Relationship Between Four Needs of Meaning and Smartphone Usage
- DOI
- 10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_9How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Meaning in life; Smartphone usage; Smartphone addiction; Self- Efficacy; Self-worth
- Abstract
Finding meaning in life (MIL) is one of the central motivations of human life. MIL significantly contributes to the optimal growth of human potential and overall well-being. Baumeister (1991) proposed that four needs: purpose, values, efficacy, and self-worth; shape individuals’ quest for MIL. Scholars have suggested that social belongingness and social connection play a significant role in creating MIL. Moreover, social groups play an essential role in satisfying the four needs of MIL. The relationship between humans and technology, such as smartphones, has become intimate. Smartphones have become an integral and inseparable part of humans’ life. Smartphones have provided abundant opportunities for constant social connection with family, friends, and diverse social groups. However, the inclusion of smartphones in individuals’ lives is ‘Janus-faced.’ Smartphones provide ample opportunities to build and maintain significant social relationships both in the real and virtual worlds. On the contrary, smartphones tend to overly gratify individuals’ pleasure-seeking behaviour and make them addicted to their usage. The study attempts to analyze the intricate relationship between four needs for MIL and perceived smartphone usage. The study considers two aspects of perceived smartphone usage: positive smartphone usage (PSU) and smartphone addiction (SA). A sample of 509 adult participants from India’s capital and national capital region responded to questionnaires related to four needs of MIL, PSU, and SA. Data retrieved from this phase was analyzed using product-moment correlation and multiple regression. The analysis of data yielded the following results: (i) purpose was positively associated with PSU, (ii) lower order values were negatively associated with PSU and positively associated with SA; (iii) efficacy was positively associated with PSU and negatively associated with SA; (iv) self-worth was positively associated with both PSU and SA. The results suggested that individuals searching for MIL use their smartphones to build social capital, which provides them mental security, easy access to information, the scope for emotional sharing, and a better image in society. Secondly, the results suggest that helping individuals enhance their efficacy beliefs helps them experience better control of their habits linked with smartphone addiction. Thus, results imply that making people aware of the importance of MIL could help individuals use their smartphones effectively and help curb the disadvantages of smartphone addiction.
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Author(s)
- Open Access
- Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Rajbala Singh AU - Rageshwari Munderia PY - 2022 DA - 2022/12/27 TI - Relationship Between Four Needs of Meaning and Smartphone Usage BT - Proceedings of the Meaning in Life International Conference 2022 - Cultivating, Promoting, and Enhancing Meaning in Life Across Cultures and Life Span (MIL 2022) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 112 EP - 125 SN - 2667-128X UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_9 DO - 10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_9 ID - Singh2022 ER -