Variations in Social Media Use and Narcissism Conduct among Students in Colleges of Education on the Copperbelt, Zambia

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue III, March 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Variations in Social Media Use and Narcissism Conduct among Students in Colleges of Education on the Copperbelt, Zambia

Harry Jordan Silomba^1*, Professor Sophie Kasonde Ng’andu^2
1Lecturer, Educational Psychology, Mufulira College of Education Zambia
²Senior lecturer, Department of Psychology Sociology and Special Education, University of Zambia

Abstract: This study investigated the variations in social media usage with regard to Narcissism conduct among students in colleges of education. The study utilised the survey method to solicit data from a sample of five hundred and seventy-nine (579) college students who were drawn from three (3) public and three (3) private colleges of education on the Copperbelt. Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI 12) were utilised to determine student’s social media use and narcissistic behaviour. The findings indicated that Facebook and WhatsApp were the commonly used platforms and that their adoption depended upon demographic variables of gender, age, year of study and college status. The study also finds a high degree of narcissism in students that leads to troubling levels. Therefore, the study suggests early screening, accompanied by effective counselling interventions to inculcate a sense of self-worth.

Keywords: Demographic variations; Social Media; Narcissism; selfie.

I. INTRODUCTION

Social media innovation has of late become an indistinguishable piece of a person’s everyday exercises that has attracted an extensive population and has spread its reach to almost every corner of the world (Kemp, 2020). It has connected places worldwide in a way that was not previously possible, making the world’s inhabitants a little closer to each other. According to Shilip and Arun-Kanti (2019), social media is a speedy and diverse medium of communication that helps exchange content, knowledge, entertainment and know-how. In this way, social media have become critical forums that have provided voices to several unheard-of and unknown individuals, including college students (Silomba et al., 2021).
The rapid development of social media has caused several profound changes in the way users adopt and use them for interaction and communication (Kapoor et al., 2017). It has led many users to have a chance of accessing multiple social media content through just a few touches.

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