Compulsive mobile application usage and technostress: the role of personality traits

Purpose Compulsive usage of mobile applications may have a negative effect on people’s health and social interaction. Past studies have indicated that personality traits were related to compulsive usage of technologies, but most of them have explored the factors from the system and interface design perspectives, specifically. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Big Five personality traits, materialism, and external locus of control affect compulsive mobile application usage, and examines how compulsive usage impacts technostress. Design/methodology/approach The present study proposes a framework based on Big Five personality traits and related literature. The author collected a total of 546 valid responses to the online survey, and the author examined the 18 proposed hypotheses using SmartPLS software. Findings The results show that neuroticism, extraversion, materialism, and external locus of control have significant effects on compulsive usage of mobile social applications. In addition, agreeableness, materialism, and external locus of control significantly influence compulsive usage of mobile game applications. Compulsive usage (of both mobile social apps and mobile games), materialism, and external locus of control all have a positive, direct impact on technostress. Practical implications This study offers mobile app design companies and educational institutions a understanding of the social problems caused by the misuse of mobile devices, helping them to prevent the increase of the negative influences of such misuse. Originality/value The primary value of this paper lies in providing a better understanding of the influence of personality traits on the compulsive use of mobile apps and technostress.