BMC Psychol. 2026 Jan 22. doi: 10.1186/s40359-026-03994-9. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In Turkey, smartphone use exceeds both European and global averages, posing potential risks to individuals’ physical, social, and psychological well-being. The present research aimed to examine the relationships among smartphone addiction, significance quest, and passion, as well as to identify the mediating role of passion in the relationship between significance quest and smartphone addiction. In this regard, since there was no instrument available to assess passion within the Turkish cultural context, Study 1 adapted the Passion Scale for use in Turkish culture. Study 2 then investigated the associations among smartphone addiction, significance quest, and passion.
METHODS: During the adaptation process of the Passion Scale, SPSS 25.0 was used for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and Mplus 7 was employed for the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In Study 1, the measurement invariance of the Turkish version of the scale was also examined across groups formed according to gender, age and types of activities performed with passion. The sample sizes for EFA and CFA are 270 and 289, respectively. Majority of participants in both groups are aged between 19 and 25 (EFA: 71.2%; CFA: 66.1%). In Study 2, after testing multivariate statistical assumptions, the SEM-based mediation model was tested using Mplus 7. The study group of Study 2 consisted of 674 individuals from different ages (22.6% of participants were adolescents aged 15-18; 57.1% of participanst aged 19-25; 20.3% of participants aged 26-35).
RESULTS: The findings of Study 1 demonstrated that the two-factor structure of the Passion Scale was confirmed within the Turkish cultural context and that the scale exhibited high reliability. In Study 2, positive and significant relationships were identified between significance quest and smartphone addiction, between significance quest and obsessive passion, and between obsessive passion and smartphone addiction. Moreover, obsessive passion was found to mediate the relationship between significance quest and smartphone addiction. In contrast, no significant associations were observed between significance quest and harmonic passion, nor between harmonic passion and smartphone addiction.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study suggest that obsessive passion is one of the factors that strengthens the relationship between the significance quest and smartphone addiction. When an individual with obsessive passion experiences a loss of significance, their usage process may progress toward smartphone addiction, even if they are not yet addicted.
PMID:41572409 | DOI:10.1186/s40359-026-03994-9
