Identity Styles, Loneliness and Fear of Intimacy among Internet Addicts and Normal Individuals

The aim of the present study is to investigate identity styles, loneliness and fear of intimacy in Internet addict group and normal individuals. The present descriptive-analytic study; consisted of 300 students (150 females and 150 males) who had been selected by cluster sampling method among all Urmia Islamic Azad University students. The gathered data is analyzed by SPSS-20 and descriptive statistic indexes, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and T-test, Pearson Correlation and Regression. The present study demonstrated a significant difference in identity styles (informational, normative commitment), (P= 0/009; t=-3.760), feelings of loneliness (P= 0/001; t=-3.473), and fear of intimacy (P= 0/001; t=4.570), between the considered samples (P= 0/001). Also there was a significant correlation between identity styles (informational, normative commitment), feelings of loneliness, fear of intimacy, with internet addiction. The results of regression analysis indicated that the identity styles (informational, normative commitment), feelings of loneliness and fear of intimacy were able to predict %51 of the variance Internet addiction. The present study showed identity styles (informational, normative commitment); feelings of loneliness and fear of intimacy are more severe in Internet addicts than in Normal Individuals. Overall, there was a noticeable relationship in the high levels of identity styles (informational, normative commitment), feelings of loneliness and fear of intimacy with the Internet Addiction. Identity styles, loneliness, and fear of intimacy can be considered as risk factors for Internet addiction.