Gurukul International

Gender Differences in Social Media Addiction and Self-Concept Among Undergraduate Students in Kolkata

Name: Neha DasGupta,

College name: University of Calcutta

Pin code: 700081,

Mobile no: 9051372001,

Email id: nehadasgupta29@gmail.com

Neha DasGupta¹, Prof (Dr.). Rita Basu ², Dr. Priyankar Singha ³

^{1 PhD Scholar, Department of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, India}

^{2 Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, India}

^{3 Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, India}

Abstract

Students’ life now a days revolve around social media, which later has an impact on their attitudes, behaviours, and self-concept. This study aims at studying how the undergraduate college students in Kolkata differ by gender in terms of their social media addiction and self-concept. This study involved 200 undergraduate students, 100 of whom were male and 100 of whom were female. The variables were evaluated using the Self-Concept Scale (Rastogi, 1979) and the Social Media Addiction Scale (Cengiz Sahin, 2018). SPSS 25 was used to perform statistical analyses, such as correlation analyses and independent samples t-tests. Although female students showed slightly higher levels of social media addiction, there was no significant difference between the male and female students in terms of social media addiction. Male students had significantly higher levels of self-concept than the female students. Males’ self-concept and social media addiction showed a significant negative correlation, suggesting an association between higher levels of social media addiction with a lower self-concept. For female students, no significant correlation was found. The results emphasize on the need for gender-specific interventions to enhance self-concept and encourage social media usage in a responsible manner for the students. Future studies should investigate further into this relationship as well as other mediating variables.

Keywords: Social media addiction, self-concept, gender, undergraduate college students

DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/2503I01S01V13P0008