Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Social Alienation and Psychological Escapism among Binge-watching Youth

Description

Page: 195-200

Nilesh Thakre¹ and Bharti Purswani² (Department of Psychology, Dean of Humanities, SNDT Women’s University, Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra¹ and Department of Psychology, SNDT Women’s University, Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra²)

In the modern world of the Internet and web series, watching numerous episodes in a row has become one of the most popular ways of recreation for young adults. This study examines different personality factors and their relationship with social alienation and psychological escapism among youth participating in excessive binge-watching behaviour. The participants in the present study comprise 333 men and women aged 18 to 35 years from Mumbai and its suburbs. They were assessed by using four different tools, namely the Binge-Watching Symptoms scale, the Big Five inventory, the Dean Alienation Scale (DAS) and the Escapism Scale. The data was analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation, followed by multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that openness to experience was the only trait that significantly predicted social alienation and psychological escapism. The findings suggest that among the Big Five personality traits, openness to experience plays a pivotal role in predicting tendencies toward social alienation and psychological escapism in the context of excessive binge-watching. This highlights the need for a deeper understanding of how personality influences media consumption patterns and their potential psychological consequences among young adults.