Development and Psychometric Properties of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised

Social network site use motives have been reported to be important in understanding the causes of Social Network Site addiction. The purpose of this study was to supplement the weaknesses of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale with a 6-factor structure and to examine the psychometric properties of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised with an 8-factor structure.

Exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis were used to investigate the factor structure of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised. A Korean adult sample (n = 661, n_female = 464, age: 27.45 ± 8.66) filled out the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised.

Results showed that an 8-factor model with exploratory structural equation modeling showed a better fit than the other models. Indices of internal consistency reliability of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised were good. Also, the scale exhibited statistically significant positive correlations with social network site addiction scores, which showed adequate criterion validity. In addition, the expression motives and the concealment motives showed incremental validity of the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised by having a statistically significant relationship with social network site addiction even when controlling for the other 6 motives.

The Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised, consisting of the 8 dimensions tapping information, enhancement, social, coping, pastime, conformity, expression, and concealment motives, is a reliable and valid scale to measure social network site use motives.