A Multidisciplinary Approach to Social Media Addiction: A New Look at Social Media Addiction in the Context of White Bear Thought Suppression and Overuse

Abstract

White bear thought suppression is a vicious cycle of thinking characterized by thinking, wanting not to think, and thinking again, which dates back to the work of Wegner et al. The reason for the present study is that the problem of “white bear thought suppression”, which was proposed in previous years, has re-emerged in the digital environment as psychological disorder accompanying excessive social media use. Some people constantly think about what is happening on social media, cannot distinguish between digital and reality, and cannot manage their mental thinking process. With the effect of visualization, people are exposed more to visual stimulants. This situation may cause disturbances in people’s thought processes. The intense visual flows of social media may pose a risk for excessive users in terms of both thought suppression and social media addiction. This study focuses on providing a new look at social media addiction in the context of white bear thought suppression and overuse. This study can provide a new perspective on behavioral addictions.