The mediating role of social media addiction and phubbing in basic psychological needs in relationships and relationship satisfaction

The current study aims to explore the mediating role of social media addiction and phubbing in the relationship between the satisfaction level of basic psychological needs in relationship and relationship satisfaction. For this purpose, a total of 958 university students (765 women, 79.9%; 193 men, 20.1%) who are enrolled in Necmettin Erbakan University and Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University participated in this study. The participants in this study are aged between 17 and 29 years old, with a mean age of 21.10 years (SD = 1.92). For personal information of the participants, this study used a demographic information form, the Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs in Romantic Relationships Scale, the Generic Scale of Phubbing, the Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form, and the Relationship Satisfaction Scale. To assess the validity and reliability of the Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs in Romantic Relationships Scale, which is based on Glasser's Choice Theory, a total of 904 university students (675 women, 74.6%; 229 men, 25.4%) between the ages of 18 and 29 years old participated in the study, with an average age of 21.44 (SD = 0.65). To assess convergent validity, this study utilized the Basic Psychological Needs Scale in Relationships, which is based on the Self-Determination Theory. The scale was determined to be valid and reliable based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity analysis, test-retest method, and total item correlation coefficient analysis. Upon examination of the study results, it was found that phubbing and social media addiction played a mediating role in the relationship between the satisfaction of love/belonging, power, and freedom needs and relationship satisfaction. Through the use of the bootstrapping method, it was discovered that the need for fun had an indirect effect on relationship satisfaction; however, in the Sobel test, it was found that phubbing and social media addiction did not have a mediating role in this relationship. Aside from the need for fun, it was determined that phubbing played an intermediary role in the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in romantic relationships and social media addiction. Lastly, it was found that social media addiction had a mediating role in the relationship between relationship satisfaction and phubbing. The implications of these findings were discussed within the context of relevant literature. When the findings were examined, it was found that satisfaction of basic psychological needs in romantic relationships affects relationship satisfaction, and social media addiction and sociotelism have a mediating role in this relationship. The results obtained from this model can help field workers in premarital counseling and couple counseling. In addition, suggestions for further research in line with the results obtained from the study were also presented within the scope of the research.