Same Screens, Different Minds: Personality as a Key to Psychological Well-being in the Digital Era

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21336329

Sonia Kapur and Urbashi Khanikar (Department of Sports Sciences and Medicine, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab)

Digital technology has changed the methods of thinking, communicating, and interacting with the world around them. For athletes, this shift has made social media an important part of daily life, influencing both performance-related experiences and emotional well-being. A total of 182 (91 males & 91 females) university athletes from different team and individual games were included and the age range was between 18-25 years. The Standardized questionnaires such as Social Media Use Scale (Lin, Wang, & Chen, 2016), the Big Five Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1980), and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (Warwick & Edinburgh, 2006), are administered. The findings reveal clear gender differences: female athletes appeared more emotionally affected, with image- and comparison-based social media use showing stronger associations with certain personality traits and poorer psychological well-being, whereas male athletes showed fewer and weaker associations across these variables. These findings suggest that social media influences male and female athletes differently and highlight the importance of encouraging healthier and more balanced digital habits to support their mental well-being. This study emphasizes the importance of promoting balanced and mindful social media engagement to support mental health.