Unravelling late adolescents’ addiction to social media: a unified theory perspective

Purpose This study aims to explore the intricate connections among late adolescents in Malaysia by considering their attachment patterns, attitudes towards technology acceptance, malevolent psychological and emotional traits and addiction to social media. This is achieved by integrating and refining the attachment theory (AT), the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the dark triad (DT) personality traits. Design/methodology/approach A total of 217 quantitative data were gathered from adolescents between 17 and 19 years of age. The data was analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling with established constructs, including TAM (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude), DT traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, fear of missing out), AT (attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety) and social media addiction. Findings The findings indicate that the perceived ease of use and usefulness are significantly positively related to attitude. Additionally, both attitude and FOMO were found to have a significant positive relationship with social media addiction. Notably, attachment anxiety was found to have a significant positive impact on FOMO, whereas attachment avoidance did not. Furthermore, among the dark triad traits, only narcissism showed a positive relationship with FOMO. Originality/value This study is novel because it integrates and expands unified theoretical perspectives to uncover the multifaceted factors contributing to late adolescents’ social media addiction. Moreover, introducing new concepts such as FOMO lays the groundwork for future research. Additionally, it proposes interventions that target specific vulnerabilities associated with attachment styles, technology acceptance and personality traits.