Investigating the Moderating Effect of Language Attitude in the Interplay Among Social Media Addiction, Social Pain and Internet Trolling in College Students

This study investigates the moderating effect of language attitude on the relationships among social media addiction, social pain, and internet trolling among college students. A sample of 891 students from various colleges and universities completed validated measures assessing their levels of social media addiction, social pain, internet trolling, and language attitude. Using a latent variable approach within a multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) framework, participants were divided into three groups (high, medium, and low language attitude) based on their language attitude scores. The SEM analysis revealed distinct patterns across groups. In the high language attitude group, both social media addiction and social pain significantly predicted internet trolling, with standardized regression coefficients of 0.564 and 0.728, respectively. In the medium language attitude group, the predictive effects remained significant; however, the magnitude of the coefficients decreased markedly (0.264 for social media addiction and 0.562 for social pain). In contrast, in the low language attitude group, neither social media addiction nor social pain emerged as significant predictors of internet trolling. Interestingly, the covariance between social media addiction and social pain remained consistent across the three groups, suggesting a stable interrelationship irrespective of language attitude level. These findings imply that language attitude plays a crucial moderating role in the interplay among social media addiction, social pain, and internet trolling. Specifically, higher levels of language attitude appear to amplify the effects of social media addiction and social pain on internet trolling behavior, while lower levels attenuate these associations. The results underscore the importance of considering individual differences in language attitudes when developing intervention strategies aimed at mitigating problematic online behaviors among college students.