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Understanding the drivers of smartphone addiction among university students: a perspective from Bangladesh

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to empirically analyze the factors that contributed to smartphone addiction proneness among university students in Bangladesh. With the increasing adoption of smartphones and rising rates of excessive smartphone usage, there was a need to investigate the etiology or causal factors of this addiction. A quantitative survey was conducted, which involved 384 students from both public and private universities in Bangladesh. The participants were selected using unequal stratified random sampling, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data through physical participation. The findings indicated that 28.4% of university students were addicted to smartphones, which had implications for the future of educated young people. The study revealed that demographic and academic variables did not have a significant impact on smartphone addiction among university students. The research suggested that addiction to Facebook, YouTube, and Messenger was strongly linked to emotional individuality, pleasure orientation, and virtual orientation, resulting in a loss of social and self-identity. The study called for further research into the effects of smartphone addiction on various socio-economic groups, which could lead to the development of new theories on smartphone addiction proneness.

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Fig. 2

Source: Jensen (2016) and Alter (2017)

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the PhD thesis entitled ‘Prevalent use of Smartphone and Its Impacts on Social Capital among University Students of Bangladesh’ of the first author which was approved and certified by the University of Malaya by 2020. The authors acknowledge all of the contributors who supported institutionally or voluntarily to conduct this study.

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This study did not receive any funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Ashek Mahmud

  2. Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh

    M. Rezaul Islam

  3. Centre for Child and Family Studies, Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    M. Rezaul Islam

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  1. Ashek Mahmud
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Both authors, AM and MRI have made equal contributions to this paper.

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Correspondence to M. Rezaul Islam.

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Ethical approval was taken from the University of Malaya Research Ethics Committee (UMREC) (Reference no. UM. TNC2/UMREC 537).

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Mahmud, A., Islam, M.R. Understanding the drivers of smartphone addiction among university students: a perspective from Bangladesh. SN Soc Sci 3, 209 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00795-4

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