The relationships between happiness motives and problematic smartphone use in young adults: A weekly diary study

Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is a recent concern resulting from the dramatic increase in worldwide smartphone use. Although prior studies have indicated the between-person relationship between happiness motives and PSU, less is known about the within-person connection. This study investigated the week-to-week associations between PSU and two types of happiness motives (i.e., hedonic motives and eudaimonic motives) using a weekly diary design. A sample of 270 young adults ( M age = 19.06 years, SD = 0.88 years) completed the online questionnaires once a week for ten consecutive weeks. The results indicated that hedonic motives were positively linked with PSU while eudaimonic motives were negatively associated with it in the same week. More importantly, the multilevel cross-lagged path analysis showed that hedonic motives from the previous week positively predicted PSU in the following week. There was also a reverse relationship between them, whereas there was no predictive relationship between eudaimonic motives and PSU. These results provide convincing evidence that the two types of happiness motives play different roles in the development of PSU, and for the reciprocal relationships between hedonic motives and PSU. • A weekly diary method was used in the study. • In total, 270 young adults completed weekly diaries over ten consecutive weeks. • Higher weekly PSU was related to more hedonic motives and fewer eudaimonic motives. • Hedonic motives and PSU predict each other at the within-person level. • Eudaimonic motives cannot predict PSU at the within-person level, and vice versa.