Psychological Impact of Social Media on Academic Motivation, Concentration, and Learning Behavior among Primary and Secondary Students in the Barrackpore Area of North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal

The rapid growth of social media has significantly influenced the psychological and academic lives of school students. While social media platforms offer opportunities for information sharing and collaborative learning, excessive and unregulated usage has raised concerns regarding their impact on students’ learning-related psychological processes. The present study investigates the psychological impact of social media usage on academic motivation, concentration, and learning behaviour among primary and secondary school students in the Barrackpore area of North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal. A quantitative research approach with a descriptive–correlational design was adopted for the study. The sample consisted of 450 students selected through stratified random sampling from six schools, three primary and three secondary schools in the study area. Standardised tools were used to measure social media usage, academic motivation, concentration, and learning behavior. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and inferential statistical techniques such as t-tests and ANOVA to examine differences and relationships among variables (Creswell, 2014; Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2018) [5, 4]. The findings revealed a significant relationship between social media usage and students’ academic motivation, concentration, and learning behaviour. Excessive use of social media was found to negatively affect students’ concentration and learning behaviour, while moderate and academically oriented use showed a limited positive association with motivation (Rosen et al., 2014; Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010) [12, 9]. The study highlights the need for structured digital guidance and psychological awareness among students, teachers, and parents. The results provide valuable implications for educational planning, counselling practices, and the promotion of healthy social media usage in school education.