Running Head: SOCIAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Social Interactions between College Students:

Different Effects on the College Students Social Interactions
NURS 3749 Nursing Research
Youngstown State University
Michael Turnbull
Kailee Engel
Kayla Smith
Jessica Kimble
Summer 2016

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SOCIAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this research related project of twelve research articles reviewed by BSN

nursing students in an undergraduate nursing class revealed about the social interactions of

college age students. This research group consisting of four students critically read twelve

articles on the relationship of social media, mental health, social isolation, and social overload.

This class assignment is being implemented to assist in the learning process and its importance to

nursing practice. The concept of health promotion was chosen by the class to increase the

understanding of this topic with college students. Health promotion was chosen as an important

concept identified by Healthy People 2020. Through poster presentation students will share

current knowledge about their findings and implications for nursing practice.

Research by examining different articles, dissertations, and research papers was

conducted to answer the research question of what effects the college student’s social interaction.

Multiple articles were reviewed throughout this research process but only twelve articles were

selected to further analyze social interaction in college students. This paper depicts the different

effects of social interaction for college students by examining friendships and juggling school,

social media usage and academic achievement, and finally smartphone usage and mental health.

Social interaction is a major component of living. Some people become so socially

stimulated that it alters there performance for better or for worse. The college age student

combats many different aspects of adversity as they chase their dream occupation. The major

challenge individuals face as they begin their college career is simple; how are they going to fit

in with new people and how is it going to alter their performance? Coming into college their

social adjustment parallels with their social competence (Allison & Shim, 2012). The level of

achievement, either high or low, directly correlates with the outcome of person. In essence,

individuals and their friends will be similar and play different roles in a friend group. During the

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stages of meeting new people, the college student, uses different general tactics to become

accepted. There are many different variables that play a part in becoming who they are and how

they engage with their friends such as gender, self-esteem, overall social competence, popularity,

prosocial behavior, aggressive behavior, how anxious and how internalized they are. These are

subjective traits that alter every person’s social achievement goals. The social developmental

goal oriented person adjusted socially with positive behavior and positive social competence

causing them to have friends that also want to succeed and on average have higher grades.

People who use aggressive behavior to become more popular have the fear of being used

negatively. This causes them to do whatever they can to be with the in crowd. They rely on

others for self-esteem. Then, there is the social demonstration avoid tactic, this person has a low

self-esteem with maladaptive behaviors where they do not care what people think about them

causing a decreased social achievement (Allison & Shim, 2012). Colleges use many different

programs and organizations to help guide students to achieve their goals and become successful.

This helps the student mentally adjust with support group that they can rely on.

Adjustment to college can be difficult leaving many students looking to social media for

help. In the article Serious social media: On the Use of Social Media for Improving Students’

Adjustment to College, the authors explored the different forms of networking that college

students use from the start of college to the end of their college experience. Within this article the

authors noticed that, “a considerable amount of research has been dedicated to examining how

the psychological disposition of students affects their adjustment to college. One line of research,

in particular, examines the association between optimistic beliefs and student success. In general,

positive expectancies for the future can have beneficial effects for social adjustment during

stressful life events (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 2001)” (DeAndrea, Ellison, LaRose, Steinflied,

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& Fiore, 2011). The authors concluded that “although connections to old friends are important,

being able to form new friendships is also a critical component of a successful transition to

college. The findings suggest that mediated interactions with others who are also joining the

university can be important sources of information that might ease the transition by making users

feel like they have access to a more expansive support network on campus” (DeAndrea, et al.,

2011).

Without having a support group the first year of college, students can face an enormous

amount of loneliness. The article Effects of Loneliness and Differential Usage of Facebook on

College Adjustment of First-Year Students starts out talking about loneliness and the first year

college student. Loneliness is strongly associated with adjustment in the first year of a new

college student’s life. Social networks such as, Facebook, can make someone feel even more

lonely or help someone get themselves out there and establish relationships. Positively, social

networking sites can facilitate a student’s social life in college by matching them up with people

who have similar interests and have some things in common. This could be their major, culture,

or hobbies. Social networking sites can allow more access to people that are not in college which

can be positive however it also can be a huge distraction making it harder for the student to focus

on the most important tasks. The article then goes on to explain the use of social network sites

and college adjustment. It was found that the time spent on Facebook was negatively related to

GPA. It was also discovered that use of social networking sites is part of one’s daily habits.

Another study was compulsive usage of social networking sites. What is compulsive for one

person might not be compulsive for the other person. It was found that compulsive internet use

was associated with negative life choices such as missing work or school, not doing well in class,

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or missing out on social events. Social media influences students in multiple ways but further

studies in the alteration of achievement must be performed.

Another study was found about how college students social media usage effected their

academic performance which furthers can explain college students social interactions. The

researchers who wrote The Effects of Social Media on College Students concluded that the

“results indicate while most college students use social media and spend many hours checking

social media sites, there was a negative aspect to college students’ use of social media” (Wang,

Chen, & Liang, 2011). The authors gave questionnaires to a random sample of forty eight

students and determined these results. The research did conclude that social media has a negative

impact on college students ability to find a good balance between their online usage and

academic performance. There were limitations within the research due to the small scale of the

author’s research which shows that this may not be applicable for all students in college. The

research showed that there are more negative aspects when it comes to college students use of

social media and the balance of maintaining good standing within the university. This study was

only performed at Johnson and Wales University, so it would not be able to be applied to every

university until more data was collected and proven to be truer or less true. The researchers

showed that they found that if there was a change in social media use for college students that

students may be able to do better in the classroom. But a change like this would take a lot of

effort on the part of the student and this idea was not looked into in depth.

This next research study continues to examine college students use of social media and

academic achievement. The article Social Network: Academic and Social Impact on college

Students is directed towards how social media affects students academically and socially. The

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limitations in their study were only from freshman males at The Petroleum Institute. The article

claims that Facebook is socially beneficial to freshman because they are making new friends and

Facebook helps to build a relationship online that can then transfer to offline. It is also said that

Facebook helps to stay in touch with friends from high school when going away to college. This

study also found that having available access to different social media sites on smartphones

expects a negative effect on academic performance. Quantitative data was collected for this study

by using a survey and qualitative was collected by the authors observations based on the

information and explanations they were given. The results from this study showed that from a

total of thirty surveys that those with higher grade point average were the students who spent

more time on social media and those with the lower grade point average spent little to no time on

social media sites. This article claims there are more social benefits to social media then

academic benefits. There is a gap in the research and the authors found it was unclear whether

social media positively or negatively affected academic performance (Alcheikh, Awadallah,

Tayseer, & Zoghieb, 2014).

Facebook appears to be a good way for people to gain an online friendship but it can be

very distracting. The article Impact of Facebook Usage on Student’s Academic Achievement:

Roles of Self-Regulation and Trust focused on students and how their time spent on Facebook

effects their academic performance. The author states using surveys where they found that the

students have to have self-control and the drive to learn by putting down Facebook and focusing

on their school work. If they do not have the self-control or the drive to learn they become

absorbed with Facebook leading to poor academic performance. The article claims the students

that are consumed with Facebook are more likely to have poor academic performance because

more time was spent on Facebook then on school work. People cannot explain why but they feel

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that they need to constantly check these sites whether it is on their computer or phone. This

article states that because humans are curious they are naturally drawn to Facebook to look at

what other people post or the news. The article claims that because everyone uses Facebook for

different reasons specific to them, it is hard to compare a group of people on this topic

accurately. The authors claim that even the students who multitasked very well still did not

absorb as much as the students who do one thing at a time. The authors suggest that Facebook

does allow for more socialization for those who involve themselves in discussions. The negative

side the authors suggest is that Facebook draws people from work, or major tasks they are doing

and in turn is making them multitask where their attention my not be fully focused on the

priority. The authors assume that Facebook increases peoples satisfaction and it may or may not

reflect their academic progress because it still remains debatable (Linayem, Rouis, & Salehi-

Sangari, 2011).

Another article was found about how difficult it can be to maintain good academic

performance while being involved on social media. A dissertation written by Ozer (2014) was

examined and found that there was focus on university students and how social networking sites

impact their academic performance. This article claims that there are both positive and negative

effects on students’ academic performance when they use some type of social networking site

while studying. The article claims that when students switch from different tasks frequently, also

called multitasking, they are not learning as well as if they were to just focus on one thing at a

time. The author states that many just assume that their brains are able to multitask and that it is

not negatively affecting the way they learn. This information implicates that if the students are

multitasking they are affecting their college GPA negatively and may not recognize it as an

issue. This could be due to being consumed in the social networking sites, which is not allowing

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the students full attention to be on the material or because it decreases their productivity by

distracting them. The author states that a study was done and found that if students who used

something to multitask during class showed lower scores then those who did not multitask during

the class. It is still debatable to whether the increased use of social networking sites is related to

poor academic achievement and lower GPA. There is a gap in this study because each individual

uses social networking sites differently and also everyone learns differently than others (Ozer

2014).

This study wraps up the research on social media and academic achievement while

transitioning into the next main focus of the paper. The main idea throughout the article The

Benefit of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students Use on Online Social

Network Sites is based upon social capital. Social capital is defined as a form of economic and

cultural capital in which social networks are central, transactions are marked by reciprocity, trust,

and cooperation, and market agents produce goods and services not mainly for themselves, but

for a common good. The authors found that “there is a positive relationship between certain

kinds of Facebook use and the maintenance and creation of social capital. Although we cannot

say which proceeds the other, Facebook appears to play an important role in the process by

which students form and maintain social capital, with usage associated with all three kinds of

social capital included in our instrument” (Ellison, Lampe, & Steinflied, 2007). Social capital

can be an important cog in the machine of academic success and can be important to maintain

certain levels of socializing that may not be able to be maintained while in college. The article

depicts the fact that college age students are going to be using social networking as a form of

maintaining their relationships but lacks the information about how distracting this can become.

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College students are known to have the fear of missing out which alters their academic

motivation and effect their mental health. Due to different sorts of electronics and social media,

it is easy to stay in touch will all of your peers with a touch of a screen. This gives the

adolescent/young adult the fear which has negative psychological outcomes and mental issues.

This fear needs to be satisfied so the person can stay sane. Social media is a great tool to stay in

touch for multiple reasons such as keeping up to date with relationships and are great for keeping

up with events. The problem is becoming too dependent on social media. College students are

always trying to get themselves out involved in the world and becoming addicted can then lead

to anxiety, depression and a sensitivity issues. Students who have a high goal of achievement and

motivated to learn tend to use less social media in class compared to the less motivated student

(Alt, 2015). Other variables also alter the amount of social media used such as gender, age,

economic, etc. A study was done on a group of students that were eighty five percent female,

where each person was identified as a whole and from that they either focused on their academic

motivation, fear of missing out, or general social media engagement. Regardless of their extrinsic

or intrinsic characteristics, both groups used social media. The amount of social engagement

highly altered their motivation of learning and the amount of info they could retain. During the

study, people who used social media for personal use had a lower level achievement. The people

who used it for school/work had either an average or above average outcome on their work (Alt

2015). This decreased output from the use of social media is a major issue in the field of nursing.

If a person is in a life or death situation and they are not mentally available, it is nearly

impossible to make a fast and life-saving decision. Social media can be a great tool, but also

change the life of an individual or the life in that individuals hands.

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Smart phone addiction has become a major distraction altering student performance with

in the past decade. Both males and females are susceptible to the achievement altering action. In

a survey of college students, forty six percent of them said that “they can’t live without their

phone” (Hawi & Samaha, 2016). Smart phone addiction for any gender decreases achievement.

People can have behavioral addiction where the dependency alters their emotions causing them

to become depressed if they do not fulfill the void. This addiction to the phone or depression

caused by it lowers their ability to concentrate which leads to a lower grade point average. The

addiction can cause sleeplessness, boredom, overload and the fear of missing out. In a recent

study, where college students had intervals of time where they could use their phones during

studying, women shown to be better multitaskers and had higher achievement. When both men

and women were not allowed using smart phones during their studies, both genders grades

increased drastically (Hawi & Samaha, 2016). This directly shows that smartphone used impacts

the students motivation and that the abuse of technology can hurt academic achievement.

Smartphone usage was examined in the next research study in comparison to academic

standing. The article The Effects of Social Media on College Students talks about why some

students do better than others in their studies in college. Using smartphones carried by students

to find some answers does this. This study went on for ten weeks of a spring term semester and

discusses behavioral trends, and correlations between objective sensor data from smartphones

and mental well-being and academic performance for a set of students at Dartmouth College.

The authors also found that there are strong correlations between academic performance and

automatic sensing data and mental well-being. “The usage patterns of an online education tool

correlate with academic performance. The study observed trends in the sensing data where

students start the term with high positive affect and conversation levels, low stress, and healthy

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sleep and daily activity patterns. As the term progresses and the workload increases, stress

appreciably rises while activity, sleep, conversation, positive affect, visits to the gym and class

attendance drops” (Chen, Wang, & Liang, 2014).

This last research study continues the use of smartphones and focuses on the mental

health of those who were in the study. Within the article Social Isolation and Cell Phone Use by

College Students there is discussion about the problems with cell phone use socially. Hypothesis

one proposed a significant negative relationship between higher levels of cell phone use and

academic achievement as measured by self-reported grade point average. Hypothesis two

proposed a significant negative relationship between shyness and higher levels of cell phone use.

Hypothesis three proposed a significant positive relationship between loneliness and higher

levels of cell phone use. The article discusses problems with cell phones like sexting and cyber

bullying. It also discusses how they are helpful for keeping connected outside of homes or in

case of an emergency. It also enables adults to keep track of their children when they are not

around. As for social problems, there is no clear answer to whether an antisocial person will feel

safer texting. There is some evidence that the higher the Internet use the higher chance of

psychoticism. Males are more likely to use video games and Internet while females are more

likely to use cell phones.

Social media has both positive and negative aspects for college students but it comes

down to the individual and how they use social media themselves. The individual can show

having self-control by saying focused on one task whether it is work, school or daily tasks rather

than being on social media sites consumed in the lives of others. Social interaction relates to

nursing in multiple ways. It can be involved in nursing distraction and these habits can be formed

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while being a college student in nursing school. Graduate nurses could be distracted on the phone

while being on social media during their work hours leading to decreased patient care and

possible violations of HIPAA. Violations of HIPAA can lead to serious consequences for the

nurses involved and can potentially harm the patient. These behaviors can also have a negative

effect on college graduates when it comes to being interviewed for their jobs because social

media is the base of their communication with others. There is a bright side because social media

usage can be helpful in social interaction of nurses within the hospital. Social media can bring

co-workers together and also has the ability to bring information in faster to help nurses

understand the latest, most up-to-date practice possible. The research found that there is a gap in

knowledge when it comes to college students and their social interactions. There is a definite

need for further studying in this area so that positive outcomes can apply to college students

throughout the country. Overall, it was found that there is not enough evidence to support

whether college students social interactions were affected by external factors like social media

but it is leaning in the direction that social media has mostly been having negative effects on

students and their grades. Further studying will have to be done to be able to properly assess this

problem and find a solution for future students.

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References
Alcheikh, I., Awadallah, M., Tayseer, M., & Zoghieb, F. (2014, April 5). Social Network
Academic and Social Impact on College Students. Retrieved from
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Allison, R. M. & Shim, S. S. "What Do Students Want Socially When They Arrive At College?
Implications Of Social Achievement Goals For Social Behaviors And Adjustment During
The First Semester Of College". Motivation and Emotion 36.4 (2012): 504-515. Web. 8
June 2016.

Alt, Dorit. “College Students’ Academic Motivation, Media Engagement And Fear Of Missing
Out”. Computers in Human Behavior 49(2015): 111-119. Web. 8 June 2016.

Campbell, A. T, Wang, R., Chen, F., Chen, Z., Li, T., Harari, G., & Tignor, S. (2014).
StudentLife. Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive
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Chen, W., Wang, Q., & Liang, Y., "The Effects of Social Media on College Students" (2011).
MBA Student Scholarship. Paper 5. http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/mba_student/5
DeAndrea, D. C., Ellison, N. B., LaRose, R., Steinflied, C., & Fiore, A. (2011, June 13). Serious
social media: On the use of social media for improving students' adjustment to college.
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Ellison, N., Lampe, C., & Steinfield, C. (2007). The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social
Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal Of Computer-
Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-
6101.2007.00367.x
Hawi, N. S. & Samaha, M. "To Excel Or Not To Excel: Strong Evidence On The Adverse Effect
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(2016): 81-89. Web. 8 June 2016.

Larose, R. & Wohn, D. Y. (2014). Effects of loneliness and differential usage of Facebook on
college adjustment of first-year students. Computers & Education, 76, 158-167.
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.03.018

Linayem, M., Rouis, S., & Salehi-Sangari, E. (2011, November 08). Impact of Facebook Usage
on Students' Academic Achievement: Roles of Self-Regulation and Trust. Retrieved from
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psicopedagogica.org/revista/articulos/25/english/Art_25_620.pdf

Myers, N. E. (n.d.). Social Isolation and Cell Phone Use by College Students.
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Ozer, I. (2014, August). Facebook Addiction, Intensive Social Networking Site Use,
Multitasking, and Academic Performance among University Students in the United
States, Europe, and Turkey: A Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling Approach.
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ne

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