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Shchebetenko S.A. (2016). Online Social Network Users’ Attitudes toward Personality Traits Predict Behaviour of their Friends. National Psychological Journal. 4, 34-44.

Abstract

The research considers attitudes toward personality traits in online social network (OSN) Vkontakte users’ behaviour. Users’ friends’ activity on a given user’s profile was supposed to be affected by attitudes toward traits of the latter. Within a broader context, the role of metacognitive type of characteristic adaptations as a key element of the five-factor theory of personality is studied. Accordingly, along with attitudes toward traits, other metacognitive characteristic adaptations are examined (e.g. dispositional efficiency, reflected trait, and reflected attitude toward a trait). 1030 undergraduates participated in the study. The research results confirm that extraversion is the most important predictor of OSN behavior among other personality traits. The information presented in this research is obtained using behavioural data instead of more convenient self-reports. Moreover, these behavioural data characterise other users’ (friends’) behaviour while addressing a certain user’s profile. Positive attitudes toward each Big Five traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience) separately affected the number of “Likes” of the avatars representing users’ photographs. Furthermore, revealed correlations between traits and “Likes” were subsequently eliminated by the attitudes toward respective traits. Positive attitudes toward conscientiousness predicted the increase of friends’ number unlike trait conscientiousness. Positive attitude toward agreeableness predicted the increase of the number of posts written by friends on user’s wall unlike trait agreeableness. Attitudes toward traits are argued to affect social environment governed by an individual: one may select those social relationships and

Received: 10/02/2015
Accepted: 02/16/2016
Pages: 34-44
DOI: 10.11621/npj.2016.0404

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Keywords: personality traits; five-factor theory of personality; characteristic adaptations; metacognitions; social attitudes; social networks;

Available Online 30.12.2016

Table 1. Correlations of indicators of personality characteristics and behaviour on "Vkontakte"

Personality Characteristics

Friends (939)

Posts (250)

Likes (830)

Extraversion

Personality Trait

.37***

.31***

.25***

Dispositional Efficiency

.34***

.21**

.23***

Reflected Personality Trait

.35***

.28***

.27***

Attitude toward Personality Trait

.22***

.11

.20***

Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

.11**

.02

.14***

Amiability

Personality Trait

.08*

-.03

.02

Dispositional Efficiency

.08*

.04

.09*

Reflected Personality Trait

.06*

.00

.02

Attitude toward Personality Trait

.09**

.13*

.13***

Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

.06

.15*

.11**

Conscientiousness

Personality Trait

.05

-.07

.10**

Dispositional Efficiency

.05

-.03

.11**

Reflected Personality Trait

.02

-.03

.08*

Attitude toward Personality Trait

.08*

.09

.10**

Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

.11**

.10

.12**

Neurotism

Personality Trait

-.00

.07

.08*

Dispositional Efficiency

-.02

.05

.04

Reflected Personality Trait

.01

.14*

.05

Attitude toward Personality Trait

-.05

-.11

-.01

Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

-.05

-.05

-.11**

Opennes to Experience

Personality Trait

.17***

.17**

.10**

Dispositional Efficiency

.15***

.16*

.06

Reflected Personality Trait

.16***

.16*

.08*

Attitude toward Personality Trait

.11**

.17**

.11**

Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

.08*

.07

.12***

Note In the brackets N is valid N; *** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05.

Table 2. Hierarchical regression analysis of "Vkontakte" Friends number variation depending on the extraversion characteristics

Extraversion (Predictors)

 

Number of Friends

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 937) = 150.71, p < .001)

.139

 

Personality Trait

2.66 [2.23; 3.08]

.37***

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 936) = 80.22, p < .001):

.146

.008**

Personality Trait

1.91 [1.26; 2.57]

.27***

2.40

 

 

DE

1.19 [0.39; 1.99]

.14**

2.40

 

 

Step 3 (F(3, 935) = 56.75, p < .001):

.154

.008**

Personality Trait

1.34 [0.58; 2.10]

.19**

3.24

 

 

DE

0.92 [0.10; 1.74]

.11*

2.53

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.91 [0.30; 1.52]

.14**

2.47

 

 

Note DE – Dispositional Efficiency; VIF – Variance Inflation Factor.

Table 3. Hierarchical regression analysis of Likes variation depending on the extraversion characteristics

Extraversion (Predictors)

Number of Likes per Picture

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 828) = 53.56, p < .001)

.061

 

Personality Trait

0.12 [0.08; 0.15]

.25***

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 827) = 28.33, p < .001):

.064

.003†

Personality Trait

0.08 [0.04; 0.13]

.18**

2.40

 

 

DE

0.05 [-0.01; .11]

.09†

2.40

 

 

Step 3 (F(3, 826) = 22.76, p < .001):

.076

.012**

Personality Trait

0.04 [-0.02; .09]

.08

3.24

 

 

DE

0.03 [-0.03; .09]

.05

2.53

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.08 [0.03; 0.12]

.17**

2.47

 

 

Step 4 (F(4, 825) = 19.03, p < .001):

.084

.008**

Personality Trait

0.03 [-0.03; .08]

.06

3.30

 

 

DE

0.01 [-0.05; .07]

.02

2.62

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.07 [0.03; 0.12]

.17**

2.47

 

 

Attitude

0.07 [0.02; 0.13]

.10**

1.30

 

 

Table 4. Hierarchical regression analysis of Likes variation depending on amiability characteristics

Amiability (Predictors)

Number of Likes per Picture

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 828) = 0.38, p = .537)

.000

 

Personality Trait

0.01 [-0.03; .05]

.02

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 827) = 4.30, p = .014):

.010

.010**

Personality Trait

-0.05 [-.10; .01]

-.08

2.03

 

 

DE

0.09 [0.03; 0.15]

.14**

2.03

 

 

Step 3 (F(3, 826) = 3.08, p = .027):

.011

.001

Personality Trait

-0.04 [-.10; .03]

-.06

3.24

 

 

DE

0.10 [0.03; 0.16]

.15**

2.22

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

-0.02 [-.07; .03]

-.04

2.04

 

 

Step 4 (F(4, 825) = 4.74, p = .001):

.022

.011**

Personality Trait

-0.05 [-.11; .01]

-.08

2.52

 

 

DE

0.06 [-0.01; .13]

.10†

2.48

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

-0.03 [-.08; .02]

-.05

2.05

 

 

Attitude

0.10 [0.04; 0.16]

.13**

1.58

 

 

Table 5. Hierarchical regression analysis of Likes variation depending on conscientiousness characteristics

Conscientiousness (Predictors)

Number of Likes per Picture

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 828) = 7.91, p = .005)

.009**

 

Personality Trait

0.05 [0.02; 0.08]

.10**

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 827) = 4.99, p = .007):

.012

.002

Personality Trait

0.02 [-0.03; .07]

.04

2.33

 

 

DE

0.04 [-0.02; .10]

.08

2.33

 

 

Step 3 (F(3, 826) = 3.33, p = .019):

.012

.000

Personality Trait

0.02 [-0.04; .08]

.04

2.97

 

 

DE

0.04 [-0.02; .10]

.08

2.59

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

-0.00 [-.05; .04]

-.01

2.51

 

 

Step 4 (F(4, 825) = 3.35, p = .010):

.016

.004†

Personality Trait

0.02 [-0.05; .07]

.03

3.03

 

 

DE

0.03 [-0.03; .09]

.06

2.64

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

-0.00 [-.05; .05]

-.00

2.52

 

 

Attitude

0.06 [-.00; 0.12]

.07†

1.14

 

 

Step 5 (F(5, 824) = 3.96, p = .001):

.023

.007*

Personality Trait

0.01 [-.05; 0.07]

.02

3.03

 

 

DE

0.03 [-.03; 0.09]

.06

2.65

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.01 [-.04; 0.05]

.02

2.57

 

 

Attitude

0.02 [-.05; 0.09]

.02

1.40

 

 

RA

0.09 [0.02; 0.16]

.10*

1.28

 

 

Note DE – Dispositional Efficiency, RA – Reflected Attitude toward Personality Trait

Table 6. Hierarchical regression analysis of Likes variation depending on neurotism characteristics

Neurotism (Predictors)

Number of Likes per Picture

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 828) = 4.91, p = .027)

.006*

 

Personality Trait

0.04 [0.00; 0.07]

.08*

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 827) = 2.76, p = .064):

.007

.001

Personality Trait

0.05 [0.00; .10]

.11*

2.14

 

 

DE

-0.02 [-.06; .03]

-.04

2.14

 

 

Step 3 (F(3, 826) = 1.84, p = .138):

.007

.000

Personality Trait

0.05 [-0.00; .10]

.10†

2.78

 

 

DE

-0.02 [-.07; .03]

-.04

2.39

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.00 [-.04; .05]

.01

2.45

 

 

Step 4 (F(4, 825) = 1.44, p = .219):

.007

.000

Personality Trait

0.05 [-0.01; .10]

.10†

2.79

 

 

DE

-0.02 [-.07; .03]

-.04

2.39

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.00 [-0.04; .05]

.01

2.45

 

 

Attitude

-0.01 [-.07; .04]

-.02

1.02

 

 

Step 5 (F(5, 824) = 3.66, p = .003):

.022

.015***

Personality Trait

0.04 [-.01; 0.09]

.09

2.80

 

 

DE

-0.01 [-.06; .04]

-.03

2.41

 

 

Reflected Personality Trait

0.00 [-.05; 0.05]

.00

2.45

 

 

Attitude

0.05 [-.02; 0.11]

.06

1.41

 

 

ОУ

-0.11 [-.17; -.05]

-.14***

1.40

 

 

Table 7. Hierarchical regression analysis of Likes variation depending on openness to experience characteristics

Openness (Predictors)

Number of Likes per Picture

B [95% CI]

β

VIF

R2

ΔR2

Step 1 (F(1, 828) = 8.10, p = .005)

.010**

 

Personality Trait

0.05 [0.02; 0.09]

.10**

 

 

 

Step 2 (F(2, 827) = 4.34, p = .013):

.010

.001

Personality Trait

0.07 [0.01; 0.12]

.13*

2.44

 

 

For citing this article:

Shchebetenko S.A. (2016). Online Social Network Users’ Attitudes toward Personality Traits Predict Behaviour of their Friends. National Psychological Journal. 4, 34-44.