University Students’ Perceived Self-control and Prosocial Norms for Beneficial Social Media Use

Although many studies have been conducted on social media abuse, socio-psychological determinants of positive social media usage are still underresearched, specifically concerning self-control and prosocial norms for university students. These two important antecedents of accountable behavior have not been thoroughly studied in developing countries. Therefore, the current study investigated university students’ perceptions of self-control and prosocial norms and determined whether they co-exist and are associated with intended behavior and desired beneficial usage. This study modified measurement items adopted from previous studies to fit the current context. A social media survey was conducted through Facebook Messenger among students from a public university in Bangladesh. 226 voluntary responses were recorded based on purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using SPSS and  SmartPLS 4. Descriptive statistics were analyzed. Hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling technique, whereas the differential effects of gender and social media platforms were tested using ANOVA. The findings demonstrate that university students value self-control and prosocial norms as crucial determinants of positive social media behavior. These factors strongly correlate with intended self-control and prosocial behavior, and desired beneficial use. Additionally, gender and the type of social media platform used have no significant impact on these results. This study explored valuable insights into the role of self-control and prosocial norms in promoting beneficial social media use among university students, which may have significant implications for their personal and social well-being.