Psychological wellbeing and avoidance strategies as moderators between excessive social media use and academic performance among Indian college students

Purpose This study aims to assess the negative aspect of social media use among college students in India. A conceptual model showing the relationship between excessive social media use (ESMU) and academic performance of college students has been developed and tested. Further, the moderating role of psychological well-being and avoidance strategies were investigated. Design/methodology/approach A survey instrument was developed, and data was collected from 557 college students from higher educational institutions in southern India. First, the psychometric properties of the measures were tested using the Lisrel software for covariance-based structural equation modeling. Second, the structural model was tested by using PROCESS macros. Findings The results reveal that ESMU is a precursor to anxiety and academic performance. The findings also indicate that anxiety mediates the relationship between ESMU and academic performance. Psychological well-being and avoidance strategies were significant moderators in the relationship between ESMU and anxiety. Originality/value The multi-layered conceptual model was developed and tested in the context of a developing country (India) and investigated the effect of ESMU by college students on their academic performance and anxiety. The three-way interaction between psychological well-being (first moderator), avoidance strategies (second moderator) and ESMU influencing academic performance mediated through anxiety is studied in this research. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such a moderated moderated-mediation in connection with social media use is a unique contribution of this study.