Relationship Between Social Media Fatigue, Attention Control and Academic Achievement among University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jssr.v6i3.763Keywords:
Social Media Fatigue, Attention Control, Academic Achievement, University StudentsAbstract
The present study explored the correlation between social media fatigue, attention control and academic performance among university students. A quantitative, descriptive correlational research design was used and data was gathered from 344 undergraduate students (172 males and 172 females) from the Faculty of Information Technology and Numerical Sciences of University of Haripur by two standardized instruments, namely adapted Social Media Fatigue Scale and the Attention Control Scale. Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) was self reported and verified by the departmental records. Descriptive results showed that means of students' responses in social media fatigue were at moderate level ranging from 2.9 to 3.1, while for attention control, the means of the students answers were always below 2.7. A positive correlation was found between social media fatigue and attention related difficulties (r = .574, p < .001) and a negative correlation was found between social media fatigue and CGPA (r = −.448, p < .001) and between attention control difficulties and CGPA (r = −.725, p < .001) with Pearson correlation analysis. Female students CGPA was found to be higher than that of male students (t = 6.730, p < .001), but there was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to social media fatigue or attention control. It is a noteworthy finding that the relationship between attention related difficulties to academic achievement is far stronger than the relationship between fatigue achievement, as this may be a more proximal pathway that links social media fatigue with academic achievement. The study results call attention to the necessity of digital health promotion and structured attention training in universities to safeguard students academic results.
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