The relationship between Internet addiction and cultural intelligence and women’s basic psychological needs: the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation

One of the most common psychological and social harms in today's societies is internet addiction. In order to solve this problem and the harms emanated from it, identifying and controlling the effective and related factors is essential. In this regard, the present study is aimed at investigating the relationship between Internet addiction and cultural intelligence and basic psychological needs through the cognitive regulation of emotion among women.

The present research is of applied type and is among descriptive-correlational researches. The statistical population included all the female students of women’s Police University in Tehran in 2021, among them, according to Stevens (1977), 300 persons were selected as a sample group using the available sampling method, those who were selected filled in Young’s internet addiction questionnaires (1988) Ganiyeh’s basic psychological needs (2003), Garnefski et al.’s cognitive emotion regulation (2001) and Ang et al. (2004) cultural intelligence questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient and path analysis using AMOS22 software.

The proposed research model had a good fit (RMSEA = 0.035). Cultural intelligence and basic psychological needs had a positive relationship with emotion regulation (with standard coefficients of 0.9 and 10, respectively), and cognitive regulation of emotion had a negative relationship with Internet addiction (standard coefficient of -0.84). Accordingly, cognitive emotion regulation mediated the relationship between cultural intelligence and basic psychological needs with Internet addiction (P<0.05).

In order to reduce internet addiction among women, measures should be taken in line with enhancing cultural intelligence and meeting their basic psychological needs via holding training courses and  providing in-person , offline and online psychological services (in the Police University).