A Study of Covert Narcissism in Adolescent Internet Addiction : Relationshipto Anonymity, Presence, Interactivity, and Achievement Motivation.
- Author:
Won Hee CHOI
1
;
Jung Woo SON
;
Yeoung Rang KIM
;
Sang Ick LEE
;
Chul Jin SHIN
;
Sie Kyeong KIM
;
Ga Won JU
Author Information
1. Department of Neuropsychiatry, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea. jwsonn@chungbuk.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Adolescent;
Internet Addiction;
Covert Narcissism
- MeSH:
Achievement;
Adolescent;
Anonyms and Pseudonyms;
Humans;
Internet;
Male;
Motivation;
Narcissism
- From:Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
2011;22(2):103-111
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: This study compared covert narcissistic propensity in adolescents with internet addiction tendency to normal adolescents. Further, we investigated the correlation between such propensities and anonymity in cyberspace, presence feeling and interactivity in internet gaming, and achievement motivation in adolescents with internet addiction tendencies. METHODS: Male middle school students with internet addiction tendencies (Addiction Tendency Group, N=27) and normal students (Control Group, N=29) were recruited. The scale of internet use, Covert Narcissism Scale, scale of achievement motivation, scale of anonymity in cyberspace, scale of presence feeling in internet games, and the scale of interactivity in internet games were administered. A comparison of the average scores and correlation analyses were performed. RESULTS: 1) Compared with Control Group, the Addiction Tendency Group showed significantly higher scores on all subscales of the Covert Narcissism Scale, and both the scale of presence feeling and that of interactivity in internet games. Further, the score on the scale of achievement motivation for the Addiction Tendency Group was significantly lower than that of the Control Group. 2) In the Addiction Tendency Group, the scores on several subscales of the Covert Narcissism Scale were significantly positively correlated with the scores on the scale of presence feeling in internet games, anonymity in cyberspace, and interactivity in internet games. However, in the Control Group, the scores of several subscales on the Covert Narcissism Scale were significantly negatively correlated with the score on the scale of achievement motivation, and was significantly positively correlated with the score on the scale of interactivity in internet games. There were no other significant correlations between the scores on the subscales of the Covert Narcissism Scale and the scores of either presence feeling in internet games or anonymity in cyberspace. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that adolescents with a tendency to be addicted to the internet exhibited higher covert narcissistic propensities than normal adolescents and that the covert narcissistic tendencies were related with presence feeling in cyber games as well as with anonymity in cyberspace.
