Keywords

Social media; Online Media; Attention Control; Online Vigilance; Academic Performance; Academic Outcomes

Abstract

Online media, especially social media, is a continuously growing area of research which has raised questions about its impacts on academic outcomes. Many previous studies have established a negative relation between social media use and academic performance; however, the mechanism behind this finding is still unknown. The present study investigated whether level of attention control mediates the relation between an individual’s propensity for online usage and grade point average (GPA). Undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida (N=226) were recruited for this study, and their levels of online vigilance and attention control were measured. College GPA was self-reported by individual participants. This study failed to find a significant correlation between propensity for online usage and college GPA, and thus, a mediating effect of attention control was not found. Possible explanations for this finding include a relatively new scale used to measure propensity for online usage, lack of incentives for strong performance on tasks, and an overly homogeneous sample. However, it was found that higher levels of propensity for online usage had a significant negative relationship with attention control. Given this finding, more research is necessary to further understand the relationships between attention control, propensity for online media usage, and academic outcomes.

Thesis Completion Year

2024

Thesis Completion Semester

Fall

Thesis Chair

Rapport, Mark

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Thesis Discipline

Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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Rights Statement

In Copyright