Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry

ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship between undergraduate students’ academic and personal use of social media and their classroom engagement at Rockford University. Student engagement is understood as a multidimensional construct that includes behavioral, emotional, and cognitive components, while social media use can function as either an academic tool or a personal distraction. A quantitative correlational study approach was used, with data collected from 46 undergraduate students from Rockford University, using PsyToolkit, utilizing self-report surveys investigating social media use and behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement to examine the relationships among the study variables. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used to examine the data to determine the direction and degree of correlations between the variables. The results showed that academic social media use was negatively but not significantly related to engagement, r (44) = –.15, p = .36. Personal use was positively and significantly related to engagement, r (44) =.44, p = .001. Instagram was the most used platform (93.48%), followed by TikTok (84.78%) and YouTube (65.22%). In conclusion, personal social media use was associated with higher engagement, whereas academic use did not increase engagement. It is recommended that educators provide students with clear instructions on how to use academic technology and help them develop self-control when engaging with social media in the classroom.

Keywords: Social Media; Engagement; Affective Engagement; Behavioral Engagement; Cognitive Engagement