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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1485264
This article is part of the Research Topic The influence of Internet and technology on mental health and psychological adjustment of young adults View all articles
Personality Traits and Digital Challenges in Honduran Adults: Exploring the Dark and Light Triads' Influence on Internet Gaming Disorder and Technology-Related Conflicts
Provisionally accepted- National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The present study analyzed the effects of Light and Dark Triad traits scores on Internet Gaming Disorder, intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts related to internet consumption, conflicts, and communicational emotional usage related to mobile phones. Light Triad traits include Faith in Humanity, Humanism, and Kantianism. Dark Triad traits include Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy. The sample consisted of 450 adults of the Honduran population, of which 55.33% were women, and 44.67% were men, with an average mean age of 25.52 years (SD=6.79). Results indicate that Machiavellianism and Psychopathy scores have significant effects over Internet Gaming Disorder scores. Intrapersonal conflicts related to internet consumption were negatively affected by Narcissism scores and positively affected by Machiavellianism. Psychopathy scores explained interpersonal conflicts related to internet consumption scores. On the other hand, conflicts related to mobile phone usage were negatively affected by Narcissism and Kantianism, while Machiavellianism had positive effects. Finally, communicational emotional usage related to mobile phones was significantly affected by Machiavellianism. When comparing by respondent's sex, Machiavellianism consistently emerges as a key predictor; however, its effects tend to be stronger in men. In contrast, Psychopathy, Kantianism, and Narcissism exhibit more sex-specific associations, influencing females and males differently across digital behaviors and conflicts.
Keywords: Dark Triad1, light triad2, behavioral addiction3, gaming disorder4, mobile phone conflicts5, problematic internet use6
Received: 23 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mejía-Suazo, Landa-Blanco, Mejía-Suazo and Martínez-Martínez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Claudio J. Mejía-Suazo, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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