The Relationship between Psychological Capital and Spirituality with Internet Addiction among Students at Jondishapuor University of Medical Sciences

摘要

Background and Aim : In today's world, the use of the Internet by students is undeniable because the Internet can play a major role in acquisition of different learning skills. This has led universities and research institutes to volunteer for the development of information infrastructure and global network connectivity and spend huge sums of money on full-text articles and scientific collections in such a way that the cost of full-text articles may range from 1 to 30 dollars. This is despite the fact that the use of these resources in scientific centers is very limited and the rate is even lower among university students. Internet addiction, a subsidiary of impulsive disorders, is defined as using the Internet in a way that brings about some psychological, social, academic, or occupational problems in a person's life. Entering the academic education studies, psychological capital, as one of the significant concepts of positive psychology approach, has contributed to considerable improvements and incisive and effective behavioral sciences research in such diverse fields as media, information technology tools, and the emerging damages. Psychological capital refers to a positive psychological state and a realistic and flexible approach towards life which is composed of the four constructs of “hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy”. Psychological capital is considered as a higher-order construct, i.e., these four constructive variables are combined to create a synergistic whole. Therefore, the entire construct is expected to have a greater impact on performance than its individual constructive variables. Nevertheless, the impact of psychological capital as a higher-order construct in information technology tools and the emerging damage is in an inchoate state. Developing a coherent system of beliefs and providing the humans with meaning and inner peace, spirituality– as an aspect of human existence– seems to have a protective role in dependence on the Internet. Not only does the widespread use of the Internet and inquisitive and unintended searches keep the students away from their main mission, but this lost time can also have adverse effects on their educational performance and mental health. Hence, determination and recognition of the contributions of predictive factors in students’ dependence on the Internet seems to be necessary, and the pathology of Internet addiction could help us understand better and use this hypermedia more efficiently. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the psychological capital and spirituality and Internet addiction in students studying at Jondishapuor University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods : In this descriptive-correlational study, applying a multi-stage cluster sampling method, 360 Jondishapuor University of Medical Sciences students in the second semester of the 2014-15 academic year were selected. The participants completed Young’s Internet addiction questionnaire, Luthans’ psychological capital questionnaire, and Parsian & Dunning’s spiritual questionnaire. Running SPSS 20 statistical software, the data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis. Ethical considerations : Verbal informed consent was obtained from the participants and the confidentiality of their information was assured. This study was conducted by personal funding. Findings : Students fell in the age range of 18 to 26, with the mean and standard deviation of 21.64 ± 2.21, 62.2% of whom were females and 37.8% were males. 30.3% of them were regular Internet users, 53.9% were at risk, and 15.8% were addicted to the Internet. The mean and standard deviation of psychological capital was 72.68 ± 16.34, the highest mean of the components of which were related to “resilience” with the mean of 18.40. The mean and standard deviation was 75.37 ± 18.78 for spirituality and 49.28 ± 15.75 for Internet addiction. There was a significant negative correlation observed between spirituality and psychological capital and its components with Internet addiction. 42% of the whole variance of Internet addiction was explained by the spiritual and psychological capital components. Of these components, spirituality (Beta = -0.45), self-efficacy (Beta = -0.28) and optimism (Beta = -0.21) could predict Internet addiction in a negative direction whereas “hope and resilience” alone could not predict Internet addiction. Conclusion : Psychological capital and its components have developing features; planning to enhance students' psychological capital, therefore, can a) increase students' commitment to engage in assignments and proper use of the Internet in order to achieve determined targets (self-efficacy); b) form positive attitudes about the present and future successes and failures, and thus reduce the tendency toward addictive behaviors (optimism); c) bring about persistence in achieving the goals and using the Internet to achieve these goals