Data-Driven Analysis of the Psychosocial and Behavioral Effects of Social Media Usage in Arabian Gulf Societies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59992/IJCI.2025.v4n11p3Keywords:
Social Media, Arabian Gulf Societies, Behavioral Analytics, Anxiety, Self-Confidence, Peer Comparison, Cyberbullying, Sleep Quality, Digital Well-Being, Data-Driven AnalysisAbstract
The swift digitization of Gulf societies has changed the ways people communicate and present themselves, but has not yet sufficiently measured its psychosocial impact. This paper introduces a data-driven analysis of behavioral and emotional effects of social-media use in six Arabian Gulf nations: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. The analysis incorporates descriptive statistics, correlation matrices, inferential testing, and regression modeling to utilize a structured data set of twenty demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial variables to assess how online activity informs psychological health. Findings indicate that daily hours of use and intensity are positively associated with anxiety and sleep disturbance, while the frequency of peer comparisons and experiences of cyberbullying are associated with anxiety and low self-confidence. Gender and age differences also reveal young females as being more vulnerable to pressures based on appearance and stresses related to social validation. The findings provide a theoretical basis of understanding intersecting behavioral activity, cultural context, and psychosocial ramifications in digitally immersed Gulf communities, as well as underscore the importance of contextualized digital-wellness programming, social-media-literacy education, and policy responses aiming to reduce anxiety related to comparisons and foster good online behavior.
References
] E. Čekić, “EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INTERACTION,” Int. J. Sci. Acad. Res., vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 8424–8431, 2024.
[2] D. Cemiloglu, S. Alshakhsi, A. Babiker, M. Naiseh, D. Al-Thani, and R. Ali, “Social Media Vs. Users’ Wellbeing and the Role of Personal Factors: A Study on Arab and British Samples,” Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact., pp. 1–19, Apr. 2025, doi: 10.1080/10447318.2025.2480909.
[3] A. Tandon, A. Dhir, N. Islam, S. Talwar, and M. Mäntymäki, “Psychological and behavioral outcomes of social media-induced fear of missing out at the workplace,” J. Bus. Res., vol. 136, pp. 186–197, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.036.
[4] M. Dandash and M. Asadpour, “Personality analysis for social media users using Arabic language and its effect on sentiment analysis,” 2025. doi: 10.1007/s13278-025-01413-2.
[5] S. Bangash, M. Naveed, T. Baig, and S. Javed, “2025 - Sudhair et al - PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING AND MARKETING ON CONSUMER DECISION MAKING,” vol. 6, pp. 2064–2084, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.16918371.
[6] J. Chhabra, V. Pilkington, R. Benakovic, M. J. Wilson, L. La Sala, and Z. Seidler, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health: Scoping Review of Platform and Policy Recommendations,” J Med Internet Res, vol. 27, p. e72061, 2025, doi: 10.2196/72061.
[7] T. Masri-Zada et al., “The Impact of Social Media & Technology on Child and Adolescent Mental Health,” ournal psychiatry Psychiatr. Disord., vol. 9, 2025.
[8] D. Shewale, B. Shirsath, and S. Ghorpade, “Social Media Effects on Mental Health,” Int. J. Innov. Sci. Res. Technol., pp. 2444–2450, May 2025, doi: 10.38124/ijisrt/25apr1620.
[9] S. Arora, S. Arora, and J. Hastings, The Psychological Impacts of Algorithmic and AI-Driven Social Media on Teenagers: A Call to Action. 2024. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2408.10351.
[10] R. Jain, “THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON TEENAGERS: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF AI IN MITIGATING RISKS AND ENHANCING BENEFITS,” Int. J. Res. Comput. Appl. Inf. Technol., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1987-2000, 2025, [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.34218/IJRCAIT_08_01_145
[11] C. Pripoae-Şerbănescu and E. Maţoi, “Social Media in the GCC Countries—Facilitator or Curse for Generation ‘Z’?,” 2023, pp. 17–39. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-7796-1_2.
[12] R. H. Al-Mabuk and A. F. Alrebh, “Impact of Social Media on Family Relations in the Arab Gulf Region BT - Handbook of Families in the Arab Gulf States,” M. M. Rahman, K. Al-Ghanim, Z. Hossain, and S. Umar, Eds., Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2025, pp. 287–302. doi: 10.1007/978-981-96-3412-5_15.
[13] S. Reyaee and A. Ahmed, “Growth Pattern of Social Media Usage in Arab Gulf States: An Analytical Study,” Soc. Netw., vol. 04, pp. 23–32, Jan. 2015, doi: 10.4236/sn.2015.42003.
[14] S. Saleh, The Use of Social Media in Arab Countries: A Case of Saudi Arabia, vol. 140. 2013. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-36608-6_13.
[15] M. S. Ali, K. Z. Wasel, and A. M. Abdelhamid, “Generative AI and Media Content Creation: Investigating the Factors Shaping User Acceptance in the Arab Gulf States,” 2024. doi: 10.3390/journalmedia5040101.
[16] A. Azim, G. Ebrahim, and E. Sarg, “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Media: A Survey Study of Bahraini Youth Preferences Toward Smart Applications in Social Networks (2025),” vol. 107, p. 2025, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.7176/NMMC/107-09.
[17] X. Yang and G. Li, “Psychological and Behavioral Insights From Social Media Users: Natural Language Processing-Based Quantitative Study on Mental Well-Being.,” JMIR Form. Res., vol. 9, p. e60286, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.2196/60286.
[18] D. Mami and R. X. Teo, “Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health: Detecting Depression and Anxiety Using Social Media Data,” Int. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. J., vol. 2025-Vol, pp. 111–123, Jul. 2025, doi: 10.9734/indj/2025/v22i4499.
[19] E. Bose and C. Anil Kumar, “AI-Driven Psychological Profiling on Social Media: Mechanisms, Ethical Breaches, and Regulatory Challenges in Data Inference,” vol. 2, pp. 1–7, Jan. 2025.
[20] M. .K and N. Mokoena, “The Psychological and Social Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Life,” 2025.
[21] S. Mesquiti et al., “Analysis of social media language reveals the psychological interaction of three successive upheavals,” Sci. Rep., vol. 15, no. 1, p. 5740, 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-89165-z.
[22] L. E. V Alphenaar, R. L. Shiner, C. C. Arana, and P. Prinzie, “Social Media and Subjective Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Personality Traits,” J. Happiness Stud., vol. 26, no. 4, p. 61, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s10902-025-00898-0.
[23] K. Burnell, D. J. Meter, F. C. Andrade, A. N. Slocum, and M. J. George, “The effects of social media restriction: Meta-analytic evidence from randomized controlled trials,” SSM - Ment. Heal., vol. 7, p. 100459, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100459.
[24] A. Kashif et al., “Examining the Impact of AI-Enhanced Social Media Content on Adolescent Well-being in the Digital Age,” Kurd. Stud., vol. 12, pp. 771–789, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.58262/ks.v12i2.060.
[25] J. P. Chang, S.-W. Cheng, S. M. Chang, and K.-P. Su, “Navigating the Digital Maze: A Review of AI Bias, Social Media, and Mental Health in Generation Z,” 2025. doi: 10.3390/ai6060118.
[26] A. Srivastava, “Impact of AI on social media and its implication mental health,” INTERANTIONAL J. Sci. Res. Eng. Manag., vol. 08, pp. 1–6, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.55041/IJSREM24397.
