Internet Addiction among Jordanian Cyber Café Users

Abstract

This study explored the existence of internet addiction among Jordanian internet users. A sample of 336 internet users (225) males and (111) females from internet cafés, volunteered to participate in the study. By utilizing Arabic version of “Young’s internet addiction scale”, results showed that (23%) of those who participated in the study are considered addicted to the internet. This finding supported previous research indicating that the internet addiction exists as a worldwide compulsive disorder similar to pathological gambling. The study found that the mean age of internet addicts was 24 years, and the time average for internet use was 27 hours per week. It was revealed that 40% of addicted individuals use the internet to visit pornography sites, and 30% of addicted use the internet for social purposes, while the least sites visited were trade and business sites. The results revealed that the most negative impact of the internet addiction was on the social life of addicted individuals, and the least impact was on the occupational aspect.