Predicting Academic Motivation Based on Social Media Use and Experiential Avoidance

Abstract

Background & Aims: Understanding how various factors interact to influence academic motivation is crucial, as it leads to interventions that can enhance student productivity and academic success. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationships between academic motivation, use of social networks and experimental avoidance among university students.   Methods and Materials: The descriptive-correlation research method was predictive. The statistical population included all undergraduate students of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in the academic year of 2023-2024 in the number of 4000 people, of which 350 people were selected as a sample based on the Morgan and Karjesi table. Data were collected using the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) of Wallerand (1992), the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) of Jenkins-Guarnieri et al. (2013) and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II) of Bond et al. (2011) Experimental avoidance was collected. To analyze the data, Pearson's correlation test and multiple regression were used in SPSS software version 27 at a significance level of 0.05.   Findings: Regression analysis results indicated significant negative relationships between academic motivation and both social media use (β = -0.21, p = 0.0002) and experiential avoidance (β = -0.47, p = 0.0001). The regression analysis showed that these variables collectively explained 35% of the variance in academic motivation (R² = 0.35).   Conclusion: The findings suggest that higher use of social media and greater experiential avoidance are significantly associated with lower academic motivation among university students. This study highlights the need for educational strategies that address both the benefits and challenges posed by social media use and psychological coping mechanisms, such as experiential avoidance, to improve academic outcomes.