Personality Traits and Social Media Use in 20 Countries: How Personality Relates to Frequency of Social Media Use, Social Media News Use, and Social Media Use for Social Interaction

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between peoples' personality traits and social media uses with data from 20 societies (N = 21,314). A measure of the "Big Five" personality traits is tested on key social media dimensions: frequency of use, social interaction, and news consumption. Across diverse societies, findings suggest that while extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are all positive predictors of different types of social media use, emotional stability and openness are negatively related to them.

Keywords: personality traits; social media for social interaction; social media news use; social media use; “Big Five,”.