Media Multitasking and Big Five Personality Traits: Moderating Impact of Cognitive Flexibility Among Young Adults

Abstract

The current study aims to explore the relationship between media multitasking and big five personality traits along with the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in young adults. Three hypotheses have been devised for the current research: Media multitasking will be impacted by big five personality traits; media multitasking will be impacted by cognitive flexibility; and media multitasking will be impacted by big five personality traits and this relationship will be moderated by cognitive flexibility. A quantitative approach will be adopted based on correlational research design. The sample will consist of 450 young adults residing in Pakistan between the ages of 18-25 years. They will be recruited from educational institutes using a purposive-convenience sampling technique. The variables in the research will be measured using Media Multitasking Inventory (MMT-I) (Lopez et al., 2018), Big Five Inventory (BFI) (Frieder et al., 2011) and Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS) (Martin & Rubin, 1995). The results will be analyzed through correlation test and moderation test on SPSS. The results may imply that media multitasking will be impacted by big five personality traits, media multitasking may also be impacted by cognitive flexibility and the relationship between media multitasking and big five personality traits will be moderated by cognitive flexibility.