Uses of the Internet and their relationships with individual differences in personality

Two hundred and twenty adult participants completed postal questionnaires to assess the frequency and location of their use of 16 different Internet services. They also completed a battery of scales covering various trait and cognitive aspects of personality. Internet use was wide spread and diverse. The relative popularities and frequencies of use of the different services were established, and it appears that individuals use the Internet most where it is readily and freely available. Gender and age significantly influenced patterns of use, but there were remarkably few significant associations with individual differences in personality when gender and age were controlled for. Exploratory factor analysis of the frequency of use data for individual services revealed the presence of four inter-correlated factors, which have been identified as Work, Social, Use-at-home, and Leisure. A consideration of the overt purposes for using individual services was not sufficient to identify the factors; it was also necessary to take into account the location at which services were accessed. It has been concluded that individuals' use of the Internet can be regarded, at least in part, as a form of displacement activity, engaged in when there is nothing else to do or when the task in hand is not especially attractive. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.