Hou Yu, Qin Chuting, Xu Peng
School of Journalism and Culture Communication, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China.
Department of Sociology, School of Philosophy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Sep 25;14(10):867. doi: 10.3390/bs14100867.
Based on data from the 2022 Chinese Minors' Digital Life and Online Protection Survey, this study investigated the status quo of social media use and its influencing mechanism on academic performance among Chinese children and adolescents. The statistical results indicate that the average level of Chinese students' social media use was generally low, with their academic performance varying across socio-demographic and schooling characteristics. After controlling for other variables, it was found that the frequency of social media use could exert a significant positive impact on students' academic performance. Moreover, the mechanism analysis revealed that online learning behavior and prosocial behavior served as chain mediators linking social media use to academic performance. Specifically, students could transfer their social media behavioral patterns to the internet-based learning context, and then effectively utilize remote learning resources. Meanwhile, engagement with social media would cultivate individuals' prosocial personality, thereby stimulating intrinsic motivation for learning and ultimately enhancing academic performance. The heterogeneity analysis further confirmed that the impact of social media use on students' academic performance was stronger in lower-class families, underscoring the moderating role of family socioeconomic status in the relationship between social media use and academic performance. The findings suggest that if academic performance is regarded as an integral part of individual capacity development, then the rational utilization of social media resources might be a pivotal approach to alleviate the predicament of developmental inequality faced by students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
基于2022年中国未成年人数字生活与网络保护调查的数据，本研究调查了中国儿童和青少年使用社交媒体的现状及其对学业成绩的影响机制。统计结果表明，中国学生使用社交媒体的平均水平普遍较低，其学业成绩因社会人口统计学和学校教育特征而异。在控制其他变量后，研究发现社交媒体使用频率对学生的学业成绩有显著的积极影响。此外，机制分析表明，在线学习行为和亲社会行为是连接社交媒体使用与学业成绩的链式中介变量。具体而言，学生可以将其社交媒体行为模式转移到基于互联网的学习环境中，进而有效利用远程学习资源。与此同时，参与社交媒体活动会培养个人的亲社会人格，从而激发内在学习动机，最终提高学业成绩。异质性分析进一步证实，社交媒体使用对学生学业成绩的影响在低收入家庭中更强，凸显了家庭社会经济地位在社交媒体使用与学业成绩关系中的调节作用。研究结果表明，如果将学业成绩视为个人能力发展的一个组成部分，那么合理利用社交媒体资源可能是缓解社会经济背景较低的学生面临的发展不平等困境的关键途径。
