How students’ self-control and smartphone-use explain their academic performance

Abstract

Smartphones cause self-control challenges in people's everyday lives. Supporting this notion, our studies corroborate that trait self-control is negatively associated (1) with students' distraction (via smartphones) during their learning endeavors (Study 1, N = 446) and (2) with several aspects of problematic smartphone-use (Study 2, N = 421). Study 3 (N = 106) investigated whether distinct aspects of smartphone-use also account for the link between students' trait self-control and academic performance. Specifically, we examined (1) smartphone procrastination (i.e., irrational task delays via smartphone), (2) beneficial smartphone habits (placing in a bag [placement habit] or turning the sound off [setting habit]), and (3) the objective amount of smartphone-use (minutes spent on the smartphone[screentime] and times picked up [pickups]). In line with our predictions, students higher in trait self-control showed better academic performance (b = 0.22). Smartphone procrastination (b = -0.23) and placement habits (b = 0.21) were significantly associated with academic performance and both also mediated the self-control-performance-link. Our findings suggest that it is not the objective amount of smartphone-use but the effective handling of smartphones that helps students with higher trait self-control to fare better academically.Implications for future research are discussed from a self-regulatory perspective on smartphone-use.

Personal Profiles, Family Environment, Patterns of Smartphone Use, Nomophobia, and Smartphone Addiction across Low, Average, and High Perceived Academic Performance Levels among High School Students in the Philippines

“…However, [ 23 ] pointed out that the effect of social media use on students’ GPAs was not as bad as the effect of playing video games. Thus, personal traits (i.e., self-control and self-efficacy) help students to effectively handle smartphone use in order to achieve better academic performance [ 21 ] and to enhance their positive perceptions of their own academic performance [ 22 ].…”

“…Some have examined learning activities through smartphone use and found a lower grade point average (GPA) and cumulative GPA (CGPA) among students who often used their smartphones’ for learning [ 18 , 19 ], whereas others have examined different smartphone functions’ effect on academic performance [ 6 ]. Additionally, other works have determined the associations of time spent on smartphones [ 14 ], task-technology fit (TTF) [ 20 ], students’ self-control [ 21 ], behavioral intention in using smartphones [ 22 ], personal traits and mobile activities [ 23 ], fear of missing out (FOMO) [ 16 ], social media use [ 24 ], nomophobia (NMP), and SA [ 25 ] with academic performance.…”

Relationships between adolescent smartphone usage patterns, achievement goals, and academic achievement

“…The variables associated with adolescent smartphone use can be classified into factors that influence smartphone use and the effects of smartphone use. First, the factors influencing the adolescent use of smartphones have been found to be mainly associated with self-control (Troll et al, 2021 ). As adolescents are at a developmental stage, their self-control abilities are still immature, which means that smartphone addiction could be seen to be closely related to impulse control (Kim et al, 2013 ).…”

Smartphones and Learning: An Extension of M-Learning or a Distinct Area of Inquiry

“…Recent research into the role of smartphones in the individual learning enterprise has produced some important findings [37,38]. These studies typically investigate how the smartphone hinders learning.…”