The purpose of this study is the moderating effect of inferiority feelings on the
relationship between effect of fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency of
Chinese students in Korea. Since Chinese students living in Korea may experience
various...
The purpose of this study is the moderating effect of inferiority feelings on the
relationship between effect of fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency of
Chinese students in Korea. Since Chinese students living in Korea may experience
various difficulties such as academic application problems, loneliness, longing for family,
discrimination, and interpersonal relationships while studying in Korea, the use of SNS
can begin to solve these problems. However, overuse can also have many negative
consequences. In this study, we investigated the moderating effect of inferiority on the
relationship between fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency of Chinese
students in Korea, to find out whether fear of missing out and inferiority affect SNS
addiction tendency of Chinese international students in Korea. The purpose of this study
was to verify the moderating effect of inferiority on the relationship between fear of
missing out and SNS addiction tendency, and to provide basic data to prevent SNS
addiction among Chinese students in Korea.
Therefore, this study was conducted with Chinese students at a 4-year university
in Seoul, and the fear of missing out, SNS addiction tendency, and inferiority of Chinese
students in Korea were investigated for two weeks from April 7 to April 21, 2023. An
online survey was conducted to measure this. 511 copies of collected valid survey data
were used for analysis. The collected data were analyzed with the SPSS 25.0 program.
First, a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to identify the demographic and
general characteristics of the study subjects, and a reliability coefficient (Cronbach's α)
was calculated to measure the reliability of each measurement tool. Next, it was
analyzed according to the research problem.
This study's research questions and design were set as follows. Research question
1 is there a correlation between Chinese students living in Korea's fear of missing out,
SNS addiction tendency, and inferiority? A correlation analysis was conducted to
examine the correlation between fear of missing out, SNS addiction tendency, and
inferiority among Chinese students. Research question 2 is does the fear of missing out
and inferiority of Chinese students affect the SNS addiction tendency? A simple
regression analysis was performed. Research question 3 is, is there a moderating effect
of inferiority and each sub-factor on the relationship between fear of missing out and
SNS addiction tendency of Chinese students? To verify the moderating effect, a
hierarchical regression analysis was conducted with fear of alienation as an independent
variable, SNS addiction tendency as a dependent variable, and inferiority and each
sub-factor as a moderating variable. The summary of the results revealed in this study
is as follows.
First, as a result of examining the correlation between fear of missing out, SNS
addiction tendency and inferiority of Chinese students, there was a significant positive
correlation between Chinese students' fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency,
and a significant positive correlation between SNS addiction tendency and inferiority. Apositive correlation appeared. There was a significant negative correlation between fear
of missing out and inferiority. Second, as a result of examining the relationship between
fear of missing out and inferiority on SNS addiction tendencies of Chinese international
students in Korea, fear of missing out can explain 36% of the causes of changes in
SNS addiction tendencies, and inferiority can explain 28% of the causes of changes in
SNS addiction tendencies. Third, the moderating effect of inferiority was confirmed in
the relationship between fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency of Chinese
students in Korea. When fear of missing out and deep inferiority between the entire
SNS addiction tendency of Chinese students were input as moderating variables, Both
the fear of missing out and inferiority interaction terms and the amount of change in
the F-value were significant in Model 3. In other words, there was a moderating effect
between fear of missing out and SNS addiction tendency as a whole.
Looking at the sub-factors of inferiority, first, when sensitivity was input as a
moderating variable, fear of alienation and sensitivity interaction terms and F-value
changes in Model 3 were statistically significant. In other words, when Chinese students
in Korea with high sensitivity perceive fear of missing out, their SNS addiction
tendencies are more enhanced than Chinese students in Korea with low sensitivity.
Next, when passiveness was input as a moderating variable, the fear of alienation and
sensitivity interaction terms and the change in F value were statistically significant in
Model 3. Therefore, as the fear of alienation is felt, it means that Chinese students in
Korea with high passivity have a higher tendency to become addicted to SNS than
Chinese students in Korea with low passivity. In addition, when regression was input as
a moderating variable, fear of missing out and regression were statistically significant in
the change in the interaction term and F-value in Model 3. In other words, as the fear
of missing out is felt, Chinese students in Korea with high regressiveness have a higher
tendency to become addicted to SNS than Chinese students in Korea with lowpassiveness.
Based on the above research results, it was suggested that it is necessary to
prepare a specific and feasible method to create a program that can reduce inferiority
feelings in order to prevent SNS addiction tendencies of Chinese students studying in
Korea in the future. The results derived from this study are expected to provide basic
data when preparing preventive measures for the SNS addiction tendency of Chinese
students in Korea in the future.