Are phubbers academically buoyant?

Abstract

Purpose

Phubbing refers to the act of ignoring the presence of others around you by fixating one's eyes on a digital device. The behavioural phenomenon of Phubbing has received much traction recently with the increasing dependence of individuals on internet-enabled-digital devices. Students have now been using digital gadgets to achieve their academic goals. Hence, we assume that the phenomenon of phubbing may also be prevalent among students, which might influence their ability to overcome everyday academic challenges (low levels of academic buoyancy, i.e., the ability of students to deal with their academic tasks).

Design

The present work explores the relationship between the two recently studied concepts of Phubbing and Academic Buoyancy. The current study collected data from students of management schools ranked among the Top 10 in India, as per India's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking for 2024. The authors used survey methodology to collect data, which involved sending a questionnaire link to 300 students, out of which 258 students reverted back to the survey. After filtering out the data for incomplete surveys, the final sample included 203 students. Reliable and validated psychometric scales were used to analyze the constructs of the current study. A 7-point Likert scale was used to assess each item. For the analysis, structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed.

Findings

The results supported our hypothesis at a 5 per cent level of significance. We find that the act of phubbing is associated with lower academic buoyancy among the students, and the relation between the two is mediated by imposter syndrome. The results show that phubbing can lead to a detrimental impact on students' capability to perform effectively. The frequent display of phubbing indicates grave behavioural issues because of imposter syndrome, which manifests as lower academic buoyancy. Academic practitioners can enhance their understanding of the factors leading to lower capabilities among students and approach the problem accordingly.

Originality

The current study extends the academic literature by showing the impact of phubbing on the levels of academic buoyancy. The study also suggests that phubbing would influence academic buoyancy through the individual's level of feelings of imposter syndrome. The higher the phubbing, the higher the feeling of imposter syndrome, which would lead to a lower level of academic buoyancy.