New research published in Computers in Human Behavior provides experimental evidence that using social media while ignoring a highly valued goal, such as studying for a final, enhances anxiety.
In this age of information technology, people are increasingly connected to the world around them. Social media, in particular, offers users a constant stream of updates and notifications that provide an overwhelming distraction in the way of goal achievement and a challenging test of self-control.
It seems that using social media for procrastination does more than hinder the realization of goals. Past research has linked the use of Facebook for procrastination to enhanced distress and negative affect. Two recent studies by Nurit Sternberg and colleagues move beyond previous correlational studies and offer causal evidence for the adverse effects of the procrastinatory use of social media on the mental health of university students.
Sternberg and team’s first study explored procrastination in a real-life academic context. A sample of 51 university students took part in a study four days before an important exam. All students installed software on their smartphones and computers that covertly monitored their Facebook usage over the three days leading up to their exam. Throughout each day of the study, students also completed questionnaires at random intervals where they rated their anxiety levels.
Researchers examined whether students’ Facebook use at one timepoint would influence their anxiety at the following timepoint. Results showed that the more time students spent on Facebook, the more anxious they felt at a subsequent time point. When researchers examined the reversed pathway, they found that students’ anxiety did not lead to increased Facebook use at the next time point.
In a second study, researchers sought more compelling causal evidence — by using experimental manipulation in a laboratory setting. Researchers instilled a highly valued goal in 68 students by telling them they would be taking a 10-minute intelligence test that was “highly predictive of academic and real life success.” The students then had access to a computer for 20 minutes while it covertly monitored their Facebook usage.
Researchers manipulated whether students’ Facebook use during the 20 minutes was for procrastination purposes or not, by separating the subjects into two conditions. The experimental group was advised to use the extra time to prepare as much as they could before the test since studying could vastly improve their performance. In this case, using Facebook was considered procrastination, as it stood in the way of the students’ goal to do well on the test. The control group, however, was told that the 20 minutes was free time since no preparation was needed for the test. In this group, using Facebook was not considered procrastination.
Participants completed state measures of anxiety at several time points, including directly before and after taking the intelligence test. In the experimental group, where the use of Facebook went against the goal of performing well on the test, increased use of Facebook was correlated with increased anxiety. In the control group, where using Facebook did not conflict with the goal to do well on the test, no relationship between time spent on Facebook and anxiety was found.
According to researchers, the two studies offer insight into self-control, showing that “succumbing to the immediate impulse of using social media when it competes with distal, highly valued academic goal directed behavior, leads to enhanced anxiety.”
The study, “When facebook and finals collide – procrastinatory social media usage predicts enhanced anxiety”, was authored by Nurit Sternberg, Roy Luria, Susannah Chandhok, Brian Vickers, Ethan Kross, and Gal Sheppes.