Social Anxiety and Personality Traits as Predictors of Social Media Addiction among staff and students in University of Jos and Plateau State University

Social media addiction is increasingly recognized for its psychological and socio-economic
impacts, such as impaired social relationships, academic underperformance, anxiety, and
depression. While research on this phenomenon is emerging in Nigeria, there remains a gap in
understanding the predictive role of social anxiety, personality traits, and self-esteem,
especially among workers and students in higher institutions. This study examines how social
anxiety, personality traits and demographics (age and gender) predict social media
addiction. This study addresses this gap by employing a cross-sectional quantitative survey
with 397 participants in Plateau State. The study made use of the social cognitive theory to
explain this phenomenon. Three Hypotheses were tested. Social anxiety did not significantly
predict social media addiction (β = .120, R² = .014, p > .05), suggesting it has no influence in
this context. Personality traits, however, were significant predictors (R = .18, R² = .032, p
< .05), with extraversion (β = .112, p < .05) and conscientiousness (β = -.106, p < .05) having
notable effects. Age and gender differences were non-significant (age: F (3, 393) = .637,
p > .05; gender: t (397) = 1.017, p > .05).This study recommends tailored interventions,
additional research, and application of findings in practice to better address social media
addiction among Nigerian workers and students.