Daniel Kardefelt-WintherpersName (2014date). “A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addiction research: Towards a model of compensatory internet use.” Computers in Human Behaviortitle·j.
Object of study — internet addictionterm research itself - its conceptual foundations and its reliance on direct-effects models
Research question — why a field with so much collected data has produced so little theory, and whether compensation rather than compulsion better explains excessive internet use
Contribution — proposes the compensatory internet useterm model - the internet is used to alleviate a negative life situation - and argues the field must move from direct effectsterm·mth to mediation and interaction between psychosocial well-beingterm and motivationsterm
phenomenon · claim-type · cross-domain-transfer · mechanism · claim-relation · replication-status · limitation — grounded in the full text| phenomenon | people continuing to spend heavy time online despite experiencing outcomes that harm them — “This could help explain why some peo- ple keep spending so much time online despite experiencing negative outcomes.” | |
| claim-type | critique — “In this paper I will develop the claim that internet addiction can be usefully approached from a perspective of compensation rather than compulsion.” | |
| method — evidence | — “This paper will conclude by summarizing the elements of the compensatory internet use theory and suggest some implications for interpretation of results, empirical work and further theory building.” | |
| object of study — evidence | — “This paper argues that conceptual issues and methodological shortcomings surrounding internet addiction research have made theoretical development difficult.” | |
| research question — evidence | — “Despite much empirical data being collected and analyzed clear results and conclu- sions are surprisingly absent.” | |
| contribution — evidence | — “An alternative model termed compensatory internet use is presented in an attempt to properly theorize the frequent assumption that people go online to escape real life issues or alleviate dysphoric moods and that this sometimes leads to negative outcomes.” | |
| transfer | from television and media-effects research: Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi's finding that people watch heavy TV in dysphoric states, carried across to the internet as self-medication — “Similar ideas about the compen- satory potential of media use was suggested in an early study by Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi (1990), who claimed that people were more likely to engage in bouts of heavy TV watching when they were in dysphoric states.” | transfers[0] |
| transfer | from early communication research: the historical move from direct effects to mediating variables is proposed as the transition internet addiction research must now make — “Williams, Yee, & Caplan (2008) have argued that game re- search needs to undergo the same transition as early communi- cation research did, where the direct effects model was made more nuanced by the addition of mediating variables.” | transfers[1] |
| transfer | from psychiatry and its philosophy of science: Ingleby's argument that the governing principles of a field are philosophical rather than empirical, applied to why more findings have not produced theory — “What matters, Ingleby argues, are the fundamental principles which gov- ern the acquisition and interpretation of ‘‘findings’’; and these principles, although they are governed by matters of fact, are not themselves discovered empirically – they are as much philosophi- cal as scientific ones (p. 24).” | transfers[2] |
| mechanism | a lack in real life produces a motivation to go online, an application affords the missing thing, and the same act yields both the relief and the damage — “As an example, if real life is character- ized by a lack of social stimulation the individual reacts with a motivation to go online to socialize which is facilitated by an appli- cation where socializing is afforded, such as an online game or a so- cial networking site.” | mechanisms[0] |
| mechanism | motivations MEDIATE between psychosocial well-being and excessive use - which is why a direct-effects design cannot see the process — “The theoretical argument is that by understanding how motivations mediate the relationship between psychosocial well-being and internet addiction, we can draw conclusions about how online activities may compensate for psychosocial problems.” | mechanisms[1] |
| mechanism | the harm scales with how much compensation the person needs, so a permanent real-life difficulty implies a permanent demand — “For individuals with permanent real life issues, such as physical handicaps or dis- abilities, the need for compensation may be constant as case study evidence provided by Griffiths (2000) would suggest.” | mechanisms[2] |
| mechanism | the model's testable prediction: escapism should predict problematic outcomes MORE strongly in high-stress people than low-stress ones — “According to a model of compensatory internet use, the relationship between escapism and problematic outcomes should be stronger for people with higher levels of stress, compared to those with lower levels of stress.” | mechanisms[3] |
| critiques | Young (1998), who built internet addiction on the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling — “Since addictions were not acknowledged in DSM-IV, Young contended that the diagnosis of pathological gambling was most akin to the pathological nature of internet use and adopting the criteria would be helpful in clinical settings and stimulate further research (Young, 1998).” | claim_relations[0] |
| contradicts | the direct-effects tradition in internet addiction research — “A direct effects approach has not allowed researchers to explore the significant predictors of internet addiction while controlling for interactions with other influencing psychosocial conditions or mediating variables.” | claim_relations[1] |
| builds-on | Ingleby (1981) on epistemological issues in psychiatry — “What is needed, then, is not more find- ings but a reappraisal of the kind of explanations we should be looking for.” | claim_relations[2] |
| builds-on | Wood (2008), that addiction concerns the interaction between individual, culture and environment — “This follows on Wood’s (2008) observation that theories of addiction are increas- ingly moving away from a focus on the activity or substance as a causal factor and instead suggesting that ‘‘addiction concerns the interaction between the individual, their culture and their environ- ment’’ (p. 177).” | claim_relations[3] |
| builds-on | Kardefelt-Winther (2014), the author's own finding that escapism and achievement mediate stress and excessive gaming — “Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” | claim_relations[4] |
| critiques | Young's edited volume (2011), offered as evidence that the field has explanations but no consensus — “The lack of theoretical development is evident in Young’s edited book (2011) where each chapter suggests different causes for internet addiction.” | claim_relations[5] |
| sense | internet addiction - the pathological sense, an impulse-control disorder with criteria borrowed from pathological gambling — “who conceptualized internet addiction as an impulse-control disorder, deriving diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statis- tical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnosis for pathological gambling.” | senses[0] |
| sense | internet addiction - the compensatory sense, a practical response to an unmet need that sometimes costs more than it returns — “It is an understandable and practical way to acquire social stimulation when there is a lack of it” | senses[1] |
| sense | internet addiction - the normative-shift reading, where the symptom is a new way of living that only has pathological interpretations available — “have suggested that what is treated by researchers as pathological behaviour may be a new way of life for which researchers currently have only path- ological interpretations.” | senses[2] |
| sense | `internet addiction` - THREE COMPETING LABELS FOR THE SAME THING, DECLARED IN THE PAPER'S FIRST FOOTNOTE: `excessive internet use, compulsive internet use, problematic internet use - labels that have been used interchangeably to describe more or less the same concept`. And `more or less` is doing work: the paper's whole argument is that the concept is not stable. — “Or excessive internet use, compulsive internet use, problematic internet use – labels that have been used interchangeably to describe more or less the same concept” | senses[3] |
| control | controlling for stress when testing loneliness and social anxiety against excessive online gaming — failed — “This result cautions that vulnera- bilities posited as significant predictors of internet addiction may only be significant by virtue of being examined in isolation from other factors.” — rules out the possibility that loneliness and social anxiety are independent predictors rather than artefacts of being tested alone — “Furthermore, as I discussed in a recent article (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014) the associations for both loneliness and social anxiety with excessive online gaming lost significance when stress was controlled for.” | controls[0] |
| control | controlling for psychosocial well-being when relating gaming motivations to internet addiction — held — “Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” — rules out the possibility that the motivation-addiction association is spurious — “Importantly, in the study by Caplan et al. (2009) psychosocial well-being was controlled for as they suspected that associations between psycho- social well-being or motivations for play and internet addiction may be spurious.” | controls[1] |
| weight | Young (1998), who built internet addiction on the DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling — 0.9 — “Since addictions were not acknowledged in DSM-IV, Young contended that the diagnosis of pathological gambling was most akin to the pathological nature of internet use and adopting the criteria would be helpful in clinical settings and stimulate further research (Young, 1998).” | claim_relations[0] |
| weight | the direct-effects tradition in internet addiction research — 0.9 — “A direct effects approach has not allowed researchers to explore the significant predictors of internet addiction while controlling for interactions with other influencing psychosocial conditions or mediating variables.” | claim_relations[1] |
| weight | Ingleby (1981) on epistemological issues in psychiatry — 0.85 — “What is needed, then, is not more find- ings but a reappraisal of the kind of explanations we should be looking for.” | claim_relations[2] |
| weight | Wood (2008), that addiction concerns the interaction between individual, culture and environment — 0.85 — “This follows on Wood’s (2008) observation that theories of addiction are increas- ingly moving away from a focus on the activity or substance as a causal factor and instead suggesting that ‘‘addiction concerns the interaction between the individual, their culture and their environ- ment’’ (p. 177).” | claim_relations[3] |
| weight | Kardefelt-Winther (2014), the author's own finding that escapism and achievement mediate stress and excessive gaming — 0.9 — “Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” | claim_relations[4] |
| weight | Young's edited volume (2011), offered as evidence that the field has explanations but no consensus — 0.85 — “The lack of theoretical development is evident in Young’s edited book (2011) where each chapter suggests different causes for internet addiction.” | claim_relations[5] |
| audit | direct effects —contrasted-with→ interaction effects — Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but the model does not assume a direct relationship, so interaction effects are its focus; contrasted-with is loose. — “Because the model does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-being and internet addiction, interaction effects be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus.” | concept_edges[1] |
| relation | direct effects —contrasted-with→ interaction effects — denying a direct relationship is exactly what makes interaction the analytical focus — “Because the model does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-being and internet addiction, interaction effects be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus.” — “does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-being and internet addiction, interaction effects be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus” | concept_edges[1] |
| weight | direct effects —contrasted-with→ interaction effects — 0.9 — “Because the model does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-being and internet addiction, interaction effects be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus.” | concept_edges[1] |
| outcome | control — failed — “Furthermore, as I discussed in a recent article (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014) the associations for both loneliness and social anxiety with excessive online gaming lost significance when stress was controlled for.” — “This result cautions that vulnera- bilities posited as significant predictors of internet addiction may only be significant by virtue of being examined in isolation from other factors.” | controls[0] |
| outcome | control — held — “Importantly, in the study by Caplan et al. (2009) psychosocial well-being was controlled for as they suspected that associations between psycho- social well-being or motivations for play and internet addiction may be spurious.” — “Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” | controls[1] |
| limitation | the compensatory model is proposed and argued here, not tested - the paper asks for the empirical work rather than reporting it — “The model of compensatory internet use suggests that researchers need to empirically investigate the relationship between motiva- tions and psychosocial well-being in the context of excessive internet use.” | limitations[0] |
| limitation | the paper leaves open whether the phenomenon should be called addiction at all — “Whether this is what we wish to call internet addiction or not can be debated, as can the compulsive nature of such inter- net use, but to suggest that this is a mental disorder seems to be a stretch. 3.” | limitations[1] |
| limitation | the field it critiques cannot isolate causes because nearly everything tested came out significant — “However, because most factors were found to be significant predic- tors it has not been possible to make any claims about unique risk factors which has made it difficult to isolate the causes behind internet addiction.” | limitations[2] |
| limitation | the compensation idea is old and repeatedly stated; what is missing is that almost nobody has tested it — “However, while plenty of speculation has surrounded the idea of compensatory internet use few studies have empirically investi- gated the compensatory potential of internet applications in the context of excessive internet use.” | limitations[3] |
finding · quantity · variable · definition · key-term — grounded in the full text| finding | loneliness and social anxiety stopped predicting excessive online gaming once stress was controlled for — “Furthermore, as I discussed in a recent article (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014) the associations for both loneliness and social anxiety with excessive online gaming lost significance when stress was controlled for.” | content_tags.findings[0] |
| finding | escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming — “Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” | content_tags.findings[1] |
| finding | nearly every psychosocial factor tested came out a significant predictor, which is why none could be isolated as a cause — “However, because most factors were found to be significant predic- tors it has not been possible to make any claims about unique risk factors which has made it difficult to isolate the causes behind internet addiction.” | content_tags.findings[2] |
| finding | adding the activity and the motivation to the model lets a result state WHY someone is online rather than only that they are at risk — “Using this model researchers could describe the observed situation in greater detail: ‘‘a player of World of Warcraft (a) who wants to socialize (b) and chat (b) with other players, and is high on social anxiety (1), may be at increased risk of neglecting schoolwork (2) and of having conflicts with parents due to their engagement with the internet (2)’’.” | content_tags.findings[3] |
| definition | internet addiction — “This could help explain why some peo- ple keep spending so much time online despite experiencing negative outcomes.” | content_tags.definitions[0] |
| definition | compensatory internet use — “The basic tenet of the theory of compensatory internet use is that the locus of the problem is a reaction by the individual to his negative life situation, facilitated by an internet application.” | content_tags.definitions[1] |
| definition | compensatory internet use — “This paper proposes a theory of compensatory internet use where negative life situations can give rise to a motivation to go online to alleviate negative feelings.” | content_tags.definitions[2] |
| concept | internet addiction — not defined in this paper's own words; the dominant framing this paper rejects - a lost-control state modelled on pathological gambling in DSM-IV — “Most research on internet addiction is based on initial research by Young (1998), who conceptualized internet addiction as an impulse-control disorder, deriving diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statis- tical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnosis for pathological gambling.” | concepts[0] |
| concept | compensatory internet use — not defined in this paper's own words; the proposed alternative: going online is a reaction to a negative life situation, facilitated by an application, not a compulsion — “The basic tenet of the theory of compensatory internet use is that the locus of the problem is a reaction by the individual to his negative life situation, facilitated by an internet application.” | concepts[1] |
| concept | direct effects — not defined in this paper's own words; the dominant design - associating a vulnerability with addiction one at a time; the paper's methodological target — “Traditionally, research on internet addiction has focused on direct effects models exploring the associations between psychological vulnerabilities and internet addiction.” | concepts[2] |
| concept | motivations — not defined in this paper's own words; why the person goes online; here the MEDIATOR between psychosocial state and excessive use, not a control variable — “There seems to be an opportunity here to combine the psychological approach with the motivations approach through the model of compensa- tory internet use.” | concepts[3] |
| concept | psychosocial well-being — not defined in this paper's own words; the antecedent side of the model - loneliness, stress, social anxiety - which the compensatory account makes upstream of motivation rather than directly causal — “In terms of research operationalization, this can be tested by exploring whether the association between moti- vations and internet addiction vary depending on the level of psy- chosocial well-being.” | concepts[4] |
| concept | escapism — not defined in this paper's own words; the motivation shown to mediate stress and excessive gaming; the paper's worked example of its own model — “Kardefelt-Winther (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vations escapism and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming.” | concepts[5] |
| concept | coping strategy — not defined in this paper's own words; what excessive use is re-described as once compensation replaces compulsion - understandable, sometimes unhealthy, not pathological — “I argue that it can be better understood as a coping strategy grounded in under- standable (but not always healthy) motivations.” | concepts[6] |
| concept | affordances — not defined in this paper's own words; what a given application makes possible, which is why compensatory potential differs between applications — “These recent discussions take the idea of com- pensatory internet use to a more detailed level where applications are assumed to have different compensatory potential depending on their affordances.” | concepts[7] |
| concept | interaction effects — not defined in this paper's own words; the analytical focus the model requires, precisely because it denies a direct relationship — “Because the model does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-being and internet addiction, interaction effects be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus.” | concepts[8] |
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A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addictionterm research: Towards a model of compensatory internet useterm Daniel Kardefelt-WintherpersName ⇑ Department of Media & Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, WC2A 2AE London, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online 23 November 2013 Keywords: Internet addictionterm Compulsive internet use Problematic internet use Compensatory internet useterm Motivationsterm for internet use a b s t r a c t Internet addictionterm is a rapidly growing field of research, receiving attention from researchers, journalists and policy makers. Despite much empirical data being collected and analyzed clear results and conclu- sions are surprisingly absent. This paper argues that conceptual issues and methodological shortcomings surrounding internet addictionterm research have made theoretical development difficult. An alternative model termed compensatory internet useterm is presented in an attempt to properly theorize the frequent assumption that people go online to escape real life issues or alleviate dysphoric moods and that this sometimes leads to negative outcomes. An empirical approach to studying compensatory internet useterm is suggested by combining the psychological literature on internet addictionterm with research on motiva- tionsterm for internet use. The theoretical argument is that by understanding how motivationsterm mediate the relationship between psychosocial well-beingterm and internet addictionterm, we can draw conclusions about how online activities may compensate for psychosocial problems. This could help explain why some peo- ple keep spending so much time online despite experiencing negative outcomes. There is also a method- ological argument suggesting that in order to accomplish this, research needs to move away from a focus on direct effectsterm·mth models and consider mediation and interaction effectsterm·mth between psychosocial well-beingterm and motivationsterm in the context of internet addictionterm. This is key to further exploring the notion of internet use as a coping strategyterm·dom; a proposition often mentioned but rarely investigated. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Internet addiction1 is typically described as a state where an individual has lost control of the internet use and keeps using inter- net excessively to the point where he/she experiences problematic outcomes that negatively affects his/her life (Young & Abreu, 2011). Examples of such outcomes are cases where individuals lost sleep or skipped meals because they were spending time on the internet, or where internet use has resulted in conflicts with family members or led to the detriment of a job or educational career. Most research on internet addictionterm is based on initial research by Young (1998), who conceptualized internet addictionterm as an impulse-control disorder, deriving diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statis- tical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnosis for pathological gambling. Since addictions were not acknowledged in DSM-IV, Young contended that the diagnosis of pathological gambling was most akin to the pathological nature of internet use and adopting the criteria would be helpful in clinical settings and stimulate further research (Young, 1998). The subsequent empirical work has not been successful in terms of agreeing on a definition or the diagnostic criteria, nor in the explanations of what leads to or follows from internet addic- tionterm. Researchers have also been unable to agree on who is at greater risk, unable to agree on whether the problems are persis- tent and unable to determine whether the proposed methods for treatment are successful. Despite finding many associations be- tween psychosocial well-beingterm and internet addictionterm researchers have been unable to agree on a general theory about the etiology. Traditionally, research on internet addictionterm has focused on direct effectsterm·mth models exploring the associations between psychological vulnerabilities and internet addictionterm. Studies have explored vulnerabilities such as depression (Kim et al., 2006), low self-esteem (e.g., Fioravanti, Dèttore, & Casale, 2012) and high sensation-seeking (Armstrong, Phillips, & Saling, 2000; Velezmoro, Lacefield, & Roberti, 2010; Widyanto & McMurran, 2004), loneliness and shyness (e.g., Caplan, 2002, 2003, 2005; Kim, LaRose, & Peng, 2009), locus of control and online experience (Chak & Leung, 2004), attention-deficit/hyperactivity/impulsivity symp- toms (Yoo, Cho, & Ha, 2004) and suicidal ideation (Kim et al., 2006). Studies have also explored the association with psychoso- cial well-beingterm (e.g., Young & Abreu, 2011; Caplan, Williams, & 0747-5632/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.059 ⇑Tel.: +44 7946567850. E-mail address: d.a.kardefelt-wintherpersName@lse.ac.uk 1 Or excessive internet use, compulsive internet use, problematic internet use – labels that have been used interchangeably to describe more or less the same concept (Widyanto & Griffiths, 2006). Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 351–354 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers in Human Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh Yee, 2009; Lemmens et al., 2011; Van Rooij, 2011) as well as the association with various personality traits (e.g., Leung, 2007; Lo et al., 2005; Whang, Lee, & Chang, 2003), interpersonal skills and intelligence (Byun et al., 2009). This psychologically oriented approach to studying internet addictionterm has yielded plenty of statistically significant results. However, because most factors were found to be significant predic- tors it has not been possible to make any claims about unique risk factors which has made it difficult to isolate the causes behind internet addictionterm. Furthermore, as I discussed in a recent article (Kardefelt-WintherpersName, 2014) the associations for both loneliness and social anxiety with excessive online gaming lost significance when stress was controlled for. This result cautions that vulnera- bilities posited as significant predictors of internet addictionterm may only be significant by virtue of being examined in isolation from other factors. A direct effectsterm·mth approach has not allowed researchers to explore the significant predictors of internet addictionterm while controlling for interactions with other influencing psychosocial conditions or mediating variables. Therefore, in terms of theory building the psychological approach has not contributed much to a better understanding of why some people keep using the internet despite experiencing problematic outcomes. The lack of theoretical development is evident in Young’s edited book (2011) where each chapter suggests different causes for internet addictionterm. Although it constitutes an important effort to summarize the existing research it leaves the reader with many possible explanations but no consensus. Considering the amounts of data that have been collected and the efforts made, the lack of progress indicates that there are issues somewhere along the way that makes theoretical development difficult. Ingleby’s (1981) review of epistemological issues in psychiatry suggests that researchers sometimes delude themselves that all that is needed for theoretical development is just ‘‘more findings’’. He further sug- gests that ‘‘the literature on mental disorders is quite out of propor- tion to the adequacy of our knowledge about them’’ (p. 23). What matters, Ingleby argues, are the fundamental principles which gov- ern the acquisition and interpretation of ‘‘findings’’; and these principles, although they are governed by matters of fact, are not themselves discovered empirically – they are as much philosophi- cal as scientific ones (p. 24). What is needed, then, is not more find- ings but a reappraisal of the kind of explanations we should be looking for. Following Ingleby’s ideas, there may be much to gain by considering alternative theories for internet addictionterm that do not only take the literature on mental disorders as its starting point. Early speculation by Young suggested that internet addictionterm may occur when the internet is used to cope with difficult real life situations (1998). This has been repeatedly mentioned in the liter- ature on internet addictionterm (e.g., Armstrong et al., 2000; Bessière, Kiesler, Kraut, & Boneva, 2008; Chak & Leung, 2004; Kim et al., 2009; Kuss, Louws, & Wiers, 2012; Shen & Williams, 2011; Whang et al., 2003; Widyanto & Griffiths, 2006; Young, 2009; Young & Abreu, 2011) but rarely empirically investigated. The tenet of Young’s speculation is that internet use has a propensity to allevi- ate dysphoric moods and may therefore be used to cope with or compensate for real life problems. Similar ideas about the compen- satory potential of media use was suggested in an early study by Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi (1990), who claimed that people were more likely to engage in bouts of heavy TV watching when they were in dysphoric states. Bessière, Kiesler, Kraut, and Boneva (2004) stated that if this logic applies to the internet as well, it would suggest that people who are feeling bad are using online entertainment as a form of self-medication (p. 31). Indeed, in later works Caplan and High (2011) also suggested that through the ex- change of online messages, users compensate for what they may lack in real life. In the context of internet addictionterm, Young and Abreu (2011) discussed whether an individual becomes addicted to Facebook because they are using Facebook to fulfill missing so- cial needs (p. 12). These recent discussions take the idea of com- pensatory internet useterm to a more detailed level where applications are assumed to have different compensatory potential depending on their affordancesterm·dom. However, while plenty of speculation has surrounded the idea of compensatory internet useterm few studies have empirically investi- gated the compensatory potential of internet applications in the context of excessive internet use. Crucially, researchers have not investigated whether a theory of internet addictionterm based on the idea of compensation may better explain why people spend so much time online that they experience problematic outcomes, compared to the dominant theory of internet addictionterm as compul- sive behavior and a mental disorder. While there is a theoretical basis for investigating internet addictionterm as mental disorder, no theoretical model exists to support research on compensatory internet useterm in this area. The lack of theoretical support may be one reason for why the idea of compensation is repeatedly men- tioned but rarely followed up empirically. It would also explain why the conceptualization of internet addictionterm as a mental disor- der is still dominating research despite the apparent shortcomings in terms of furthering the development of internet addictionterm theory (e.g., Widyanto & Griffiths, 2006). In this paper I will develop the claim that internet addictionterm can be usefully approached from a perspective of compensation rather than compulsion. Instead of the compulsive, pathological, nature that internet addictionterm is ascribed in the literature, I argue that it can be better understood as a coping strategyterm·dom grounded in under- standable (but not always healthy) motivationsterm. This follows on Wood’s (2008) observation that theories of addiction are increas- ingly moving away from a focus on the activity or substance as a causal factor and instead suggesting that ‘‘addiction concerns the interaction between the individual, their culture and their environ- ment’’ (p. 177). In his paper, Wood (2008) recommends a dose of healthy skepticism towards the idea of video game addiction, but maintains that a minority of people do play excessively. A model of compensatory internet useterm recognizes and seeks to understand this minority outside a framework of pathology and mental disor- ders. I will discuss how researchers can develop this theory by combining existing research on the psychological antecedents of internet addictionterm with knowledge from research concerned with the attractions and compensatory potential of the internet. 2. Towards a model of compensatory internet useterm This paper proposes a theory of compensatory internet useterm where negative life situations can give rise to a motivationterm to go online to alleviate negative feelings. The basic tenet of the theory of compensatory internet useterm is that the locus of the problem is a reaction by the individual to his negative life situation, facilitated by an internet application. As an example, if real life is character- ized by a lack of social stimulation the individual reacts with a motivationterm to go online to socialize which is facilitated by an appli- cation where socializing is afforded, such as an online game or a so- cial networking site. This can then have positive and negative outcomes: positive in the sense that the individual feels better be- cause he gets the desired social stimulation and negative because he may not go out and make new offline friends, which in the long run means he could become dependent solely on the internet for social stimulation. This scenario would be labeled as an internet addictionterm when approached through a pathological perspective, but has little to do with the compulsive nature of addictions. It is an understandable and practical way to acquire social stimulation when there is a lack of it (e.g., Chappell, Eatough, Davies & Griffiths, 352 D. Kardefelt-WintherpersName / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 351–354 2006), but this habit may sometimes lead to negative conse- quences and addiction-like symptoms due to the amount of com- pensation required to alleviate negative feelings. For individuals with permanent real life issues, such as physical handicaps or dis- abilities, the need for compensation may be constant as case study evidence provided by Griffiths (2000) would suggest. For less se- vere cases, such as temporary school or work related stress, a few hours of compensatory internet useterm may be beneficial and lead to fewer problematic outcomes (e.g., Leung, 2007). With internet becoming ubiquitous in society, it is clear that some of the alleged ‘‘symptoms’’ of internet addictionterm can be inter- preted as a normative shift in how younger generations entertain or communicate and as a testament to the embeddedness of inter- net use in everyday life rather than pathological behaviour. Smahel and Blinka (as cited in Young & Abreu, 2011) have suggested that what is treated by researchers as pathological behaviour may be a new way of life for which researchers currently have only path- ological interpretations. Against this background, it seems all the more important to understand the contexts, purposes and motiva- tionsterm for internet use, as these are likely to have a strong impact on the outcomes (Shen & Williams, 2011). Motivationsterm for going online have been explored in some stud- ies on internet addictionterm, primarily in the context of online gaming addiction. Utilizing Yee’s (2006, 2007) framework for gaming moti- vationsterm as a starting point, researchers have investigated whether motivationsterm for playing online games are associated with internet addictionterm (e.g., Caplan et al., 2009; Kuss et al., 2012). Importantly, in the study by Caplan et al. (2009) psychosocial well-beingterm was controlled for as they suspected that associations between psycho- social well-beingterm or motivationsterm for play and internet addictionterm may be spurious. Indeed, following on Caplan et al.’s (2009) study, Kardefelt-WintherpersName (2014) demonstrated empirically that the moti- vationsterm escapismterm and achievement mediated the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming. This suggests that motivationsterm for play and psychosocial well-beingterm may be usefully explored in conjunction rather than separately. There seems to be an opportunity here to combine the psychological approach with the motivationsterm approach through the model of compensa- tory internet useterm. Theoretically, in the compensatory model the motivationsterm for use are grounded in psychosocial problems or un-met real life needs. In terms of research operationalization, this can be tested by exploring whether the association between moti- vationsterm and internet addictionterm vary depending on the level of psy- chosocial well-beingterm. Methodologically, this is explored by interaction effectsterm·mth between psychosocial problems and potentially alleviating motivationsterm for use. For example, people high on social anxiety may compensate for feelings of loneliness by socializing in a game or on a social networking site because online environments feel safer due to the sense of anonymity (McKenna, Green, & Gleason, 2002). In such a case, where the motivationterm to go online is grounded in an un-met real life need and where the internet use alleviates the real life problem, an individual may feel a strong desire to spend more time online which could lead to problematic outcomes. Whether this is what we wish to call internet addictionterm or not can be debated, as can the compulsive nature of such inter- net use, but to suggest that this is a mental disorder seems to be a stretch. 3. Conclusions This paper will conclude by summarizing the elements of the compensatory internet useterm theory and suggest some implications for interpretation of results, empirical work and further theory building. The psychological approach to internet addictionterm used in most studies consists of psychosocial vulnerabilities (1) and problematic outcomes of internet use (2). A typical conclusion from empirical research using this model is: ‘‘Internet users high on social anxiety (1) and loneliness (1) are at risk of neglecting schoolwork (2) and hav- ing conflicts with parents due to their engagement with the internet (2)’’. This paper suggests an inclusion of two additional elements that have been mentioned in this paper: the online activity and its affordancesterm·dom (a) and motivationsterm for going online (b). Using this model researchers could describe the observed situation in greater detail: ‘‘a player of World of Warcraft (a) who wants to socialize (b) and chat (b) with other players, and is high on social anxiety (1), may be at increased risk of neglecting schoolwork (2) and of having conflicts with parents due to their engagement with the internet (2)’’. This provides an explanation for excessive use and negative outcomes without framing the behaviour as pathological. It allows researchers to understand what the user is using the internet for and interpret the problematic outcomes against the background of the motivationsterm for going online and the real life context of the user. Essentially, it enables researchers to say something about why a person spends so much time online without resorting to speculation. This has been a missing component in most research to date because direct effectsterm·mth models are restrictive by nature and do not allow the researcher to consider the impact of other variables and therefore masks underlying processes that may be vital in explaining excessive use. Exploring motivationsterm in conjunc- tion with psychosocial well-beingterm allows us to elaborate on why someone goes online by contextualizing the motivationterm for exces- sive use in the presence of psychosocial problems. This affords a discussion of whether the internet use may be beneficial and understandable as an effective coping strategyterm·dom, despite the occur- rence of problematic outcomes. As with any model, it is important to consider its empirical functionality in addition to the theoretical contribution. The model of compensatory internet useterm suggests that researchers need to empirically investigate the relationship between motiva- tionsterm and psychosocial well-beingterm in the context of excessive internet use. Is the use socially motivated – indicating loneli- ness? Achievement oriented – indicating frustration over lacking real life success? Is it about domination and competition – indic- ative of anger or a desire for accomplishment? Is it primarily escapist – indicative of a stressful real life situation? Because the model does not assume a direct relationship between psycho- social well-beingterm and internet addictionterm, interaction effectsterm·mth be- tween the elements in the model constitute the analytical focus. Williams, Yee, & Caplan (2008) have argued that game re- search needs to undergo the same transition as early communi- cation research did, where the direct effectsterm·mth model was made more nuanced by the addition of mediating variables. I propose that a similar transition is needed for internet addictionterm research and that motivationsterm for play could be a useful starting point. By considering why the user is motivated to go online in relation to their psychological and contextual reality it may be possible to determine if individuals use the internet to cope with distressing real life situations and provide the first step towards identifying these situations at the same time. As was mentioned earlier, Kardefelt-WintherpersName (2014) found that the relationship between stress and excessive online gaming was mediated by escapismterm, a motivationterm for play that is often linked to problematic out- comes (Caplan et al., 2009; Kuss et al., 2012). This suggests that some people may play online games to escape from stress, which is associated with more negative outcomes. While this is not a surprising finding in itself, the broader implication is that when motivationsterm are preceded by psychosocial problems, the risk for negative outcomes may be higher. This is the core idea of a model of compensatory internet useterm. D. Kardefelt-WintherpersName / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 351–354 353 The next step for future research would be to explore interac- tion effectsterm·mth between, for example, stress and escapismterm in the con- text of excessive online gaming. According to a model of compensatory internet useterm, the relationship between escapismterm and problematic outcomes should be stronger for people with higher levels of stress, compared to those with lower levels of stress. Eventually patterns may be found where certain motiva- tionsterm often precede problematic outcomes when the individual suf- fers from particular life difficulties. This would be a useful starting point for discussing preventive actions.