Use of the Smartphone and Self-Concept in University Students According to the Gender Variable

Abstract

The university stage comprises a very important and vital period in the modification of students’ lifestyles, and these changes can affect their self-concept. The excessive use of technology today can also influence the formation of their identity. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between self-concept and the use of the smartphone by university students in terms of gender. The sample included 253 students (mean age 21.39 ± 3.27) of the Primary Education Degree of the University of Jaén (106 men and 147 women). A questionnaire was used to unify several instruments: a sociodemographic questionnaire, a Self-Concept Form-5 questionnaire (AF-5), and a questionnaire on cell phone-related experiences (CERM). The results show the existence of significant differences between both genders in the academic, emotional, and social dimensions of self-concept, with women showing a greater academic self-concept and men showing an emotional and physical one. Regarding the use of the smartphone in relation to self-concept, significant differences are found in the academic and emotional dimensions depending on the degree of use. In addition, in relation to the use of the smartphone, it has been detected that half of the students present potential problems. It is concluded that there is a relationship between both constructs, especially the academic and emotional self-concept.

Problematic Smartphone Use in Spanish and Italian University Students

“…Moreover, they rejected the idea that they had received criticism for the excessive use of their smartphone, that it had come to interfere with their obligations, and that their degree of dependency had led them to dream about it. These results contrast, however, with those obtained by Alosaimi et al [56], Anshari et al [26], Cachón-Zagalaz et al [70], Romero and Aznar [36], Romero-Rodríguez et al [71] and Rozgonjuk et al [72], who revealed the serious consequences that excessive use of the device can have on students' ability to concentrate, task performance, rest time, and health. Therefore, while this positioning may in some way be mediated by the growing normalization of the smartphone in their lives, it is no less true that additional research is needed in order to clarify these discrepancies in self-perception.…”

“…When this type of behaviour is excessive, it can disrupt students' daily lives, causing a number of negative issues. These issues include: trouble concentrating, trouble sleeping, a significant decrease in academic performance, an overly sedentary lifestyle, risky behaviour when driving, financial difficulties, the deterioration of health, and even serious psychopathological disorders [25,30,42,56,[68][69][70][71][72].…”

Analysis of Self-Concept in Adolescents before and during COVID-19 Lockdown: Differences by Gender and Sports Activity

“…However, during the COVID-19 lockdown there was a negative association between physical and emotional components, as well as higher values of academic self-concept. Staying at home, with resources enough to maintain the normality, meant that adolescents had a higher academic self-concept, which led to higher academic performance [47]. In this sense, perceived competences are demonstrated to buffer the association between academic self-concept and goal-oriented motivation [48].…”

Self-Concept as a Mediator of the Relation Between University Students’ Resilience and Academic Achievement

“…This instrument designed by Garcìa and Musitu, (1999) has been used in previous similar studies in Spain ( Suriá-Martìnez et al, 2019 ; Cachón-Zagalaz et al, 2020 ). This test measures the dimensions of academic self-concept, social self-concept, emotional self-concept, family self-concept and physical self-concept.…”