Smartphone Addiction and Its Correlations with Academic Motivation, Procrastination and Self-Control in Communication among Belarusians and Russians

Abstract

Objective. Identification and comparative analysis of connections between smartphone addiction and academic motivation, procrastination and self-control in communication among Belarusians and Russians. Background. Smartphone users who become dependent on it suffer from many manifestations of psychological ill-being, so smartphone addiction has become the object of close attention of psychologists in different countries. At the same time, the relevant question is: are its connections with the personal characteristics of users among representatives of different ethnic groups similar or different?
Study design. Based on online testing, connections between smartphone addiction among Russian and Belarusian men and women were identified and analyzed.
Participants. 3379 respondents: 2365 Belarusians (55,39% women) and 1014 Russians (65,87% women).
Methods. The study used questionnaires: smartphone addiction (author V.P. Sheinov), social network addiction (authors V.P. Sheinov, A.S. Devitsyn), factor models of these addictions (authors V.P. Sheinov, A.S. Devitsyn); questionnaire “Academic Motivation Scale” (authors T.O. Gordeeva and others); “Procrastination Scale” by K. Lei, adapted by Ya.I. Varvaricheva; M. Snyder’s test “Self-control in communication”.
Results. Smartphone addiction of Belarusian and Russian men and women and all its factors correlate negatively with internal academic motivation and positively with external academic motivation, procrastination, self-control in communication and addiction to social networks. These correlations between Belarusians and Russians differ only in the closeness of connections; they indicate that smartphone addiction is negatively related to internal motivation for learning, openness and directness of contacts.
Main conclusions. Among Belarusians and Russians: 1) were found similarities of the correlation between smartphone addiction and academic motivation, procrastination, self-control in communication and addiction to social networks; 2) a negative relationship between smartphone addiction and internal motivation to study and quality of communication was revealed.