Abstract:

Using modern technologies is a common feature of today’s world. The internet has become an indispensable instrument, which often plays a key role in work-related activities. It has also become part of people’s leisure time. Since 1990s, internet addiction has attracted professionals as well as general public across the globe. There is no uniform terminology and definition in the literature. In general, addiction to the internet is defined as excessive use of the internet, which brings psychological, social, work or school complications to life. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship of life satisfaction and anxiety with internet addiction in pre-service teachers belonging to the generation Z which is perceived to be a successor of the generation Y.

The Z generation is a term for people born after the year 2000 who have lived all their life using internet and modern technologies. The participants were 168 pre-service teachers aged 19-20 (SD 0,47) belonging to the generation Z. To determine empirical data, the following research methods were used: Young Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Fear and Social Anxiety Scale (KSAT), Life Satisfaction Questionnaire and Sociodemographic Questionnaire. A significant positive relationship was found between internet addiction and social anxiety among social network users of this generation. Negative relationship was confirmed between the satisfaction with the leisure time and amount of friends on social media. Gender differences were identified as well.

Keywords:

Internet addiction, self-esteem, anxiety.