When facebook and finals collide - procrastinatory social media usage predicts enhanced anxiety☆

In the digital age we live in, refraining from procrastinatory social media usage, particularly when conflicting with highly valued goal pursuit, can result in failure and subsequent negative psychological outcomes. Despite mounting interest, existing evidence remains correlational and restricted to mundane contexts. To fill these gaps the current two study investigation provides converging ecological and causal evidence for the influence of procrastinatory social media usage on subsequent anxiety. Study 1 used longitudinal unobtrusive measurement of actual procrastinatory Facebook usage (using designated software) together with experience-sampling, during real-life academic exam preparation period. Findings showed that enhanced procrastinatory Facebook usage predicted increased levels of anxiety over time. Further evidence provided inferences regarding the likely ordering of this association, by ruling out a reversed directionality between anxiety and subsequent Facebook usage. Providing direct causal evidence, Study 2 created a laboratory exam context conceived as highly predictive of academic success, that directly manipulated whether actual Facebook usage was procrastinatory or not, prior to examining its influence on anxiety. Supporting predictions, only when Facebook was used instead of studying, it resulted in enhanced anxiety. The present investigation illuminates when and why social media usage leads to adverse psychological consequences.