SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AND ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION AMONG STUDENTS: A MEDIATED ANALYSIS OF SELF-CONTROL AND FEAR OF MISSING OUT

Abstract

The paper investigates the correlation between social media addiction and academic procrastination in university students. It also attempts to identify the indirect roles of self-control and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) as mediators. The survey research design was used for the study which was a single time data collection from participants. The respondents included 150 undergraduate students at the University of Gujrat and the tools for data collection were present at BSMAS APS LSCS, and FoMOS. For analysis purpose descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and bootstrap mediation analysis via PROCESS macro Model 6 were carried out. The results showed a strong positive association between social media addiction and academic procrastination (r = 0.456, p <.001). Self-control and FoMO were identified as two separate significant mediators Though they also made a chain mediation pathway. The size of self-control mediation effect alone was about 30.1% of the total effect, whereas the FoMO pathway accounted for 19.4%. The chain mediation pathway (SMA → lack of self-control → FoMO → AP) explained 2.8% of the total effect (on top of the other two mediators). This study has yearly extended the self-control strength model and has also practical implications for digital wellness interventions in Pakistani academic environments. Instead of viewing social media as something purely behavioral, this paper is for addressing self-regulation deficits and social anxiety because of FoMO.