Problematic social media use (PSMU) is discussed as a potential additional type of disorders resulting from addictive behaviors. The I-PACE (Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition Execution) model illustrates the mechanisms and processes thought to be relevant to the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors, potentially including problematic social media use. The interaction of affective and cognitive components (e.g., the confrontation with addiction-related cues leading to cue reactivity and craving and decision making) is assumed to result in a continuation of the behavior (e.g., use of social networks). Dysfunctional decision making, reflecting this imbalance, is considered as a risk factor for and a consequence of an addictive behavior. To investigate the specificity of the influence of social media-related information on the risk decision-making tendencies of college students with PSMU, we conducted two studies.
Experiment 1 employed the Wheel of Fortune task to examine the characteristics of risk decision-making tendencies among college students with problematic social media use, and used a 2 (participant type: PSMU group, control group) × 2 (risk level: low, high) mixed design with participant type as a between-subjects variable. First, we screened participants using three scales via Wenjuanxing, resulting in a problem group of 35 individuals and a healthy control group of 36 individuals. Subsequently, we utilized the Eyelink 1000 plus eye tracker, developed by SR Research in Canada, with a sampling rate of 1000Hz to collect participants' eye movement metrics during the experiment. Prior to the official start of the experiment, participants underwent eye-tracking calibration, followed by the presentation of instructions and confirmation of their understanding. The experiment consisted of a practice session and a formal session. The experimental procedure began with the presentation of a solid dot at the center of the screen, requiring participants to fixate on it. This was followed by a drift correction, which was accepted if the deviation was less than 0.8 degrees. After the fixation point disappeared, the task options were presented, and participants made their choice by pressing the F or J key. The results revealed that, compared to the control group, the problematic group had longer reaction times (F(1, 63) = 5.91, p = .018, ηp2= .08) and total fixation durations (F(1,63) = 4.51, p = .038, ηp2 = .07). Additionally, they made fewer risky choices at high risk levels, demonstrating a risk-averse characteristic.
In Experiment 2, we incorporated social media-related information and neutral information to examine the specificity of the impact on risk decision making, using a 2 (participant type: PSMU, HC) × 2 (risk level: low, high) × 3(conditions: baseline, consistent,inconsistent) mixed design. Unlike Experiment 1, Experiment 2 added a cue screen before the choice screen. The results showed that, the interaction between participant type and condition was significant in terms of the number of times risk options were chosen, with F(2,128) = 3.37, p = .037, and ηp2= .05. Simple effect analysis revealed that there was no significant difference among the three levels of the condition in the control group. However, the problem group showed a higher frequency of choosing risk options at the consistent level compared to the inconsistent level. The interaction between participant type and condition was significant for first arrival time, with F(2,128) = 4.75, p = .010, and ηp2 = .07. Simple effect analysis showed that at the consistent level, the first arrival time of the problem group was longer than that for the control group. Additionally, the problem group's first arrival time was significantly longer at the consistent level than at the baseline level, while there was no significant difference in the control group across the different levels of the condition.
This indicates that problematic social media use influences risk decision-making tendencies. The impact of social media-related information on the risk decisions of college students with problematic social media use is specific, making their risk decision-making tendencies more adventurous, manifesting as risk-seeking behavior.
Key words
PSMU /
risk-taking propensity /
I-PACE /
attention
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