ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1557684
Mapping Gender Networks of Smartphone Addiction and Academic Procrastination
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liupanshui Normal University, Liupanshui, China
- 2Nanchang Institute of Science and Technology, Nangchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 3Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, China
- 4Changzhi University, Changzhi, Shanxi Province, China
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Background: Smartphone addiction (SA) and academic procrastination (AP) are two of the educational challenges encountered by many higher education students today that have led to a series of adverse effects on their well-being.Aims, sample, and methods: Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding gender differences in SA and AP, and limited attention has been paid to gender differences in the interaction between SA and AP. To address this gap, the present study employs network analysis to investigate gender differences in the SA, AP, and SA-AP interaction networks among higher education students. A total of 438 students from four higher education institutions in China participated in this study.Results: The findings indicate that there are more differences than similarities in the SA and AP networks between male and female students. In addition, within the SA-AP interaction network, the core feature of the male network is academic procrastination, reflecting deficiencies in time management and self-regulation. In contrast, the core feature of the female network is smartphone addiction, which highlights a strong dependence on immediate social feedback.Conclusions: This study represents the first attempt to investigate gender differences in SA and AP through the lens of network analysis. The findings reveal the complexity of gender differences in behavioral patterns and psychological mechanisms, moving beyond the limitations of previous research that primarily focused on mean-level differences. This study deepens the understanding of SA and AP and provides both theoretical support and practical guidance for the development and implementation of effective intervention strategies to address SA and AP among students.
Keywords: Gender Studies, Adult Learning, Pedagogical issues, Smartphone addiction, academic procrastination
Received: 09 Jan 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Song, Liu, Yang and Yuan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhilin Liu, Nanchang Institute of Science and Technology, Nangchang, 330108, Jiangxi Province, China
Yujia Yang, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.