisposition to develop Problematic Internet Use and, also to experience a greater negative impact due to the use of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp users through an innovative scale that has proven to have good psychometric properties and to be very useful (Bernal-Ruiz, Rosa-Alcázar, & González-Calatayud, 2019).
As a hypothesis we hope to contrast: 1) Problematic Internet Use will be directly related to Openness to experience and Neuroticism and inversely to Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness. 2) WhatsApp's Negative Impact will be directly related to Openness to experience and Neuroticism and inversely to Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness. 3) Impulsivity will be directly related to Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp. 4) Low levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, Extraversion, and Impulsivity will predict Problematic Internet Use. 5) Low levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, Extraversion, and Impulsivity will predict the Negative Impact of WhatsApp.

Method Participants
The sampling method used was for convenience. The sample consisted of 630 Spanish university students (75.7% women), aged between 18 and 62 years (M = 21.23 and SD = 4.32). All participants (100%) reported connecting to the Internet. Instant messaging was used by 100% of students. In addition, 100% used WhatsApp and 98.5% reported that WhatsApp was the most widely used of all instant messaging applications.

Procedure
Teachers who taught at the University of Murcia and the Catholic University of Murcia were contacted by email or telephone to request their participation in the study. A briefing meeting was held with each of the teachers who showed interest in collaborating.
The university students, who agreed to participate and signed the consent form, completed an anonymous questionnaire in a 1-hour session in the presence of a professor and a member of the research team (clinical evaluation expert). The students received no incentives whatsoever for participating in the study. The research was evaluated and accepted by the Ethics Commission of the University of Murcia (Spain), so guaranteeing it respected the ethical principles of research with human beings. 1) Negative Consequences of WhatsApp use, α = 0.93, 2) Controlling Intimate Relationships through WhatsApp, α = 0.85, and 3) Problematic Use of WhatsApp, α = 0.87. For the full scale, the alpha coefficient was 0.95.

Data Analysis
Data analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical package (v. 22.0). t-tests were calculated for independent samples. Pearson correlations and stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive ability of the Big Five personality factors and impulsivity in Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp.

Influence of Sex and Age on Problematic Internet Use and Negative Impact of WhatsApp
In relation to sex, statistically significant differences were found in the problematic use of WhatsApp, t(627) = 2.722, p = .007, and in the total WhatsApp Negative Impact Scale score, t(627) = 2.184, p = .029, with women obtaining the highest scores (Table 1).  Age had very low correlations with both the Problematic Internet Use r = −.12, p < .01, and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp, r = −.13, p < .01.

The Big Five Personality Factors and Problematic Internet Use
The highest correlation was observed between Extraversion and Preference for Online Social Interaction, r = −.47, p < .01. The GPIUS total score correlated significantly with all personality dimensions (Table 2), as well as with the total score in the Reduced NEO Five-Factor Inventory, returning the highest correlations with Agreeableness r = −.35, p < .01 and Conscientiousness, r = −.34, p < .01.

The Big Five Personality Factors and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp
All the correlations between the Big Five and the WANIS scale factors were significant except for the correlation between Extraversion and Problematic Use of WhatsApp (Table 3). Most of the significant correlations were negative except in the case of Neuroticism where, as with Problematic Internet Use, the correlations were positive.
The highest correlations were observed between Negative Consequences of WhatsApp Use and Conscientiousness, r = −.41, p < .01 and Negative Consequences and Agreeableness, r = −.37, p < .01. As for the total WANIS score, it correlated significantly with all personality dimensions, as well as with the total score in the Reduced NEO Five-Factor Inventory, achieving the highest correlations with Conscientiousness, r = −.37, p < .01 and Agreeableness, r = −.36, p < .01. and each of the GPIUS factors stood out, with the highest being with Negative Outcomes, r = .58, p < .01. Negative Outcomes was the dimension of the GPIUS that obtained higher correlations with all the components of Impulsivity. The GPIUS total score correlated with the total SIS score and with all dimensions of Impulsivity, and the highest correlation was with Reward, r = .58, p < .01.

Impulsivity and Negative Impact of WhatsApp
The correlations of Impulsivity with the Negative Impact of WhatsApp were significant and direct (Table 5). Reward was the dimension that had the highest significant correlations with each of the factors on the WANIS scale. As for the Negative Impact of WhatsApp, Negative Consequences was the factor that reached the highest significant correlations with the components of Impulsivity. The WANIS total score correlated significantly with all dimensions of the SIS as well as with the total score on this scale, r = .58, p < .01.

Predictive Variables of Problematic Internet Use and Negative Impact of WhatsApp
To examine the predictive power of the Big Five Personality Factors and Impulsivity on Problematic Internet Use, a multiple linear stepwise regression analysis was performed (Table 6).  Impulsivity was a variable predictor of the Negative Impact of WhatsApp and each of its component dimensions.
It was also the strongest predictor in all cases. Openness to Experience was another personality trait that predicted both the Negative Impact of WhatsApp and all its dimensions.

Discussion and Conclusion
The first objective was to examine the influence of sociodemographic variables on Problematic Internet Use and on the Negative Impact of WhatsApp. No statistically significant differences were observed in Problematic Internet Use by sex (Sebena, Orosova, & Benka, 2013;Wang et al., 2011). In relation to WhatsApp, statistically significant differences were observed in the problematic use of WhatsApp and in the total score of the WANIS, with the highest average scores corresponding to women in both cases . Women use WhatsApp for longer periods of time (Faye et al., 2016).
Regarding age, our results support previous studies that considered adolescents and young people to be the most vulnerable users for the development of Problematic Internet Use (Lam, 2014;Wu, Lee, Liao, & Chang, 2015). Compared to older students, younger university students may experience more emotional instability and crisis, and may use the Internet as a means of helping to alleviate problems experienced (Koo & Kwon, 2014).
Age correlated significantly and negatively with the Negative Impact of WhatsApp and all factors of the WANIS scale. Therefore, the younger the age of the university students, the more negative consequences that were derived from its use, the greater control of intimate relationships made through WhatsApp and the more problematic the use that was experienced. This may be because young people are more vulnerable to addiction in general and to Problematic Internet Use in particular (Lam, 2014;Wu et al., 2015), possibly because they have less self-control, less self-regulation and are more exposed to the Internet and new technologies. In addition, young people are less aware of the negative consequences of their actions, which would lead them to continue with addictive behaviours and experience an increasing negative impact. Finally, relationships between young couples are often less stable and shorter-lasting. This, combined with the insecurity that characterises the younger, would lead to the need for greater control of the partner, with WhatsApp being a tool that could be used for this purpose.
The second objective was to analyse the relationship between problematic Internet use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp on the Big Five personality factors.
Problematic Internet use correlated significantly and negatively with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience and Extraversion and directly with Neuroticism. Our results are consistent with studies that found a negative relationship between Problematic Internet Use and Agreeableness (Floros & Siomos, 2014;Kayiş et al., 2016), Conscientiousness (Samarein et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2015), Openness to Experience (Haddadain et al., 2010;Kayiş et al., 2016) and Extraversion (Floros & Siomos, 2014). It is also in line with studies that found a direct link between Problematic Internet Use and neuroticism (Mark & Ganzach, 2014;Wang et al., 2015). These results only partially confirm Hypothesis 1, which stated that Problematic Internet Use would be directly related to Openness to experience, Neuroticism and Impulsivity and inversely to Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness.
Problematic Internet Use had the highest correlations with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. People with low agreeableness are seen by others as less pleasant, have difficulty establishing peer networks, and participate less frequently in group activities. These people may be rejected by others, leading them to turn to the Internet as a means of fulfilling their personal needs (Samarein et al., 2013).
Individuals with low conscientiousness may be at greater risk of being distracted by all the possibilities offered by the Internet and of getting lost in virtual worlds (Müller et al., 2013). Due to the difficulties in organization, selfdiscipline, compliance with rules and commitments that characterize them (Puerta-Cortés, 2014), they may prefer to connect to the Internet instead of engaging in other less pleasant activities, with the consequent risk of developing Problematic Internet Use.
Negative Impact of WhatsApp correlated significantly and negatively with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience and Extraversion, and directly with Neuroticism. These results partially confirm Hypothesis 2 which formulated that the Negative Impact of WhatsApp will be directly related to Openness to experience and Neuroticism and inversely to Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness.
These results are consistent with previous studies linking instant messaging to conscientiousness (Buckner et al., 2012) and neuroticism (Ehrenberg et al., 2008). Decreased conscientiousness was the personality trait that was most strongly related to the increased negative consequences experienced by using WhatsApp. Thus, people with low conscientiousness may find in WhatsApp an application to spend time, talk to others and entertain themselves, leaving aside or postponing their daily activities, which could lead to long-term problems in their daily functioning, academic performance, family and social relationships.
The third objective was to analyse the relationship between the Problematic Internet Use and Negative Impact of WhatsApp with Impulsivity. The results indicated that Impulsivity was directly associated with Problematic Internet Use and the Negative Impact of WhatsApp, Hypothesis 3 being confirmed. This is congruent with previous research (Beard, 2011;Cía, 2013;Echeburúa & Requesens, 2012;Koo & Kwon, 2014). Impulsivity has not only been considered a risk factor for the development of Problematic Internet Use (Echeburúa & Requesens, 2012), but it has also been proven that like behavioural addiction progresses, behaviours become automatic and are activated by impulses and emotions over which one has poor cognitive and self-critical control (Cía, 2013).
Reward was the dimension of Impulsivity that obtained the highest significant correlations with each of the factors of Problematic Internet Use scale and the WANIS. We would highlight that Reward correlations with Negative Outcomes and with Negative Consequences of WhatsApp use. People with Problematic Internet Use may turn to the Internet to satisfy the need for immediate gratification with no regard to the possible negative consequences of this behaviour (Cía, 2013). Similarly, users of WhatsApp would seek immediate rewards through this application without taking into consideration the negative consequences that may result from their behaviour (Cía, 2013).
The final objective was to examine the predictive power of the Big Five personality factors and Impulsivity on Problematic Internet Use and Negative Impact of WhatsApp.
According to our results, the variables that predict Problematic Internet Use were Impulsivity and Extraversion.
These results only partially confirm Hypothesis 4 which postulated that low levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience, extraversion and Impulsivity would predict Problematic Internet Use.
From these results, we would indicate, although with caution, that impulsive and not very extrovert people could have a greater predisposition to develop Problematic Internet Use. Impulsive and introverted people may have an immediate need to interact with others but may not be able to relate to them because of their shyness. These people may impulsively turn to the Internet to interact with others in a more comfortable and secure way and thus immediately achieve the social gratification they cannot gain from face-to-face interactions (Marriott & Buchanan, 2014).
The variables that predicted the Negative Impact of WhatsApp were Impulsivity, Openness to Experience, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, therefore Hypothesis 5 is only partially confirmed. We can say, albeit cautiously, that people who are impulsive, neurotic, less inclined toward change or novelty, and less conscientious may be more likely to experience a negative impact because of their use of WhatsApp. These people could find in WhatsApp a way of keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances in a comfortable, safe and familiar way.
Our results seem to indicate that Impulsivity plays a relevant role in the appearance and maintenance of both problems. At first, impulsive people might turn to the Internet or WhatsApp to immediately satisfy a particular need or desire. Over time, it may be that these people will cease to use WhatsApp or the Internet in a controlled and voluntary way and move towards compulsive or recurrent use, because they are unable to suppress their impulses. This could encourage the development of problematic Internet and/or WhatsApp use and lead them to experience a series of negative consequences similar to those of behavioural addictions (López-Fernandez, 2015).
This study has afforded a deeper understanding of problematic Internet and WhatsApp use, two phenomena that, although recent, are increasingly present in our society. This research provides evidence about the relationship of these two issues to the Big Five personality factors and Impulsivity. Specifically, the importance of Impulsivity in problematic Internet and WhatsApp use is clear because, according to the results, impulsive people may have a greater predisposition to develop both problems. This finding is essential for both the prevention and treatment of problematic Internet and WhatsApp use. Hence, programs or workshops that teach how to control and manage impulsivity, train skills to resist the temptation of an immediate reward, learn to expect a later reward, etc. could be an effective way to reduce the risk of the emergence of Problematic Internet Use and decrease the negative impact experienced by using WhatsApp.
As limitations of the study we can highlight the use of a sample for convenience, which influences the generalization of the results. On the other hand, it is a transversal study, so preventing the establishment of causal relationships that would better explain the direction of the variables used.

Funding
The authors have no funding to report.