Designing a structural model for social media addiction based on the dark triad of personality: The mediating role of student social comparison

The use of the Internet and social media has become an integral part of our daily lives; however, excessive use of these tools can lead to many psychological and social consequences. This study aimed to design a structural model for social media addiction (SMA) based on the dark triad of personality (DTP) and through the mediating role of student social comparison. In this descriptive-correlational study, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to collect the data. The population consisted of all second-year high school students studying in Kazerun County in the academic year of 2021-2022 (N=5200), of whom 384 individuals were selected as the sample using cluster sampling. The data were collected using the Short Dark Triad Scale (SD3; Jones Paulhus, 2014), the Social Media Addiction Scale (Tutgun Ünal and Deniz, 2015), and the Adolescent Social Comparison Scale-Revised (ASCS-R; Xavier et al., 2014). The collected data were then analyzed in SPSS 26 and AMOS 24. The SEM results showed that the variable of DTP explains 21% of the variance of social comparison. In addition, variables of DTP and social comparison were found to explain 28% of the variance of SMA. The researchers offer suggestions for future studies based on the theoretical and practical findings on the concepts of SMA, DTP, and social comparison.