Social media addiction, self-percept and religious orientation in adolescence: Polatli case

This research aims to investigate the relationship between religious orientation, social media addiction and self-perception in adolescents. In addition, examining the impact of social media platforms on individuals' understanding of issues such as religion, family, privacy, religious orientation, self-perception, and the reflection of this impact on real life in the light of data obtained from the field is among the planned aims of the study. Considering the age distribution of users who actively spend time on social media platforms in Turkey, it is seen that young people are more active users than individuals in other age groups and are in the risk group because they are more vulnerable to the possible negative consequences of social media. For this reason, it was expected that investigating the relationship between self-perception, social media addiction and religious orientation using a quantitative method on a sample group of high school students in Polatlı district of Ankara would reveal important findings in terms of the psychology of religion literature. For this purpose, a survey form consisting of the Social Media Addiction Scale, Self Theory Scale and Reconstructed Muslim Religious Orientation Scale was applied to 1068 individuals between the ages of 14-18 residing in Polatlı district of Ankara. According to the findings of the study, it was determined that there were significant differences and relationships between the participants' social media addiction, self-perception, religious orientation and demographic variables. Research findings have shown that there are significant statistical relationships between the sub-dimensions of social media addiction and religious orientation sub-dimensions. In addition, no significant relationship was found between social media addiction and self-perception and religious orientation and self-perception. In the multiple linear regression analysis conducted to determine the predictive value of religious orientation on social media addiction and self-perception, it was seen that religious orientation had a reducing effect on social media addiction, but did not significantly predict self-perception. Keywords: The Psychology of Religion, Addiction, Social media Addiction, Religious orientation, Self-perception, Adolescence